secret "beach"

This summer we went to the "secret beach" here in Austin. We tried coming once before, but we had trouble finding the path. So I finally found an Austin mom-blog that gave great directions and woohoo! We made it! The only thing is, Ryan had it in his head a different way to get down there, even though the blog gave easy instructions and PICTURES of the path taking you down.

I would have argued to go the way she explained, but I stepped back and let him be our guide. Do you see all those trees behind Lincoln and I in the picture below? Of course you do. It's a freaking forest of a mess. Well, we went through THAT! And there was a huge drop off that Ryan had to maneuver down first in order to catch the rest of us as we practically threw ourselves to his mercy. Also, it was crazy muddy. The kind of muddy where you take a step and your flip-flop gets sucked in. Here we are, with two kids in tow, trekking through a swamp. I didn't say a word... but I was sure thinking it--- if we had only gone the way the instructions told us....

And then the other fun part, because there were lots of those, was Simon REFUSING to leave our laps. That sand sure can be intimidating. Finally, after much bribery and using all of our tactics, he decided he would venture out of our laps once he discovered he could start throwing rocks. And throwing rocks he did....

And there was more throwing. Look at the muscle behind this particular throw!! That also happens to be the throw where he nailed me in the face with a rock. Yep.

And lastly, we weren't paying attention to our flip-flops RIGHT along the water shore and Ryan's shoes got swept away. He walked a ways down trying to find them because they happened to be his favorite pair, but to no avail. Gone. And one of the hardest parts of him losing his shoes?? Taking that monstrous of a hike back to our car through the muddy forest carrying Simon. I didn't say anything, but I was sure thinking it---- that other trail wouldn't have been so rough on your feet. :) I felt bad, so I ordered him a new pair of his favorite flip-flops like any good wife who doesn't say, "I told you so."