V is for....view from here.

Last October, my dad received a heart transplant.  I wrote a little about it here.  It was a very intense end of the year in 2011 and there times where I was worried if my kids would get to spend time and make memories with my dad. 
Well, he is a fighter and God is good.  He had a rough recovery for about 3 months or so but now seems to be right back to normal.  He is ready to get and up and go all the time.  This weekend, he and my step mom took the big kiddos camping for the weekend in Brazos Bend State Park.  I always love to find places close by that seem so far away!  The kids had a blast and if you follow me on Facebook you probably saw that my teen dream son decided to forgo a pool party/crawfish boil where all of his friends would be to go continue camping with his Grandaddy and Twomama.  After I picked my jaw up off the floor, I told him of course he could stay!  They had such a good time learning how to start the campfire, making the perfect s'more, riding their bikes all over the place, fishing, spying on alligators....I know they will want to go back. 
I am just so glad that they have these memories now.  B and I headed out with our little Tae Kwon Do warrior on Sunday after I got home from church....we loaded up G's bike too so he could have a taste of the camping lifestyle.  I got some great pictures and had a good time.  I thought we would leave early so we could get the kiddos ready for school the next day but never one to let the party end, we stayed until around 8 pm.  We climbed into the car....the kids with their filthy feet, dirty nails, and sweaty hair.  We all smelled like we might have bathed in the ashes of the camp fire and we all had huge smiles on our faces.  A great time had by all.  The tough time getting everyone up and moving this morning....well worth it.

The view from here, is mighty nice I'd say.

I get by with a little help from my...brother.

She is happiest while covered in dirt.

The happy little campers..check out the bottom of the feet. And this was only 30 minutes in.

Baby Gator

How amazing are trees? I couldn't get over all the history this tree was around for.

Petting the alligator

Twinsies checking out the gators...

and of course...the boys feel the need to get as closeaspossible.

{insert Jaws theme here}

My dad :)

My dad and me enjoying posing for silly pictures...

T turned a bit pyromaniac while he was camping

This was a another post for the A to Z challenge...