Picture the teeny-tiniest little black ant you’ve ever seen. Crawling around, seeming harmless. Now add fire. OUCH. We encountered these little terrors in southern Texas. Black fire ants. Not red like we had always known fire/army ants to be. Not large. Just some of Texas’s worst little residents who quietly crawl onto your toes and legs and bite for no reason. And the bite has stages of torture that all together last four weeks. First it gets red and swollen and itches like crazy, then forms a hard bump that itches like crazy, and lastly scabs and itches like crazy. A month after the initial bite, it finally heals and goes away. We’ll spare you a photo.

But a wonderful part of Texas existed in Lake Tawakoni. It’s a large calm water reservoir used for boating and recreation that we camped at. Large lily pads floated here, with mesmerizing water droplets serenely dancing on them.

We took an evening trip to Dallas, where we spent a few hours at Klyde Warren Park. It’s built directly above a freeway downtown. There’s a super fun playground, library racks with reading materials for both children and adults, outdoor cafe, live music, jumbo Jenga, foam building blocks, and green space. Afterward we ate at Hat Creek Burger Co., which was not only delicious but very kid-friendly. There’s an Airstream camper playground outdoors for the kids, and open-air dining so you can keep an eye on them while you eat. Plus delicious custom-order milkshakes with candy add-ins.

We also attended a county youth rodeo on several nights. SO cool. Kids can watch peers show their roping and riding skills. Each night of the rodeo kids in the audience were even called out onto the dirt arena by age group to try to pull the ribbon off a calf running free. (Winners got a prize.) So fun.