Outdoors
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First Family Hike | North Wilderness Loop in Sam Houston National Forest
It’s been a long winter! It’s been far longer since I’ve done any hiking, last May when we were at Nails Creek State Park and I was six or seven months pregnant. We’ve had some nice stretches of weather these last few weeks intermingled with cool spells, but this last week we were in the middle of a beautiful stretch so I mentioned to Chris that I wanted our first Valentines Day as a family to be a hike. I decided early on I wanted to carry Forest in the Ergo carrier but then I got to thinking that I thought he might be big enough for the Osprey Poco…
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Thanksgiving Day Jaunt to McKinney Falls State Park
Our trip to McKinney Falls State Park was very short as the sun was already low on the horizon that afternoon. We visited both the upper and lower falls but our plans to see the old cypress in the park were thwarted when learning that the bridge on the trail to the cypress was out. Apparently it was a little rough crossing and I doubt a stroller was going to make that trek. So, we made it a short trip and decided we’d have to see the rest of the park another time.
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Thanksgiving Day Hike at Hamilton Pool
On Thanksgiving morning we got up from our hotel in Austin and tried to find something we could take for lunch with us on our day hikes. The only place open was an H-E-B grocery store and we made do with some pre-made sandwiches and random snacks. In hindsight we should have thought it out a little better and brought stuff from home but that’s not what happened. Our goals for the day were to hike at Hamilton Pool and at Reimers Ranch next door with a stop at McKinney Falls State Park on the way home. We ended up ditching Reimers Ranch and only hitting the first and last…
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Golden | Silent Sunday
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Bletia purpurea | Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park
Digging through my Florida photos from last March still. This post had been sitting in my drafts folder for months and months. I was able to steal a few moments while Forest was sleeping to process the photos and get this up to share. This lovely little orchid was very accessible and growing by the side of the road. Sometimes you don’t have to dig too far in Fakahatchee Strand to come up with something so lovely.
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W.G. Jones State Forest | Nature In The City
Last weekend we took Forest out for his first ‘hike—he strolled, we hiked—at our local state forest, WG Jones State Forest. Chris and I have been there a few times and thought it would be a great outing for us to stretch our legs and to get away from the house for awhile. The forest is split in two by a road, FM 1488, with the larger tract being on the south side of the road. This tract also has the most trails. We set off from the western most parking area on 1488 and Forest managed to stay asleep during his transfer from truck to stroller. I had debated…
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Backyard Leopard Frog
About a week ago I was coming in from hanging up diapers and noticed a leopard frog on our back porch. It hung around for a few days and let me get a photo of it before finally disappearing into the garden. We have a healthy frog population around our house but this was the first time I had noticed a leopard frog. Southern Leopard Frog information from TPWD
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Giant Swallowtail Caterpillars
Over the weekend Chris was out in the yard and came inside to tell me that I had to go out and check something that was on the citrus with him. It didn’t take me but a few seconds to decide he was probably showing me a caterpillar that was munching on the citrus. At the time I couldn’t remember which caterpillar used citrus as its host plant and I had to look it up later. Sure enough my hunch was correct! There were several small caterpillar nibbling on our citrus trees. I’m sure that in a citrus grove this would be considered a pest, but considering that the caterpillar…
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Fuzzy Wuzzy Airplant | Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park
Always fun to find one of these! Tillandsia pruinosa information.
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January at Westcave Preserve
I finally got around to finishing this video I shot back in January when Chris and I were in Austin. I’m having serious outdoor exploration withdrawls these days—the heat paired with being pregnant and unable/not feeling up to hike and get out of town has me missing this kind of stuff. Good thing my yard has a diversity of things to keep me entertained until fall and the baby arrives.