Buffalo River-Fall 2011

Buffalo River Photo Gallery

Ron and I have decided we want to get the boys involved in backpacking.  To get from point A to point B is going to require a lot of babysteps  We've done a lot of hiking the past few months. We've slowly been collecting gear when we find good sales.  Noah and I even spent the night a few times camping in the backyard (on the trampoline which is surprisingly comfortable). Our next step was to go camping but we missed that window this year.

Or so we thought. On Tuesday the weekend forecast stared to creep up to lows in the mid-50s.  So with a little trepidation from us and a lot of understanding from our wives we charted a course for the Buffalo River National Forest. We roughed it a little more than typical camping calls for but it was a learning experience for us and what works when camping with little kids.

Saturday was spent hiking to Hawksbill Crag and Sunday we explored the riverbed. We had rain come in Saturday night but the equipment held up to task. The boys had a blast and the dad's returned them safely to their mom's. Bring on the Spring!

Fresh air

On Sunday we had to take Finley back to her mom. We met in Clarksville and made the switch. Afterwards we stopped at McDonald's for lunch. There was a trail head we noticed so we decided to have an impromptu picnic. It really was a pretty day, so we decided to explore the paved part of the trail.

I'm sharing this story for two reasons. First I wanted to share this picture of Campbell with her 'walking stick' because it was pretty cute. Second was a pretty funny story crom the hime.

We are far from tree huggers but we've always told Noah not to kill bugs and such for no reason. All creatures great and small, yada yada yada. We leave animals in their habitat unless a spider is dumb enough to come in the house then it's survival of the fittest vs my size 13.

On this day, Noah yelled at his mom to stop in the middle of the walk. She complied and he rescued a grasshopper that somehow avoided the stroller and her feet. He was amazed the bug survived and he showed it to Campbell who dutifully bent over to inspect it. He shared with Cam his entire knowledge of grasshoppers and then told the little guy to "hop off the sidewalk before you get hurt." Right on cue Campbell swung her walking stick overhead with both hands and with truly amazing accuracy smashed the grasshopper into a dozen or so grisly pieces. It was the first time (I'm sure not the last) I had to restrain Noah from attacking his little sister.

Howdy pardna!


Noah has the Husky Hoedown at school today. He borrowed some western wear from a friend and he is set. He practiced asking his teacher to doe-c-doe at breakfast and when I left him he was stomping his boots loudly into the front door of school. Tonight is the actual hoedown with games and dinner. Campbell and Jenna still aren't feeling well so I don't know if he and I will be going stag or if we'll have dates. Either way will be a lot of fun.

Porcelain Serenade

Noah singing to his long lost Phenergan-

Sung to the tune of Lady Antebellum's "I Need You Now"-----

It's a quarter after four, I'm by the throne and I need you now
Said I was done but I can't go to bed and I need you now
And I don't know how I can do without
I just need you now

Yes the stomach bug is running it's way through the household. Campbell on Tuesday. Ann and Weldon on Wednesday.  Noah on Thursday.  I feel like I'm walking around with a big bullseye on my back waiting for it to hit. My fingers are already starting to split from all the hand sanitizer.

Mamaw and Papaw for the Weekend

We had a really nice weekend with Mamaw and Papaw coming to visit.  They did the usual.  Pancakes at McDonald's to start the day. Happy Meals at lunch. Then they play wherever the kid's want.  On Saturday, Jenna and I took advantage of them and took off to Tulsa for the night. We went to the Heritage Beer Festival while the kids went to the Drive-Thru-Safari in Gentry. Win-win all the way around :)

Gallery and slideshow up now.

 

Hippos and T-Rexes and 4 Loco, oh my!

We had an awesome trip to St. Louis last weekend. The DiCarlos played perfect hosts. We spent the whole weekend either shuttling the kids to something cool or hanging on their deck and just enjoying the company. Our families click well with the kids getting along and laid back parenting. I did a fair job of hanging with Nick, but the trip home had me regretting the Four Loco and seeing the other side of 1AM three nights in a row.

I uploaded a gallery above. It's mostly the kids at the Magic House, Zoo, and the Science Center.  


Cousins

Jana came to visit last weekend with Noah and I'm always amazed at the love they share. They have their own secret language like siblings. Campbell is crazy about her too. She followed Jana around and always wanted to sit by her. Jana will always be the 'cool' older cousin she compares herself to. I wish they they were able to see each other more. I can see the 16, 13, and 10 year old texting Jon Isaac and Malia how embarrassing their parents are.