What we did with my last Friday of FREEDOM

So I would love to tell you that I am just in a dither of excitement at school starting again.  I really would love to tell you that, but since Bell was in trouble for fibbing the other day, I should be honest.  School?  You mean no boxers all day?  I might need to find the mascara?  I cannot schedule my workout between Words with Friends at 7 and iced coffee at 9?  Okay, so I am not excited.

beautiful, just beautiful

I deeply enjoy my time puttering at home in the yard, in the dirt, in the house, with Bell.  But, school is beckoning, on Monday to be exact, so we took one last day of fun on Friday and went exploring.  Jack has been wanting to take us to Red Rock Canyon for a year and we just have not had time, but now that we are at Fletcher, it is only an hour away.

Our plans had been to go last week and then got postponed until the middle of this week and then again until Friday.   It was perfect that we did not go until then because it was not hot.    No joke, it was never hot enough to be miserable . . . around 3 the thermometer at the pool just said 90.

frog spotting

We drove around and scouted things out, then headed up a trail for a geocaching.  We did not make it to the top because some small person grumbled about being too tired and thirsty and hungry.  It was like that Animaniacs episode with the kids in the car.  The whining one.  So we headed back down and had a picnic lunch.  Then, with a happy child, we picked an easier trail that was more walking than climbing and started off again.  Let me tell you, this place was beautiful and superbly maintained for a state park. We saw frogs, tadpoles, bluebirds, and bugs.  Isabella had to get some horsetails.  We walked over rustic bridges and saw box canyon pools.  The entire time, we had a little breeze and were in the shade.  The trail was a good mix of flat and stairs so it was a little exercise for me without being too taxing on the Animaniac child.

higher than she realized

We hit the park swimming pool for a few hours.  It was old and shabby, but not dirty.  It was  mostly empty the first hour and at its busiest probably only had 9 other kids. It even had a water slide.  It definitely cooled Bell off.   She played hard although I could have lived without the part where she tried to  drop a june bug into my top.  I think we are all a little red eyed from chlorine and got too much sun.

handholds are just too far apart

Jack then took us to a very cool box canyon area where handholds were dug in the rock face.  He had made it across the wall to a ledge, but I chickened out half way across.  Bell and I loved a tree that was growing sideways about four feet off the ground.  We saw this giant pile of spiders on the canyon wall.  Now these were not big spiders really, just smallish bodies with long skinny legs.  They reminded me of daddy long legs.  They were in this huddle of hundreds.  It was bizarre and cool but creepy too.  At a distance we thought it was paint on the wall.  Then I thought it was fungi.  And then the edges moved!

puddle of spiders

 It really is a beautiful place to go, right here in Oklahoma.  I am hoping we can go back in the fall, but I know how our plans go.

tree sitting

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