Surviving the Storm ::Weekend Snapshots::

As we all know Houston is currently under water, again. The rain has not given our communities a rest. Of course, mother nature is so unpredictable and we can't allow it to dictate what we do. For a few weeks now we had planned to go camping this past weekend since it was Memorial Day and we all had some time off. But, we didn't expect the rain to pour down the way it did last Friday night. As we packed up and got our truck ready for the weekend's adventure the rain came down, we didn't let that stop us. 

We had planned to arrive in San Antonio that night and then drive out to Garner State Park Saturday morning. As we started our drive out of Houston and onto I-10 the rain started to clear. We made it to San Antonio with no rain in sight and the next morning left to Utopia. Camping has become one of those yearly must trips! Especially as the kids grow and learn to love  the outdoors. 

This has been, at least, our 4th or 5th time making this trip with the kids and despite the hiccups along the way, it's always fun! The kids do become restless and get on each others (and our) nerves.  But, it's manageable and all part of the road trip experience. We tolerate it to a certain point and take plenty of rest stops to give one another a break. It's all about learning along the way and fixing those areas where we could all use some help, like patience!  

As I said before, Friday night we made it into San Antonio and the next morning after a very hardy breakfast at Cracker Barrel (I had never been) we started our route to Garner. It's always exciting knowing that you are so close to your destination. 

We arrived at Garner Saturday morning and spent the day setting up, cooking and swimming in Rio Frio. Everything was great. We ate good food, laughed, splashed in the water and had some sangria made by my Sister-in-Law, Ale. It was picture perfect until the storm.

That afternoon I took a much-deserved nap and when I woke up it was night time and the kids were roasting marshmallows. At about midnight, the rain started, but it wasn't some light trickle rain. It was a flood advisory downpour rain. After about 30 minutes or so Ricardo and I decided we needed to abandon ship, or in this case evacuate our tent. The water was seeping through the seams of the tent and rising from below. Our air mattress and pillows were getting wet. It would be a somewhat long, uncomfortable and kind of scary night for us. The rain poured for about 3 hours or so. When the morning came the sun came out but we had already decided to head back to San Antonio and spend the rest of our holiday weekend there. 

We made breakfast Sunday morning and then headed out once again. 

The kids were such good troopers and usually go with the flow so it's easy to make quick decisions. It's always good to remain calm and the kids will follow your lead. We did panic the night before thinking about rising water and our safety but overall we made it through. We did have a great weekend with lots of fun memories and good experiences that will help us survive any other storms that come our way!

LINKING UP WITH ARI OF 3TWENTYSIX FOR HER WEEKEND SNAPSHOTS ROUND-UP! 

{Pictures from San Antonio tomorrow...}