Here's the digital scrapbook page of our day at Silver Dollar City!

Yay! Were here!!!

Ready to ride the tram! On our way back to the car at the end of the day Grace said this was her favorite ride of the day. Ha!



Gotta see some peanut brittle being made.



And we watched the glass blowing twice. (we also stayed at the potters shop for 45 minutes watching him throw!)



Ready for rides! All the kids get arm bands that tell what rides they are big enough to go on. And on the armband they also put the parents phone number. I thought this was a fabulous idea! Every single kid walking around the place had an armband with an emergency number on it.



First ride with nana! Dumbo!



Teacups with mommy!



Grace Loved all the rides. She wasn't scared a bit. She would have been content to do that all day (and there were no lines so we could have!) but we had to drag her away to go eat in the mine restaurant. This was our family favorite place to eat when I was a kid. It's rumored that MA really thought it was a mine until a few years ago. ;-) The food was not really what we remembered though. They didn't even have fried chicken. But the kids were starving and we all ate up!






Grace on the long rope bridge.



On the carousel. This was one of the only rides jack went on. He didn't want to sit on the horse though and paw paw ended up holding him the whole time. We really didn't do too much in the kids section.



Ready to ride the train!



Grace did a great job of plugging her ears so she wouldn't be scared by the loud noise! Lol!



My favorite ride by far was where you rode a boat and shot a water gun at the people on the land while they shot back at you. It was tons of fun! Here is Grace practicing her shooting skills!



And of course we got Grace a parasol with heart gallons and her name on it... Just like my sister and I had when we were little!


She chose red!



While we were waiting for the umbrella to be made I took jack inside to listen to some music. He loves any kind of music, but really liked the bluegrass that was everywhere at sdc. He clapped along and the said "yay!" when it was over!



One of my favorite parts as a kid was the little town near the entry. My kids really liked it too. Grace loved going to school and visiting with the teacher (of course).



Jack played with the toys (of course).



Here they are petting and hugging the goat at the farm exhibit.


We then toured an old log cabin that was right by an amphitheater with live music. Everywhere you turn in the park there are really very good musicians performing. When we were walking by they asked for a volunteer to come sing a song. They tried to get a little girl to do it but she got shy on stage. Grace was completely bound and determined to get up on the stage and sing a song and that's what she did! She walked right up there introduced herself and sang the ABC's without missing a note while the band played along. I was shocked to say the least but very proud too! All the old guys in the band seemed surprised as well cause she really did do an excellent job and wasn't scared at all! And they gave her a green Bible bookmark and an Elmo sticker for her performance. Ha!


It was a long drive home and the kids conked out and didn't even take baths when we finally arrived.

It was a wonderful day! I can't wait to go back!!! Can we go again tomorrow?!?!

Trout Fishing at Roaring River

We stayed one night at Roaring River State Park on our way to Branson. It was absolutely beautiful. The only thing that was bad was that Jonathan wasn't with us (he had to work) because he would have been in love with this place. Here are a few.. Okay, a lot of pictures...

Grace by the river.



They had a playground right by the river and it was by far jack's favorite part. He especially enjoyed the slides!









Walking back to our cabin.



Walking through the hatchery.


At the mouth of the natural spring. The water is really cold because it comes out of the side of a mountain!






Looking at the big fish.


And the baby fish.


Cabin #1 built by the CCC.


Grace ready to try fishing!


Paw paw helping a bit.


The neat thing about fishing in north Arkansas and Missouri is that the water is so crystal clear you can see all the fish and watch them bite your bate or (in our case) try to bite the crazy maneuverings of a 3 year old holding the line. Wow! Grace was a terrible fisherman! Haha! She could Not hold still and she definite could not be quiet! But she had fun. I think when she is older this will be a great spot to catch some fish.

And here is a side story for your reading pleasure...

When I was 5 my dad took me camping and fishing at this state park. I totally remember everything about it... Except for catching the fish! Ha! Apparently on the day we went the fish weren't biting. I cast my Mickey mouse pole and hooked a big trout. I didn't know what to do or how to real him in so I just took off running backwards and pulled him up on the shore! I do remember watching my dad clean it and being grossed out. And I do remember eating it and thinking it was good but had too many bones. And I do remember that my dad was SO proud of me! I hope Grace is making some lasting memories of our summer!

