Break Is Over

Hello there!!

What was supposed to be an August beak

turned into a little more than that.

No real reason, just what happened.

I'll catch you up on the last seven weeks.

It won't take very long,

it was a slow time as I spent most of it indoors!!

Here's what I did when I occasionally ventured outside . . . 

watched reflections as I chatted with my sister . . .

spent some wonderful "water" time with family . . .

searched for the last summer flowers . . .

enjoyed the car show at Queen Wilhelmina State Park in Arkansas

(our car is the red one, 1943 Ford five-window coupe)

kept a close eye on our buckeye tree trying to beat the squirrels to the buckeyes . . .

visited a different library and discovered a nature trail . . .

anxiously looked for signs of fall and cooler weather . . .

and started dreading the raking of the leaves!

I couldn't pass up the sad face on this particular leave.

Maybe it didn't really want to float to the ground!

That's about it in a nutshell!

I did do a few other things, but I'll save those for another day.

So glad to be back!
So glad you stopped by!!

Busy, Busy, Busy

It's been almost a month since I've written here and that isn't like me at all. Family and other activities have kept me busy through the month of June and into July. Here's a short synopsis of what's been going on around here.

1. A trip to my daughters where all the cousins were together for playing, swimming, a little basket ball practice, treats to keep us cool, and lots of laughter and good times.

2. Two different cars shows in one day with Old Red our 1940 Ford truck. Both had crafts and booths for me to wander through while Mr. H wandered among the vintage cars.

3. The highlight of the month was riding the Arkansas Missouri excursion train with our grandsons. We can be quite the rowdy bunch when we're together. It's hard to keep boys still and quiet, so we were thrilled when we found the lounge of the Silver Feather touring car empty. It was just waiting for us. Instead of regular train bench seats, there were two couches, two tables with chairs and plenty of room for loud, active boys. It was a wonderful ride.

4. An afternoon with Mr. H and my sister traveling through four counties photographing courthouses, ghosts signs, and historical buildings.

5. Attending a history tour with the Arkansas Preservation Program at All Souls Church in Scott, Arkansas. The community was too small when this church was built in 1906 to have a building for each domination. The women of the community decided one church building would work. Preachers of different faiths alternated Sundays. The church is still in use and is now a nondenominational church.

6. A short hike with our grandsons to see a waterfall. It was way too hot to hike any further. They cooled of by playing in the water below the falls.

7. After the hike we picnicked and swam at Lake Catherine State Park. It was a perfect summer day.

8. And lastly we ate at the boys favorite restaurant, All Aboard, where a train runs around the ceiling delivering your food right to your table. There's even a Thomas The Tank Engine train table for playing after the meal. The food was great, but we'd eat there even if it wasn't, just to see the trains running. These boys love trains.

That's about it.

I'm tired, but it's a good tired.

July seems to be slowing down, so I can rest up and stay inside where it's cool. But, I will miss the good times with my five guys!

Hope you're having a great summer!

Let's Go Hiking!

We didn't have a normal Thanksgiving this year. We didn't have our meal on Thursday. We didn't have fancy dishes. We didn't dress up.

In fact, we had our meal on Wednesday. We used throw-away dishes and we ate with a little dirt on our jeans. 

It was the most wonderful Thanksgiving week. We spent our week at a cabin in the beautiful Ozark Mountains. Of course you can't go to the Ozarks with doing a little hiking. 

We all arrived in stages, so on the first day my daughter, her three boys, and I walked the Whitaker Point Trail. Our destination was a rock formation that juts out from the bluff that resembles a Hawk's beak. Thus it's called Hawksbill Crag. It overlooks Whitaker Creek and a huge valley. Above you can see my daughter and boys. Below, I'm with the boys and you can see the rock formation. Although it is a little scary knowing that you're out on a rock even if it is a wide rock. We didn't go near the edge and we made the boys sit down! I'll have to confess, I wasn't about to stand up!

On the second day, my son and his family arrived. We all hiked the trail to The Glory Hole. The Glory Hole is a waterfall cascading through a natural-made hole in a rock down into a cave. The trail is steep in places, especially going down to the bottom of the waterfall where the rocks are damp and slippery with leaves. None of us minded taking a few breaks along the way!

Gramps arrived in time for the hike on the third day. Lost Valley was our destination. This was my favorite trail. It's beautiful with so many rock formations, a waterfall, a cave, and unusual trees. The trail starts out easy, but as you climb becomes more difficult.

Our little Isaac, whose is two, walked with me at the beginning of this trail. We brought up the rear. Ahead of him is Jerry (my husband), Randy (son), Patty (daughter, on left), Aimee (daughter-in-law on right) and the three other grandson way up there in the distance. You can barely see them. Although Isaac walked as much as he could, his dad had to carry him through the difficult parts.

This trail has a Natural Bridge where water flows out of a tunnel into a reflecting pool. Remember I said it got harder. We actually climbed up the right side of the waterfall into the tunnel. I still can't believe I did that. That's me in the picture above, far left.

