A Few Days with the Cousins, Part Two

"The fun part"

As usual, we had a great time at my parents. It was freezing and wet, but that didn't stop us from having a little fun. Mom and Dad have moved back to the land we lived on when we first moved to Rice. It's way out in the country, and they've had lots of work to do clearing everything out again. Recently my sister and her husband have decided to move out to the front part of the land, so there has been lots of brush cleared out to prepare for their house. This means it's starting to look more and more like it did when I lived there.

On Friday night we celebrated Melanie's birthday a few days early. The birthday girl will be six on Thursday. Here she is:

Saturday morning I ventured out to take some pictures while Dad and the boys went to town to get gas for the Polaris. I had to borrow a pair of Dad's boots to stuff my pants into (so I wouldn't ruin them in the mud), and they worked great.

There's a great big tree in the middle of the above picture. It hangs out over a small creek, and when I was a kid there were vines hanging from the branches. We could wade out into the water, catch a vine, and pull it over to the bank. Then we'd hang on for dear life and see who could swing out the farthest before dropping down into the water. It was so much fun!

This creek and tree, however, where the easy ones. At the back our land, there was a much larger creek with a steeper bank and stronger vine. That one was the best because you had to climb the tree to get the vine. We'd "accidentally" fall in the water when we weren't supposed to be swimming. I'm guessing you probably can't get back to that creek right now without a machete. We used to have a trail that I'm sure is all grown up now.

This picture shows the beginning of our path to freedom as kids. In the woods, we'd play war and hide and go seek; we'd dream up stories about escaped criminals who were hiding in our woods (we needed to capture them, of course); we'd shoot at rabbits and the occasional snake; we'd pick peaches from the tree in the dried up creekbed, and eat them before we got home because we weren't supposed to be in that creekbed. So many adventures began with this trail.

There used to be a natural bridge here (where you see water now). On the right was the creek in the previous picture, and on the left was a small pool of water about four or five feet deep. Once you crossed the bridge, you could go straight back to the place we called The Circle. It was a huge bois d'arc tree that had been completely cleared out all the way around by the horse. It stood near the back fenceline and served as our permanent camp, base, or other meeting point. All of our friends knew where The Circle was, and if you were lost or scared or wondering where everyone else went, you could find your way to The Circle and know that someone would be there soon.

This is in front of the house. They've cleared out so much more land than we had cleared when we lived there before. The little stream you see in the picture has always been there, and I distinctly remember a Sunday afternoon when about four of us (my brother and our friends) got into a mud fight in that stream. We were all soaked and laughing with mud caked in our ears and hair and between our toes. There are pictures somewhere. I looked for them at Mom's but didn't find them. Someday when I run across them I'll post them here.

Well, when Dad and the boys got back we went mudding. It was about thirty-five degrees, and the boys wore old ski clothes to keep from getting too wet and muddy. Keaton had fun for a little while, but then he started saying, "No more!" so we dropped him off at the house.

Pretty soon my nephew Brian got too cold and wanted to go in. He's eight, so we just dropped him off where we were and let him walk up to the house. Too bad his boots got stuck in the mud. We had to rescue him and drop him off at the door.

Tucker was the most adventurous of the bunch. He stuck with us to the end even though we were all freezing and wet and cold. My eyes were watering so much from the cold I'm surprised I could see to drive! I think going through the deepest part of the creek was Dad's favorite.

Then it was time to gather eggs. Keaton had been talking about gathering eggs with his Pop from the moment he found out we were going to Rice, and he's continued to talk about it ever since.

The parting picture for part two is one of the dogs. Dad wanted every grandson he ever had to be named Augustus and called Gus, but none of us came through. So recently he got a new puppy and named him Gus. The hound is named Elvis, of course.

It was a fun-filled, memorable trip. Around two o'clock we loaded up all five kids, Tucker, Keaton, Melanie, Brian, and Colton, in Mom's van and headed back to good ol' College Station.

Little did we know that the peaceful Saturday was only a short respite from what was to come.