Diego Adventure

The hubby has a gig on Sunday mornings, every Sunday, and so it is considered a work day for him.  Thus, he takes one weekday off every week to spend with the family.  We try to take advantage of perfect weather, as it does not typically last very long in our neck of the woods.  So we packed a picnic and headed off to a local park and arboretum for some play time and an adventure.  Little did we know, we would be taking a full-on adventure, Go Diego Go style, through the trails in the woods to find animals and stuff.  The trails may not exactly have been my idea, since I had worn my cute little flats to the park (I just cannot pull off the whole tennis-shoes-with-capri-pants thing.)

But before embarking on our adventure, we had to make sure we were sufficiently prepared.  We figured making the boys climb fake rock walls would help build their endurance:

We wouldn't let them eat until they had made it to the top.  No wimps allowed on the Diego Adventure.  We also had to make sure our bellies were full.  After all, what if we got lost in the jungle and we couldn't find our way back?  (Dane kept calling the trees a "jungle".  We didn't want to break it to him)
This picture was taken right before Aidan licked the picnic table:
And, we had to unload extra "baggage" that we didn't want to take on our little hike.  Any experienced hiker will tell you that even the slightest bit of extra weight feels a lot heavier by the end of an adventure.  Aidan has talked to many experienced hikers, and he felt compelled to do this several times throughout the day:
He's light as a feather, my friend.  Now we're ready.  Do we have everything a good Diego Explorer needs?  Diego undies?  Check.

Diego socks?  Check.

Rescue Pack?  (Do NOT call it a backpack.  It is so clearly not a backpack.  It is a Rescue Pack.)  Check.
We must consult the map.  Otherwise, how will we know which muddy path surrounded by trees to take?  And according to the map, we should keep our eyes peeled for butterflies, armadillos, and snakes.  I just love nature in Texas.  It did not tell us that the only animals we would actually see in abundance would be squirrels and ants.  And one butterfly.  And Brandon thinks he saw a snake, but I'm trying very hard to block that image from my subconscious.
Any armadillos in here?  Possibly...Definately lots of mud and ants.  These mud and ants have been thoroughly examined by the explorers here.
Our tired explorers were worn out after a long day of squirrel-counting, tree-marking, and sandwich-eating so we headed back home for a couple of extra long naps.  But not before buying 12 ribeye steaks for $20 from a guy on the side of the road with a cooler in the back of his truck.  I'll let you know how those turn out.  More pictures of our Family Day at the park later.