June 30, 2024-Celebrating the 4th in NW Arkansas, Oklahoma, and in Panama City

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Robby and I woke up this morning and went to the farmer's market right down the road. We drove and took Bentley with us, but we could have walked it was so close. It was a fairly small market, but we still left with 4 scones, 1 jar of bbq sauce, 1 jar of mango salsa, and another jar of dill pickle salsa. Robby had already eaten breakfast, but he still came home and had a bit of a chocolate scone. I finished off a orange cranberry scone, and it was absolutely delicious. 

After our breakfast, we went on our first walk of the day. Yesterday, when we were getting in the camper from the griddle thing, I quickly noticed that my watch was not on my arm. It had fallen off and could had been anywhere, but thankfully, it was laying right outside my car door. The band had somehow broken, so my morning was spent not able to track my walks. Probably getting a little sun on my white wrist was good.

We had sandwiches for lunch, and then headed off to Crystal Bridges. We have been there before but will have to go back since it looked to me like they were building 3 new buildings. We walked around the place seeing all of the art. The most impressive was a room filled with mirrors and glowing spheres that we walked into. 

Next, we walked around on some of the trails outside, but most were closed due to the recent tornado We had a bit of time before our tour so we sat and had some type of strawberry drink-it was kind of like frozen strawberry milk. It definitely quenched our thirst.

The last time that we were here, we were not able to get tickets to go inside of the Frank Lloyd Wright house, the Bachman-Wilson house. If you ask us any to name any architect, I could only come up with Wright's name, but really I haven't been too impressed with any of his houses that we have seen (we have never been inside of one and have not seen Falling Water.)

However, I was super impressed and would like a Frank Lloyd Wright house. The front of the house was fairly windowless, but once inside the great room one wall was solid windows. We had things to listen to as we went through the house so that made it even more interesting. One interesting tidbit was that Wright did not include attics or basements in his houses so people would have less stuff.

Before we left the grounds, I had already requested a few library books about Wright, and Robby and I are watching a documentary about him as I'm working on this blog. 

On the way home from Crystal Bridges, we picked up supper from Orange Panda. We also ran by an Amazon box and picked up a few things that Robby had ordered (including a new watch band for me). We came back and ate and rested for a little bit.

Then Robby and I took another walk-longer this evening than this morning. Now we are settled in for the evening-ice cream will happen after the documentary.

The kids at home woke up and made it to church in plenty of time. Then Keaton and Campbell had a meeting about their next camp while Reagan went with a friend to eat at Texas Roadhouse-she got a salad! At least she had some rolls too-I tried to convince her to get a baked potato since a salad and baked potato are my favorite things from there..and the rolls, of course, the rolls.

Anderson and Campbell went back to the house and finished up their packing. I am sure that quite a few of the kids had a nap this afternoon. They have to be at Rock Creek at 9:30 and then drive through the night for a week at Beach Camp.

June 29, 2024-Celebrating the 4th in NW Arkansas, Oklahoma, and in Panama City

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I'll start with the people at home-Anderson and Graham went to play basketball today and played for 3 hours, and then they moved to an hour of pickleball. I'm sure that they were nasty when they made it home. Campbell and Keaton spent the day doing some last minute packing, and Reagan had a sandwich today (sorry, that is all that I know about her.)

Robby and I woke up first here and took a walk. I had gotten ready for the day before we left for the walk, but I shouldn't have-it was hot that I came back a sweaty mess. Robby was wise enough to take his shower after our walk. We walked over a mile and even ended up at a beautiful stream with rocks around it. Bentley walked around the stream while I explained to Robby that I would like to have a cool spring with some cliffs around it in our yard. 

We eventually got around and left the camper. Our first stop was Sonic for a drink fro Whitman and one for Robby and me. Then we went to Walmart to watch Todd Toven. He is a griddle man who sells Blackstone griddles-we have two. 

It was hot in the walmart parking lot, and the seats in the shade were all gone. Thankfully, we had two lawnchairs in the car so it didn't take Whitman and I long to decide to go in the store and buy us another chair. We hugged the edge of the shade as much as we could, but one of my arms are burned and Whitman's neck looks like it could be pretty red in the morning.

It was 4 hours of sitting in the sun, but thankfully there was a bit of a breeze so that made things tolerable-plus the drinks that we had in the car and the popsicles that Whitman and I bought on our second trip into the store. (We made a total of 4 trips into the Walmart today to cool off.)

The man cooked chicken tacos (good), tortillini (my favorite), sausage and rice (way too spicy for me), and meaty sandwich (way too much meat for me). It was a different way to spend the day-we did come home with some hats (I tried to get some colorful ones that the kids could wear to camp next year) and a bottle of spice to use on the griddle. He gave away 3 griddles, but we weren't winners today (which is good since we don't need one.)

