Family Bike Ride

We've been talking about going on a family bike ride for awhile and it was finally warm enough over the weekend.  I was particularly excited, because I've had my beach cruiser for a year and a half and have never had a chance to ride it because it was either the dead of winter or I was super pregnant.  I don't even own a bike helmet yet.  We prepared ourselves that this bike ride would be more like a bike walk, and it was just that. But it was fun. This was Q's first time out on her bike other than pedaling around in the backyard on the patio and lawn. We don't have a bike trailer yet, so we brought the stroller and Aaron pushed Soren (and pulled Corbin along on his bike) while I helped Quincy steer, and Reese circled around all of us, having the time of her life.  About halfway through, Quincy "got it" and was much more confident. As predicted, Corbin pooped out after 1/2 mile and wanted to run and explore on the trail instead. Which was fine with Aaron since he wanted to check out the fish, too.  They walked behind and the girls and I rode along slowly ahead.  

 The children guesses what kind of animal might live in this hollow tree.

About 3/4 of the way around, we crossed paths with a woman who didn't speak english, but was carrying 6 or 7 heavy grocery bags on the trail.  I assumed that she was planning to meet up with her family who were all fishing at the end of the lake...about 1/2 mile away.  She'd already stopped to rest her hands a couple times as we approached her.  We parked the bikes and Aaron let the older children check out the trail and I pushed Soren in the stroller with some of her grocery bags in the basket below and then I offered to carry a couple.  She was so relieved. It was a small gesture, but Reese and Quincy were touched that you can serve anyone, even a stranger, and even a stranger we can't communicate with. Aaron would have just spoken to her in spanish, but it wasn't necessary. She knew I was offering to help and accepted and actual words didn't matter.

 When we approached the end of the trail, I rode ahead around the lake one more time with just Reese, while Aaron and the other three stopped by some ducks and then headed to the car to load up.  It was really fun to stroll along side by side and talk to Reese. We made it back to the car just as Aaron finished buckling Soren and packing up the stroller.  

We were starving when we got home and grilled spicy honey chicken for us with extra chipotle, and plain chicken for the children, and were surprised when Corbin ate a ton of the spicy chicken.  I have some awesome children.

Summer Solstice

Well, there are no sandy beaches or cousins in Arkansas, but we do have an abundance of natural springs and good friends, here.  We took a picnic lunch to Blowing Springs Park and met up with the Gulbransens and Zebleys on Wednesday.

This place is incredible and conveniently located 5 miles from our house and within walking distance from the girls' elementary school.  There are campsites and picnic areas, dozens of trails, caves, a pavillion and park area, but the main attraction is the natural spring that flows from the cave.  It is clear and shallow and full of creepy treasures for the kids to discover.

 
 In no time at all, the kids had a nice collection of crawdads and salamanders.  No, we weren't Arkie enough to take the crawdads home and eat them via crawfish boil, but I've heard they're actually pretty good.  Eh...pass. For now.  Give me a few more years in the south.

 Quincy caught in a pick.

Reese with one of her best friends, Madi.

We'll probably end up calling this picture, "How Corbin got Giardia".  Hey, Ozarka bottled water comes from around here, doesn't it?   So that's basically the same thing, right?  Right?  At least the water he was drinking was clear...

 Or maybe I'm the one with giardia. ;) I got nauseated and threw up all over the bushes right before lunch.  Corbin and Cole followed me up the trail and just stood there, staring at me.  Seriously, they couldn't look away. Cole was like, "You're puking?  That's your throw up? You feel sick?"  Luckily, there is an awesome cold breeze that flows from the cave and we sat in the shade and managed to stay nice and cool and I felt better pretty quickly, but still...third trimester and still tossing cookies in public?  Classy.  This pregnancy has definitely been my most difficult and reminds me a lot of when I was pregnant with Reese.  But hey, she turned out pretty perfect so at least I know I'm cookin' up a good one.

 Corbin and Cole: always together and always up to something.

 Mission accomplished. They caught a rock.

We continued our Summer Solstice celebration on the way home when we all stopped for half price milk shakes at Sonic.

I made a yummy pesto veggie pizza for dinner with a bunch of the goodies from our garden.
I'll post the recipe soon.  Happy Summer!

Jan-Feb in Fast Forward

Here is the speed version of some of the highlights from the past 7ish weeks.

1) Reese and Quincy finally saved up $30 and earned their long-awaited trip to Build a Bear. They were so proud of their accomplishment and told pretty much every person in the store that they raised baby chicks, took care of them, and sold the extra eggs once a week. I love that they paid for the experience with their own money. The girls are eager to feed the hens and gather and wash the eggs every day now that they have a physical reminder that hard work brings great rewards. Here they are in the store, flashing their cash around like gangstas. It was super tacky and totally awesome.