There's a second waterfall on this trail, Eden Falls. What happens when you put boys and water together? You get lots of rock throwing! As the rocks hit the water their sound echoed loudly around us. It sounded like small canons.

Rest time again!

The rock formations were breathtaking!  

One last picture, of me and the boys. You'll notice that our oldest grandson is not with us except on the first day. He and his dad hiked the Buffalo River Trail, a total of 39 miles. An amazing accomplishment for these two!  So proud of them both!

(picture taken by Jacob, my son-in-law)

Thanks for hanging around and getting to the end. There's just so much I want to share about our week. I'll be back with a few more nature details as soon as I'm able.

Trains & Boys

wheels

pistons

bells

horns

lights

Those are a few things you'll find at a train museum

along with
rivets

metal

grim

dust

and numerous circles.

Oh, and the textures, they

almost overloaded my mind!

This past weekend
you would have also found my favorite five guys at the museum.

Isaac

Jake

Josh

Aaron
Drew
(starting on the top row, going left to right in photo below)

The lighting in this old building, which was originally a train repair shop, was horrible. The ceilings are very high and the lighting was dim. To complicate things there are windows all around the top that sunlight flooded through. The bottom of the building was dark and the upper part was super bright which totally confused my poor little point and shoot camera!   Since I was climbing up in those trains with the boys, carrying the big camera wasn't feasible. Perfect pictures were not important; family fun together was!

The boys liked the diesels, but me, I liked the steam engines. My favorite was the St. Louis Southwestern No. 819. It was the last locomotive built in Arkansas. The locomotive built in 1943 was retired in 1955 when the newer diesel engines made their arrival. The 819 is called the queen of steam, weighs 368 tons, measures 100 feet, takes 150 gallons of water and 15 gallons of oil just to run one mile of track. I actually got to see this engine run at a festival in 1988. It was an amazing sight to see and to hear!

There was so much to see and do. The boys could climb around and play on most of the engines and train cars. There were a few train races going on as they sat in the windows of the cabs and yelled back and forth. When asked who won the race, Aaron said, "It was hard to tell who won the race since we really weren't going anywhere!!" But, it sure was fun to pretend.

Part of this area is still a working railroad. In one of the shops the train wheels were being refinished and repaired. When the wheels were finished they were rolled down a ramp where they bumped into another set. The boys waited for a good while to see the wheels roll down and bump. The sound they made was similar to a giant bell. BONG!

We had such a fun day.
I love these guys
and cherish every moment I spend with them!!

Sunday Sundries - Edition 37

Gramma's Guys

“Our hearts grow tender with childhood memories and love of kindred,

and we are better throughout the year for having, in spirit,

become a child again at Christmas-time.” 

― Laura Ingalls Wilder

Sunday Sundries - Edition 21

two grandsons + me + three cameras = photo scavenger hunt

 

 

Two of my grandsons (the seven year old twins) spent the week with us while their mom and older brother went to church camp and dad worked. I tried to come up with a few fun things to do while they were here. I know they both like to take pictures so I decided to put together a Photo Scavenger Hunt. I compiled a list of 20 items we could look for.  We each took turns closing our eyes and pointing to the list to see what we were photographing next. I'll just show you a few examples of how we interpreted the things on the list. I think they were both very creative.

 

 

flowers

 

white rock

tire

green

water reflection - Drew captured his brother's reflection and Josh captured a granddaddy long-legs. It's in the upper right corner.

feet

 

 

something blue

 

Together we took a total of 251 pictures and had the best time. If you have children or grandchildren this is a great summer activity!



Ready To Go...

I've spent over a week resting up from our family vacation. I finally felt like going again...not on vacation...but, at least out with my camera to enjoy this Monday morning.  Morning was all I could do...by noon it was 91 degrees and humid and I was tired again!

 

I didn't realize how tired I would be after

 

• keeping up with Gramma's guys,
• climbing to the top of the USS Alabama battleship,
• walking through underground tunnels at historic Fort Gaines,
• strolling the trails at a bird sanctuary,
• spending the afternoon at the sea lab, and
• swimming in the ocean. (yes that is me...that little dot way out there...I told my daughter to take my picture in the ocean, but don't come any closer!)

 

I was totally worn out and that's just a fraction of what we did while on vacation at Dauphin Island, Alabama. Anyway, I think I've made it back to normal!

 

As I mentioned at the top, I did get out with my camera this morning. I needed some pictures of water for a photo prompt, so I went to the Old Mill in North Little Rock, which is an authentic reproduction of an old water-powered grist mill. This beautiful mill appears in the opening scene of the classic 1939 film Gone With The Wind. Built in 1933, it was designed to look old so it would appear as if it was built in the 1800's.

 

 

It's in a pretty city park with flower gardens, water splashing, birds singing, and shade!

 

Although I only spent the morning there, it was a much needed source of photography inspiration. I kind of lost my incentive after being on vacation. There was so much beauty to capture on Dauphin Island and back home, well it seems kind of dull!

 

I hope you're not to tired of my vacation pictures, you have to understand it's been a very, very long time since I've been on vacation and we were at such a beautiful location!

 

Hope you had a great Monday!