I Didn't Know

I was young. I thought I knew it all.

I had met a young man. I knew I was in love and that was all that mattered. We were to be married this day.


Really, I had no idea. I thought I knew what/who I was getting.



I didn't.



25 years later, I know so much more. And you know what, it's so much better than I ever imagined.


I love you, Timothy.

My Guys

Just a snapshot of who I live with!

Jefferson Ridge

How in the world did I miss blogging about this?

The first weekend in April, we took Rosey out for her second voyage. We camped for the weekend (April 3-5) at Jefferson Ridge at Dierks Lake. It was a lovely area.



Tim brought the boat. He and Walter spent a lot of time fishing. Sam and I just enjoyed.



Mom and Trista visited us for the day on Saturday. We introduced Trista to the game Yahtzee. She loved it. After winning, she was declared the Yahtzee princess.



There was only one casualty. Tim dropped his phone in the lake! Luckily it was in a shallow area. He jumped in quickly and retrieved it. By chance, I happened to have a bag of rice in the camper. A lucky break! After 24 hours in the rice bag, his phone lived again.



Sam and I enjoyed time on our bikes. You may notice Sam is sporting his new cruiser bike.



Our camper is small but can sleep four people, barely! When those four people are all adult size, like my crew is, that camper gets a bit cramped. We tried something new this time and brought our tent for the boys. It was a wonderful for all of us!



And of course, no post about camping would be complete without a picture of my grillmaster!



A wonderful trip. I'm sure we will be visiting Jefferson Ridge again soon.

Mardi Gras Shreveport Style part deux

Saturday was a rare treat. My hubby and all three kids and I spent the day together. We traveled to Shreveport for the day to enjoy good company, great food and an awesome parade!

Tim was bestowed the esteemed position of gumbo chef. Really he just followed directions and stirred a lot. But between a wonderful recipe and some super stirring, we were served some of the best gumbo I've had in a while.

You can see the people lined up waiting for the parade. Also a picture of our tailgating head-quarters.

We are already looking forward to next year. Thanks so much for the wonderful hospitality, Dave.

Kale and his Papa

Kale loves his Papa. It's that simple.



They really have a special relationship. I love watching them together.



It doesn't matter what they do, they have fun. Most of the time it does involve being outside.



Kale is all smiles when he has his Papa.



In fact, they both are all smiles together!

Fair Pictures #2

One of the rides that Samuel and I loved was called the Super Shot. It slowly took you to the top, which was wayyyyy up there! The basically, dropped you! Fun, fun!

I handed Tim my stuff, which included my camera.



This is my "why are taking my picture" face.



We did get some really cool pictures though. Some taken by Tim, some by me.



This is my fake scream look.



This is my real scream look! LOL



Fun times!

My New Hobby

Our family has a new hobby. I alluded to it earlier.



We are now a family of bicyclers.



Jamie and I bought cruisers. The boys and Tim have mountain bikes.



Not that we have any mountains to climb, literally speaking. I, personally, would rather cruise through life. LOL



But I do know this, I'm excited about my new hobby. This kind of exercise doesn't seem so much like exercise. I feel like I'm in training. In training for several trips in the future, where I will take my bikes along. I can't wait!

Grand Gulf MO

This state park of Missouri was formed when a system of caves collapsed. The water that is caught by this system of "gulfs", travels through an underground system and reappears at Mammoth Springs.



This state park is referred to, by many, as Missouri's Little Grand Canyon.



It was breathtaking to say the least.



My calves are still hurting from our trip the the bottom of the canyon and back up!

THE Float Trip

I want to own up to something right now. The drought is our fault. You know how when you wash your car, you ensure it's going to rain. Well, we bought kayaks....therefore, no rain!

We've gone on two float trips this year so far. Both fairly disappointing. Not enough water in the rivers.

We decided to go to Spring River for a float trip. This river is fed by Mammoth Spring and if "full" year 'round. It was a nice float, but I guess I expected a bit more flow to the river. At times, I felt like I was on the Caddo. Sloooooow! At least the second half of the river was slow. The water was cool, but not cold. Keep in mind it was near 100 and sunny. So the water felt good.





We had planned on a 16 mile float. We made it about 14.5 miles. We were on the river eight hours. It was all we could handle. Had the river flowed a little faster, we would have made it all the way. There were waterfalls, about 2-3 feet. Nothing scary though. We did have some rapids. They were fun.

The river was classified as a class II. I think we are ready for class III. I'm just sayin'.

When we reached the low-water bridge and were informed that it was still 1 1/2 to 2 hrs until we reached our take-out point, we decided we were done. Luckily, there was a rental/outfitter there. He happily took Tim back to the truck for a small fee (that we were thrilled to pay him). While Tim was retrieving the truck/trailer, Sam played on the low-water bridge, and Walter fished.









It was a great run. Looking forward to the Buffalo river next spring!

Not in the Plans

Ever have a day that just doesn't go as planned. Nothing big really. Just little things. You think you have a handle on the way things are going to go and they just don't.

Well, that has been my day today.

The good things that did happen today...

-Getting to see Kale today. He came to visit and was so happy to be here. He is just growing up so fast. Talking a lot now. We can't understand much yet, but he sure knows what he's saying. I gave him a bath and after he was in the best mood, just laughed and played.

-My husband making it home safely after a week of hard work to provide for his family. I don't tell him enough how much I appreciate him.

-Watching Kale and his Papa reunite after a week apart. Those two sure do have a connection.

I know there were other good things that happened, those were just on the top of my list.

Ending the day on a good note!

Date Night

Tim and I enjoyed a date night in Hot Springs, complete with dinner at a wonderful Italian restaurant! Thanks, babe!

.....and.....I'm back!

It has been a busy month. I can't really say why I fell out of blogging, but just know that I'm trying to fall back in again.

Tim, Sam and I made a trip to San Francisco at the beginning of May. So I thought this might be a perfect place to start again.

I'll begin with Lombard Street. The curviest street I've ever seen.



We walked down it....



... and we walked up it!



...let me tell you....this was one steep street!!!





...but we loved it!