{Weekend Wrap-up // Pt 1 // Glen Rose, TX}

I had high hopes of posting my weekend wrap-up on Monday, but life happened and I didn't finish editing all of the photos in time! We had another amazing weekend and filled up our memory tanks once again. I am trying to figure out how to make these sweet summer weekends last forever. We have had such an amazing summer so far.

Friday we went to visit our new friends at Ozzy's for an afternoon snowcone! We love visiting with Donny and Amber, and of course the cones are amazing too. Mason won a free snowcone by dropping a quarter in the water drop. I wish I would have had my camera ready because his face was priceless! Then, Donny let Mason go behind the counter and make his own snowcone!! It completely made his day! {Donny and Amber - if you're reading this - THANK YOU!}




Later that evening we went to Joe Pool Lake in Grand Prairie to visit a bunch of my family that was camping there. We only stayed for a few hours because we had to be somewhere the next morning! Mason had a blast playing with his cousins! I didn't take many pictures, but I love this one of the boys. It makes me laugh because here we are at the campgrounds and they are playing with electronics. Don't worry - that only lasted a bit and then they were chasing each other with water-guns, playing soccer and making snowcones.


Saturday morning we were up bright and early to go to a back-to-school fair at the High School! My main reason for going was to get Mason some spirit shirts. This year they've incorporated spirit shirts as part of their uniform, which I think is awesome. I knew the quantities in Mason's size were probably limited, so we got there pretty early. And boy was I right! They only had 1 design and less than 20 total in his size. I got three! We also got a bag of school supplies and Mason got to hang out with a minion! He also got a glimpse of the fairly new and totally high school. Needless to say, he's excited and ready for high school. Slow down, buddy!


After the school fair we ran home to get things ready for our day trip to Glen Rose, TX. It's about an hour and 20 minutes from our house, but an easy drive. We fully intended on spending some time at Big Rocks Park, but ended up spending most of the day at Dinosaur Valley State Park. We went to Dinosaur Valley park first because we knew that it fills up pretty fast and it closes earlier than the other park.



 
We stopped first at the humongous dinosaur statues to grab a few pictures. It was HOT! Mason was all about getting a quick picture and carrying on about our way. I couldn't blame him.

   




If you're not familiar with Dinosaur Valley State Park, it is a state park in Glen Rose, TX and where real Dinosaur Tracks were found. You can walk the Paluxy River and check out the footprints of different dinosaurs. Sometimes the water is too high, or too mucky and you can't see them {happened to us once} and other times it's so clear that you can see them from hundreds of feet away!

Right past the Dinosaur statues is the Track Site #1 - The Blue Hole. This is the first area that you can see dinosaur tracks and it's also an old time swimming hole. We found a parking spot, so we decided to start our trek here. We thought we came pretty prepared, but not so much! It has been so long since we've been there that we forgot how much of a hike it is to get to the river in this spot. We didn't take any water for drinking. And, I made the ROOKIE mistake of wearing flip flops and bringing my big camera. I'm glad I took my camera because I got some great pictures, but it was so difficult navigating that river in flip flops. I was sliding everywhere and tripping over the rocks. It was an adventure, for sure.

 


We saw dinosaur tracks as soon as we got down to the river. Mason was so excited and kept calling out what type of dinosaur he thought the tracks were from! We were excited that the river was clear enough to see them.

   




The river was a lot warmer that we expected it to be. I guess we shouldn't have been surprised since it was a whopping 107 degrees that day! We walked a good portion of the river and saw many fish. We even saw some with brilliant colors. We surely weren't expecting to see such vibrant fish in that river. They were too quick to capture on the GoPro, but we tried. Some parts of the river were cooler than others, so Mason would stop to take a dip.

      






It was so beautiful and peaceful in the river even though I was struggling just to stand and not drop my camera in the water for the majority of the time {flip flops). Nate braved the camera and snapped a few pictures of Mason and I.




Then the boys decided to lay down in the river and take a break! They had fun making shapes out of the clouds. I of course had to snap some pictures.

     





We gave Mason the GoPro while we were on the river and I was pretty impressed with some of the shots he got {even the selfies}. He had so much fun and looked entirely too big.
         








And there are plenty of videos to go along with these! Once we got back to the area that we started we decided to head back to the truck. I went up a bit before the boys because I found an area that was a little more flat and easier to climb in flip flops.

We had planned on leaving Dinosaur Valley State Park and going to Big Rocks Park for a bit, but not before I found some better shoes. There weren't many options in this tiny town, so Dollar General it was! But, it was perfect...I found a pair of black mesh type tennis shoes that would be perfect for walking the rocky riverbed or climbing the big rocks. Thanks for coming through Dollar General!

We headed to Big Rocks Park only to find that it was insanely crowded and the water was only about ankle deep. It didn't look like much fun with these conditions, so we headed back to Dinosaur Valley. This time we went to the 2nd Track Site - which was the main track site. The hike down was a little easier than the first area we went to. But, the rocks were much more slippery. I had never been so thankful for a $15 pair of dollar store tennis shoes in my life. I would have busted it so many times if I were still wearing the flip flops. We spent another hour and a half walking the river. We found so many great swimming holes along the way. These were all taken with the GoPro because I was only dumb enough once to bring the big camera. ha!

            
















After our 2nd river hike we loaded up and went to downtown Glen Rose to visit the Soda Fountain. I couldn't get any pictures because it was so dark in there. Nate got a strawberry milkshake, Mason had a Big Red float, and I had a Dublin Grape Soda in a bottle. Next we went to a park nestled along the river so that Nate could do some fishing. Mason and I explored the area while he fished.

               
















I'm going to stop because this post is getting so long and picture heavy! There is a part two, but I will save it for another day.

How was your weekend? What did you do?

10 comments

  1. Oh man I want to go to that State Park and see dinosaur footprints (and I know a 5 year old who would too!) Love your pictures! And how awesome are all those water shots.

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  2. How cool!! We want to go there! I looooove those pictures of you & Mason! Heart is melted!

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  3. I'm amazed by that dinosaur place!!! How cool is that!! Obviously not temperature cool but wow!

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  4. I have had GR on our list for years - maybe this fall I will actually make it happen! Looks awesome!

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  5. First of all, Simon would freak out over that Minion! Second, the state park sounds soo cool! I had never heard of it before. Great pictures, I never knew the go pro could also take pictures - they came out good!

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  6. Thank you for giving us another picture of you... I love when you are in FRONT of the camera.

    107?? See why I moved away? :)

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  7. Yet, another reason we need to move to Texas! This looks like so much fun!! Love the pictures you got. And I'm so impressed that ya'll stuck it out in those temps...I'm such a baby when I get hot!

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  8. This looks so fun! My son would be in Heaven at the Dinosaur Park. Even as old as he is he's still obsessed with dinosaurs, too!

    As always, I loved all your pictures!

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  9. That state park is SO cool! I really need to pass this post along to a friend so she can see it too. It seems like a place they would love to visit. Also I totally want a go pro now.

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  10. I want to do summer with you! You find the coolest stuff. I mean, DINO tracks?! That is so awesome! It's like every little boys dream to see those for real!
    But, let's talk about how adorable Nate and Mason were when they were in the river making shapes out of the clouds. The. Sweetest. Thing. Ever.

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Thanks for the comments! Hope you are having an amazing day!!