Quincy chose an obnoxious hot pink valentine kitty to stuff and named her Emma.
Reese chose a white puppy with a red heart patch over the eye and named him Pupcake.
Corbin fell in love with every animal in the store and filled an entire basket with treasures.

I had a coupon and we paid for Corbin to make a little brown dog named Puppy.

2) Aaron and I went on a date to see Hairspray at the Rogers Little Theater. The show was great...mostly because of Aaron's coworker. Kalisha is a Planner for Walmart by day, but a highly talented singer, dancer and actress by night! She played Motormouth Maybelle and one of her solos was given a standing ovation in the middle of the show. She is amazing. Aaron and I both love live theater, but it is even more enjoyable when you know a member of the cast. This was our first time to the RLT and we will definitely go back. Great job, Kalisha!

3) Preschool was great and busy as always

4) This one is a highlight for the kids, but was definitely a lowlight for me. We Bunny-Sat for a couple weeks. The children fell in love with having regular access to a furry pet. I learned that bunnies smell absolutely terrible and threw up every time I went into the garage. Our friends picked up their sweet bunny during naptime, so now Corbin is confused and still looks for the bunny cage in the garage every time we go out to the car, and says, "Oh no! The bunny's gone, Mom!" and occasionally searches for her in the yard when we're playing outside. Asia (the bunny) was very spoiled with hay and carrots (and a few Little People) stuffed into her cage during her visit here and the children loved taking care of her.

5) We wore a lot of pajamas and ate a lot of pizza and takeout

6) We discovered Mario Kart, Skeeball and the sushi chop game on the Wii

7) We had our first snow day and the kids spent an entire day putting their little snow bunny suits on, playing in the backyard, then coming in and taking them off, warming up with hot cocoa, then putting thier suits back on again. I loved that it was warm enough for them to actually enjoy the weather and spend a good amount of time playing in the snow without freezing. Usually when it snows here, it is so cold they only last a couple minutes outside. We didn't get a ton of snow, and it melted after one day, but that day was a good one, especially for Reese, who loves snow so much she prayed for it to come before winter ended.

Aaron pulled Corbin all over the yard in this little inflatable sled.

Roaring River

About 30 minutes from our house, in the Mark Twain National Forest, is Roaring River State Park (where we went camping 2 years ago, and where Aaron and I went for a date 3 years ago). We took a little drive a couple weekends ago and ended up over there. We visited the hatchery, fed the fish, threw rocks in the river, played on the playground, checked out the fishing, walked along a couple trails, tried to catch minnows and tadpoles, and explored the spring that supplies the water for the river and hatchery.

This spring produces 20.4 million gallons of water a day, and is the beggining of Roaring River. The water it produces is a constant 57*, which I find sort of amazing because it was a blazing 103* outside on the day we were there. The spring opens up to a cave and in the 90's some divers measured it's depth at 224 feet. In the 70's divers discovered an opening to an underground cave with fresh air.

We have a gift for finding ice cream anywhere we go.

The kids loved the hatchery. I thought it was pretty gross. There are like a billion fish in each of those huge tanks, and when a single kernel of fish food hits the surface of the water, it explodes with fish. They release fish every week into the river (which is why it is so easy to catch them) and we wished we had brought the kids' poles with us so they could fish. We will definitely remember to bring them next time!

Dear Aaron

it isn't the same without you.

This Weekend, We...

Ate steak burgers at Station Cafe and went to Pickin' on the Square.

Sang Happy Birthday and ate Dark Chocolate Cake Pops. I'll post more pics of the super cute decorations I made, and the even more super cute birthday boy (that I also made) in another post.

Watched Reese remind us that we should never ever ever ever consider signing her up for t-ball ever again.

Ate buckwheat waffles and pecan pancakes at War Eagle Mill (sheena, you would die over the pictures you could take at this place. I actually feel bad that you have to look at my sorry attempt to capture how cool it is)

Climbed a lot of stairs and went antiquing in Eureka Springs

Ate paninis at "The Pizza Slut"

Notice the shopping bag....I found another hook for my bathroom in a cute store with a zillion old
doors and windows as a ceiling. It's like the store was calling me in!

Saw Thorncrown Chapel (briefly, they closed for a wedding)

Drove up to Christ of the Ozarks and a piece of the Berlin Wall.

Eureka Springs is a cool, but odd place

My parents stayed home with the kiddos and tried to push Diet Pepsi on my baby.

Ate Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Dippin' Sauce, Sweet Potatoes, Pasta Salad, Green Salad, Baguettes and Watermelon.

Went for a walk to the Tanyard Creek Waterfall.

Good weekend. The only part I regret are the two minutes I spent attempting to watch LOST for the first time ever. Wow. I will never get those two minutes of my life back.