This was our girls this weekend when the fall weather FINALLY hit Houston. And by fall I mean that it was 60 degrees outside. 60 degrees and they declared it freezing so gloves, hats and hot apple cider were necessities to keep from freezing to death. One of those gloves is now at the bottom of our local duck pond so hopefully it won’t drop back into the low 60’s again until we’ve had a chance to run to Target or we might have to deal with frostbite.
They have been raised in Houston, what do you expect? However the cooler weather means that we can finally leave our air conditioned houses, where we have been holed up for the past 6 weeks.
We’ve been making the most out of the cooler weather mainly because we can now go outside without making our own personal mini swimming pools of sweat. The high in the afternoons have been in the high 80’s and to us, that is perfect. Just enough heat to remind us that we’re in Texas without having to put on another layer.
We took a long two hour walk on Monday down to the local duck pond (R.I.P. pink fleece glove). On the way back we found this ginormous mushroom which actually turned out to be two mushrooms. But they were both still the largest ones I’ve ever seen. Plus if you pass a policeman on a bicycle on your walk while carrying a giant mushroom, you might get a few strange looks. Not that we would know. And no that giant mushroom(s) – of the non poisonous variety – are not sitting on bowls of water on our back porch right now. Not at all. They’re on the back deck, not the porch.
The next day we took a jaunt through some woods and took this picture which I am going to frame and love forever. Those girls can drive me absolutely batty but they are my world. At the end of the day, as this picture proves, they really do love each other.
While on this walk we came upon a huge snake sitting on a log out in the lake we were walking next to. There’s nothing like having to walk a mile back on a path surrounded by heavy brush after seeing a snake that large. I think we all walked a little faster and let the dog lead the way, not that anything would be scared of that dog.
Finally we topped off our week of nature expeditions at a park bordering the local lake that I’ve wanted to go to for two years. Now I know why we weren’t missing out and why we may not go back that often. I’ve already had my real live alligator sighting up close and personal for this year and I’m good. I don’t need another one. Plus every time the littlest child went near the edge of the dock my heart beat that much quicker.
Hopefully the cool weather hangs around for a bit and we can keep exploring. Tomorrow we’re going to explore the closet that the oldest two girls share. It’s slightly scarier than alligators and snakes combined. Wish us luck.
