Lost Pines Round 2

I was a little nervous that we would not like Lost Pines as much as we did last year. Boy was I wrong. We once again had a wonderful family vacay just 2 hours up the road from Houston. The week after July 4th we loaded up and went to relax in Bastrop, Tx.

Justin sported his silly bands that he received from writing his letters and memorizing his Bible verses. About to lose some circulation there, sonny.


Cheers to a wonderful start to a great weekend.


Justin had a great time on the rocking chairs outside Major Neighbors' Grill. We love going and eating dinner at the golf course pro shop just because of the different menu.


Justin tried to take some photos. I promise I was having a great time, just a lousy smile.


Taking a photo of Daddy.


The family photo op that Justin was squirming in.


He had a tendency to hide in my hair.


Justin took this self-portait of his foot, along with the bruised toenail that he has been growing out all summer.


Then it was off to roasting marshmallows. Due to the rain they moved the activity to the pavilion behind the pool.


We threw on our swimsuits for the second time since arriving and went swimming in the dark. Not a soul was around except us and the brand new shark float that we copied the Bowmans on. Yes, after one trip around on it, Derek deemed it unsuccessful to holding up Justin in the water. So we donated it to the Lost Pines lost and found.


And instead got our double float action that Justin loved traveling in. This year was great because for the most part Justin would half swim half walk/run in the water while Big D and I were floating in our tubes.


Justin was all over the games in Shellers Bar & Grill that we ate at for dinner one night. He actually got a hole-in-one on the golf game.


Tag team back again


Such skills and concentration from our family


Then it was an attempt at shuffleboard


As well as darts that weren't that sharp and hard to get to stick in the target


Thanks to the rain and lots of humidity, several photos came out with an artistic haze to them. I was getting my meter all ready to go and liked this one anyways.


The worker that I stopped to take our photo actually had the same camera, lens, etc. So score on knowing how to use my camera. Those that know my camera nazi-ness might say I don't love this photo. But this is the "natural" smile that Justin gives when you ask him to smile. So I love this photo (and it's now my desktop screen saver) because it just shows the stage we are in right now. The natural Michaelis look.


This one has a better smile but we are a tad bit out of focus. The risk you run with using an aperture of 1.8 on 3 people.


Then we were off to roast marshmallows for s'mores again.


Did I mention that Justin doesn't like s'mores? He just wants to roast the marshmallows. So I also make a s'more, which means a lot of times momma ate s'mores for two for dessert.


And I would get double Hershey bar chocolate for my sandwich. Hey, it's vacation. In this awkward eating photo it appears I have a dimple. See, Justin gets it from me too. Wink wink.


Derek being playful.


And now just being a good sport.


Let's not forget the other member of the family. Roxy gets to go because dogs are allowed. She would lay in her bed right at the entrance by the door in our room waiting for us to return every outing. She loved hanging out on the patio, going on multiple walks everyday, and just being with her favorite people.


Though right now I think she is sulking.


Another photo op with a humid lens. We brought Justin's bike to use for our early morning walks, but he wanted to try out the LP bikes.


The training wheels didn't touch the ground evenly, so we opted for the cooler looking bike to ride around.


All in our process to trying to make it back for a nap, we stopped to decorate cookies.


We chose mini M&Ms for our cookie garnish.


Still sporting our cut-off-the-circulation silly bands while we try our first bite.


Though the cookie was small...


...it brought a satisfying response.


Super pumped that we finally hit the 42 inch mark on the slide. Much to my surprise, they let those that were not that height ride down with an adult. Huge difference from last year and definitely an improvement.


Justin loved making multiple visits up the slide deck


He tried all sorts of stunts coming down.


Mr. Trickster


Then we stumbled upon the giant homemade slip 'n slide on our way back for the nap. Let's just say we took a late nap that day.


After dumping enough Dawn liquid soap to wash away germs forever


Justin attempted his first slip experience.


Let's just say he was less cautious with each attempt.


The extend


The side-turn


The back turn. I was laying on the ground on my stomach to get these angles, and a woman walks up and asks if I worked the Starburst tournament. I asked her how she knew, and she said she remembered me laying on the ground to get photos at the tourney. She of course knew my dad, so the world continues to get smaller.


The splash pad. This photo makes me smirk. Need I explain?


Everyone loves a good fountain massage.


Our project for every morning walk. Find the roly polies and keep them in a cup for pure enjoyment.


We got new ones everyday and then let them loose in the afternoon. One time Justin decided they wanted to jump from our 2nd story balcony, only to land on the rocks below. Not sure if those guys made the fall.


Is your skin crawling yet?


Once again a fantastic trip that we all deemed totally worth every penny. Especially when you could get Hyatt giftcards from Costco that enabled to pay the entire bill at 20% the total price. Thanks again to the Bowmans for that tip. Cheapest trip yet!

Favorite memory of the trip: Derek and I were in the lazy river, each in a single tube. Our ever so independent son was floating without a floatation device but had a hand around each of ours to form a line of Michaelis'. Justin looked at each of us and said, "Mommy, daddy. I think I want you to start calling me JT. Don't call me buddy, and sometimes you can call me Justin. But I like JT." So hold me accountable, the boy is ready to grow into his designated nickname...