Lots of Happenings

It has been a super duper crazier than usual couple of weeks. Jonathan's dad had a hip replacement, so life in Shreveport was beyond craziness. After he came home from the hospital the kids and I headed up to my parents to get out of the way for a while. We have been having a great time here! In one week we...

Have found a "pet" turtle who likes to wander around the premesis.

Done a daily routine of gardening which usually includes eating all the ripe blackberries off the bushes and a giving the plants a good drink (before bath time).



Grace made her first pie. It was totally from scratch, crust and all. It was fabulous! Lemon meringue is perfect in the summer. Paw paw has the patience of Job also. The sad thing is Grace really wanted to like the pie but she didn't! I was really surprised because she is usually all about any dessert. Jack is usually my non-sweets kid. He and the rest of us really enjoyed it though.



Mom and I went to the basement and found a bunch of old furniture and I started some major repainting/refinishing/refurbishing projects for THE HOUSE WE HOPE TO BUY AND MOVE INTO THIS SUMMER!!! Yes, you read correctly. It's real enough for me to start planning for the kids to each have their own room... And Jonathan and I to have our own room!!! YAY!!! And I hope Jack likes cowboy stuff because he does have Mitchiner blood and that seems to always come with quite a bit of western decor... as well as a love for Bob Wills. He's got the Bob Wills part for sure. Now I'm working on setting him up with the furniture. :)



And because we just couldn't resist a spur of the moment mini-vacation while the weather was good we took one! We went to Roaring River state park, and Grace got to try her hand at trout fishing! She was terrible and caught nothing. But I think she will definitely improve as she gets older. If you cant catch a trout at Roaring River than you may just not be able to catch a trout. I caught my first one at this very place when I was 5. Grace has a couple of years to go. :) I'm pretty sure were going to be making the trek to southern Missouri more often now that we know how easy it is to get to and how super nice it is once you get there.



And we fulfilled Nana's three year itch to spend a day at Silver Dollar City in Branson with the grandkids. It was so much fun! I'm serious, y'all. I really could go every weekend. I think I may have had more fun than anyone else, and we all had a great time! Nida's are traditionally Disney people, but I told Jonathan that I'm pretty sure this branch of the family is more Silver Dollar City material.



Well, Jonathan came up for the weekend and he and I spent the whole day together on Saturday (driving... Long story). It was great to have so much time to talk and catch up and plan and just be together with no interruptions. Then Sunday we skipped church (the kids were tired and had runny noses) and spent a day as a family. That was wonderful too. We got to play interments and sing together and just goof off.

And that brings us to today! This morning we went to the Fort Smith rodeo parade! It was so much fun! The weather was perfect and we were all impressed. There were hundreds of horses, hats, flags, cars, motorcycles, bands, and even trash trucks at the very end... And I don't have to remind you about how Jack feels about trash truck now do I?



It's definitely been a busy couple of weeks but I am so thankful to have been able to do so many really fun things! Now the question is will I be up for taking Grace to the actual Rodeo tomorrow night?!?

And stay tuned because I'll try to put some more pictures up of each of our fun adventures as I have time.

Chalking

Here we have a kite, sun, and clouds. Can you see it? Jack added the pink blob in the upper right corner for us. :)

A Really Big Pancake

Jack was helping me make pancakes this morning. Grace got hurt and I turned around to help her and encourage a shrug it off and this is what Jack did while my back was turned. He took a huge spoonful of batter and put it in the hot skillet. He made himself a huge pancake! Haha! I'm so glad he didn't get hurt. I guess it's a good thing he knows exactly what he's doing in the kitchen already.

Hungry?

Apparently Grace thought I was hungry at breakfast.

When she set the table she gave me a serving fork! Haha!

Who's The Boss?

G: what's a boss?
Me: somebody who is in charge of something.
G: oh... God is definitely the boss.
Me: you are exactly right. God is definitely the boss!

Today Grace Said:

While I was trying to take her picture with Maggie to document her ability to walk the dog by herself for a whole walk...


"I can't look at the camera."


"I have to look at that squirrel over there."


"ya see that squirrel over there?"



"that's a good girl, Maggie"


"Maggie is doing great on this walk."


"I think she sure is having a good time."


"ha. There's that funny little squirrel over there."



She also told me during lunch that she was ready to get a job. She wants to work at the library. And she wants me to work with her. I asked her if she wanted to be a librarian when she grew up. She said, "No, right now. While I'm still three." She really wants me to be the teacher at story time and she be my helper. That way we could work together... At the library... While she is still three. You know, it might just be fun, Grace!