After it was over, we walked through Walmart again and bought a few necessities-ha, not really. We bought some more popsicles, yogurt for Whitman since he tried to eat one last night and didn't want peach, and also some reward candy for Whitman (4 hours on a Walmart parking lot in crazy hot weather without complaining gets you a box of lemonheads.)

We then went back to the wonderfully cool camper for a while. I read and napped. Then we had some supper before going on another walk with Whitman and Bentley. Whitman enjoyed walking on a trail by himself and then exploring the cliff ledges near the water. Bentley did not enjoy Whitman not being right near us at all times. 

Now we are all back in the camper and are about to have us some dessert before going to bed.

June 28, 2024-Celebrating the 4th in NW Arkansas, Oklahoma, and in Panama City

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We weren't too sure that we were leaving today so things were a bit hectic this morning, but I still had time to finish my book today so it wasn't that crazy. First, I jumped out of bed pretty early because I had to leave pretty early with Campbell. Before I left, I wanted to have all of my regular chores finished. I didn't have time to walk Bentley like usual, but we still did get a half mile in.

Campbell made with friends from Rock Creek at ChickFilA this morning. That worked out well for me because I had a few things to get from Kroger. I wasn't sure how long Campbell would want to stay, so I did some speed shopping and hurried back. 

I then sat in the car and played on my phone. Campbell text me to tell me that she was about to come out. I guess I forgot though because about 2 minutes later someone was opening the car door, and I just about screamed. It was Campbell, but maybe I should have been sitting with the doors locked.

Once we were back at home, Graham was awake and getting ready for me to help him pack. I don't do much packing for the girls, and even Anderson did it all this last camp. However, Graham isn't the most efficient clothes folder so I don't mind helping for things to be easier for him. He did gather everything, and I just put it in his bag. This time he is trying a suitcase-so we will see if he likes it better (I would think that he would-so much more room than a duffel bag.)

Keaton worked on packing, and Campbell did all that she could to avoid packing. She does not like packing at all. I did make Whitman take a shower this afternoon plus he had to do some school with me and some school on his own. He never complains and does get it done-unlike all of the other people at the house!

Around 3, Grandpa was able to escape from the hospital. Robby took them home, and I figured that be would have been gone a bit longer because I had just finished all my things and sat down as he walked in. He wasn't ready to leave yet because he still had work to finish and to pack his clothes. 

It was about 4:30 when Robby, Whitman, and I headed on our 4th of July adventure. We would have left a few minutes earlier, but Keaton and Reagan had to come run out and say bye to Bentley. We had no problems at all getting to Bella Vista. We slowed for a little bit before Conway, but anytime we get anywhere with all 12 tires properly inflated through the whole trip, we are tickled.

We even arrived before dark, so we were able to un hook the car, back in, and then hook up in the light. Robby and I actually walked a little bit before it became too dark tonight. It is certainly warm and sticky outside even at night, but this park is beautiful with tons of trails.

Reagan went to Sonic with at least one friend tonight. I think that they are doing their usual-sitting around and play cards. Anderson and Graham went to Guys Night at Rock Creek this evening and even made a stop at ChickFIlA on the way home.

Here in the camper, we are about to open up some ice cream to celebrate a pretty good day.

June 27, 2024

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• I woke up confused about what time the kids had to leave and made it halfway up the stairs before I realized I was wrong about the time. I was about to wake the kids up shouting that they only had 10 minutes until they needed to go, but thankfully, I realized what the time was-they actually had about 40 minutes until they needed to leave.
• Today was Serve day for Keaton, Campbell, Graham, Anderson, and Reagan. They went to a few different houses to do yard work. Reagan said that she had to take control of her yard crew and give them some instructions. 
• They all met back up at Raymar to eat lunch, and then they went to church to do a few things around here. They all had fun and must have worked hard-because everyone but Reagan came home and took a nap. Reagan dropped off her brothers and sisters and then went to Sonic to meet some friends.
• Robby went to see Grandpa for a little bit this evening which is when I found Whitman and we did spelling together. I'm sure he gets a bit tired of us working on spelling constantly, but just looking at his notes that he took from Impact, I can see that he is getting a bit more confident in his writing and spelling.
• Reagan came home, and then Robby and I left with the Suburban-Robby dropped me off at Walmart while he got gas, picked up a Sams order, and then ran into Sams. He met me in Walmart, and we finished up a few things on my list. 
• We picked up supper on the way home, and everyone ate. Keaton and Campbell are working on their packing for beach camp-the kitchen table is full of things for their trip, and the mudroom is full of things for our trip. Tomorrow is going to be a busy day around here.

