We decided to take the day and head out to Mineral Wells. The first stop was Mineral Wells Fossil Park. It is a little tricky to get to. The turnoff from 180 comes up quickly after the sign for Indian Creek. You go down a bumpy road that turns into a dirt road and then you are there. We go there and with no one around and had the whole place to ourselves for hours. It had rained the day before, so the ground was still damp, but the surface rocks were easier to find. The day was cool and overcast which was perfect for being out a while. We found stacks of fossils, mostly Crinoid columns, lots of colored stones and deer tracks. The girls loved it and it was hard to leave.
Our next stop was Mineral Wells State Park. We made our way to Penitentiary Hallow up on a bluff where there are large rock walls, small canyons and caves to explore. We had lunch and headed out. We had a lot of fun and Abby is such a little daredevil, we need to keep pretty close to her. It is a fine line between being and overprotective parent and just making sure your kids stay say when you are out there. Things were going fine until Abby tripped and bruised up her leg. Even that would have been fine, but I had brought my large flashlight (four cell) and had it zipped in my back pack. I bent over to help and the damn light found the 4 inch opening I had left, slipped out and smacked her on the head. Of course, it was the slightly sharper lens edge and gave her a little cut. Some panic ensues, so I carry her up out of the spot we were in, mom takes her to clean her head and see what we are dealing with. They come out and we decide it is not back enough to warrant going home just so we go back down, but to the lake this time where we mostly just sit up on a rock and look out over the water.
I felt horrible. Watching that damn light fall on her head made me feel like an idiot. She’s ok and the day was fine, but just dumb things like that put a huge wet blanket on an other wise perfect day.
We finished by going to the little shop there. I got them each a little candy and we fed the ducks. The drive back was fine with only a few arguments breaking out. By then end, we were all worn out which was what I really wanted.