Fishing, Fluming & Fighting; Deep in the Heart of Texas

I grew up in the Hill Country on a ranch. My family has roots and a place in our hearts forever for this area. When we meet, once a year, it isn't in luxurious accomodations or elegant decor. Nope, it's bare bones, simple condos, where we have to cook our own food and make our own beds. We pretty much live in our bathing suits and pack in as much fun as possible.

The players are my dad, my mom, my stepfather,

and four of my dad's six kids...

and nine of the eleven grandchildren.

We focus on the three F's. Fishing, Fluming and Fighting.

You'll see.

Here are some of the kids fishing.

From left to right,

it's Schmoopie, The Monkey, Remy & The Tiny.

Guys, wave and say hi!

Aren't they cute, y'all?

Here's my Donny, fishing with an "old fashioned pole."

Remy doesn't look happy with me taking his picture...

oh, wait, this isn't fishing or fluming or fighting,

how'd it get in here? oops.

Ok, on to the fluming. A flume is a water slide.

This one is built with concrete into the damn that blocks the river.

A strong force of water flows down the slide and deposits the kids down below.

They love this and do it over and over and over again,

wearing holes in their bathing suits. I'm not kidding.

Here's The Monkey and Schmoopie going down on a raft.

They also have jean shorts on so

that they won't wear out their bathing suits when they don't use the raft.

See, here they are without the raft. I told ya so.

Aren't they adorable?

One lives in Houston, the other in California.

But, when they get together, you'd think they were long lost sisters.

Here come some more cousins. They try to pile as many on a raft as they can. The most I've seen at once is four, maybe five. Here is Miss Thang, Remy & The Tiny.

Oh, I forgot to tell you, at the bottom of the flume, the kids have to save themselves from the strong current and then walk over slippery algae covered rocks to get to the shore. It's tough, but they love it. They scream and are dramatic about it, but they have a blast.

This inner tube is tied to a rope, that is tied to the railing where they come out of the water.

Coming down the flume, they search for this rope and inner tube, and grab it for all its worth.

They live in fear of being caught in the current and sent downstream...

where someone might have told them there are snakes. hehe Not me. Nope.

Here is (from left to right) The Tiny, Donny, Remy and Miss Thang. They're arguing over what order to go down the Flume and who's going to go on what raft or not.

I have a confession. My oldest, Donny, is a trouble maker. He likes to jump into the flume and surprise others who are going down it. He causes problems. The girls get upset easily. I can't tell you how many times I heard, "Aunt Rhea, Donny's causing problems."

Oh, wait, here some The Tiny.

It's really fun when the kids start posing for me and acting funny.

That's not our float. But, Remy demonstrates a good point here.

Everyone shares floats and inner tubes and noodles here.

We're friendly that way, y'all.

Here's The Monkey, Schmoopie and Miss Thang hangin' out on rafts...on land...

wait, that's not fishing, fluming or fighting...

how'd that get in there? Ooops. onward...

Here comes the fighting.

It's fun fighting. OUt in the middle of the deep part of the river is a buoy.

The kids get on it and play "king of the hill." You know, last one standing wins.

Here's Wonderboy, Bunny, Schmoopie and Sweet Cheeks showing just how it's done.

Sweet Cheeks does NOT want to go in the water that way.

Wonderboy has plans to put her in though, I can see it.

Uh, oh, Wonderboy won't know what hit him. The girls ganged up on him. His sister Bunny and his cousin Schmoopie are sending him to Davy Jones Locker...oh, wait, that's an ocean term, isn't it? Ooops.
See what I mean, the girls gang up on the boys. And the boys get them back later. You can tell when you hear a lot of screaming. I think I might have lost some hearing from their screaming.

Look at those stinkers. I think they're trying to talk down Sweet Cheeks. She looks mad. She was the youngest cousin on this trip, she's the youngest of them all. She and Bunny. They were inseperable the whole trip and you had to watch out for them. They were up to something, always. Adorable little stinkers.
Well, this post is long enough, so I'll stop...for now. I haven't shown you the other things we did yet. Don't worry, I'll post about them soon. I know you wait with baited breath. hehe