June 26, 2024

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• Reagan was the first to leave the house this morning. She went to Pinnacle fairly early; however, they didn't leave early enough. They ended up in the downpour-I think that it started raining before they made it to the top, but she persevered and made it. Going down the mountain was a bit treacherous she said because the rain and water was pretty crazy.
• When she and her friends made it back to the house, they were dripping wet. Reagan had 2 towels with her already that were soaking. I think that Reagan put some of the girls' clothes in the dryer. Her people were over until about 5 this evening-they even made cookies while hanging out.
• Robby and I picked up Whitman today from his mission trip. I think that he had a really good time, and as we were leaving Candice came up to us and said that Whitman was always carrying something heavy and asking how he could help. Well, I couldn't ask for a better report.
• He said that his favorite part was sleeping-while he has been gone, they woke up at 7 or 7:30 each day and went to bed at 10. I'm sure this was a huge adjustment for him since he is used to his brothers' summer schedule which involves staying up very late. Whitman was pretty quiet at home, but boy, I'm sure glad to have him home.
• This afternoon Campbell, Keaton, and I went to the Wilson's house to help prepare for their big even tonight. The girls cut strawberries, rolled meat up, and did everything that they could to help for this evening. We came home for a little bit to get ready. 
• Robby made it home, and Campbell, Keaton, and I left with him to go early and help. The girls and I were able to help put the cheese and meat trays together. Then the party started-well, actually the party waited for Layne and Ben to arrive. 
• When they did arrive, the party and the noise really stared. It was a fun evening with lots of excitement. The house was full of people and the tables were full of food. 
• We came home, and the kids had some chores to catch up on plus they are leaving early in the morning for a church thing so there is lots of tomorrow prep happening now.

June 25, 2024

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• Another fairly slow day around here. Keaton had a friend spend the night so I did make scones for the people's breakfast. I guess I can't really call it breakfast since it was nearly 11 when I first saw people downstairs eating my scones. 
• I walked twice before it was noon, and surprisingly, it was hotter the first time that I walked than the last time. Bentley even moved slower today maybe because of the heat or maybe because she slept in the girls' room last night. When I went to get her, she was sprawled out on the floor in front of their fan with her monkey nearby. (It is actually Campbell's monkey that Bentley loves and is not supposed to have.)
• When it was time for Keaton's friend to leave, we went to Target so they could walk around first. I needed nothing so I planned ahead-I walked around the store listening to my book. I browsed and browsed finding all kinds of things to look at and send to Reagan to ask if she needed for school. I was having such a big time that the girls eventually had to text me asking to leave.
• Back at home, I had the Anderson try on pants-we are getting wedding reading for July. When I had Anderson try on blue pants and khaki pants he asked if this was a two day wedding. Tomorrow Whitman arrives home, and he will have pants to try on.
• Speaking of Whitman-today it looked like he did some yard work or possibly moving some things around outside plus his group went to Walmart to buy items. He still looks like he is having a good time. I know there are 5 other kids here, but it is always different when one person is gone. That is why I think that we will be a little confused when Reagan leaves in the fall. 
• Robby was at the hospital with Grannymom and Grandpa most of the day. When he came home, the girls and I were out and about. We left after supper-this is the second night in a row that I have made supper for these people here so I'm pretty pleased with myself.

June 24, 2024

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• Robby was gone most of the night and all of the day today because his dad had a heart attack last night. Thankfully, we were still up and heard the phone. I helped get him out of the house quickly, but Keaton knew something was up and was quick to ask. The kids were up late, so I was able to keep them updated on everything as I heard from Robby. 
• Late this afternoon, Grandpa received a stent so things are looking good. I just saw Robby briefly this afternoon as I switched cars with him (I didn't plan ahead well since Reagan and Anderson needed cars tonight) and he looked tired as well.
• The rest of us had a fairly normal day except for Graham. He is the only one who has not been to the dentist for his cleaning yet-he had an appointment scheduled in July, but Grandpa had one scheduled for today. I called early this morning and switched their appointments which worked out well.
• That worked out even better because now Graham can go with Campbell and Anderson when they all get fillings. And Graham did convince me to stop and get him something on the way home. He kept saying he needed a reward, and I offered up a hug and a hardy "I'm proud of you" but those didn't seem to work as well as a 99 cent sundae from Sonic.
• Keaton was supposed to have a friend come over today, but that fell through. I do think that she is having another friend come over tonight to spend the night. The big 5 are all at Raymar for Bible study tonight, and afterwards Reagan plans to go to pickleball for a little bit (who am I kidding-she will be pickleballing or at least chatting and playing cards on the pickleball courts until they turn off the lights)
• I have been able to see some pictures of Whitman today-last night it looked like he was in a dodgeball championship, and today it looked like he spent a good deal of time organizing and moving things at the Children's home. He has on a different pair of clothes than he did yesterday, he looks happy, and he is working hard so I hope all is going well.