AR Friends

Ten years ago, I'd never been to Arkansas. I'd only been to our local "metropolis" once (and only because it was on the way to a vacation in Branson.) And I'd never even heard of where we now live or any of the towns surrounding us. Funny how life has changed. The Metropolis is where R works and we eat, shop, and play. We now have friends in most of these towns I'd never heard of. And two of those friends now call Arkansas home!

KM was one of my first friends in my current district. She worked at the intermediate school with me when I took my first library job. We were both young(er), both hardcore Royals fans (the definite minority around here) and both pregnant at the same time. She was my pumping buddy at work after our girls arrived--not at the same time, mind you--but we used the same room and read the same books, leaving them in the room for the next pump-fest. She left my district a few years ago and now lives in AR so we went down last weekend to spend the night with her family.

We had a great time. KM made some awesome chicken pitas and even my picky eater ate most of it! The girls ran around like crazy with their daughter, B, and their dogs. Then we hung out with some drinks, chocolate chip cheese ball, and late night TV.  We did breakfast the next morning (another recipe I had to have!) and hung out a while before going to see more friends.

Girls with B and her friend

Playing "Spy on the Neighbor." Apparently she's at least 85 so
I doubt it was too exciting. . .

KB was one of my first friends when we moved here. I'd gotten a teaching job at a nearby school and it was a big year for turnover there. Some were brand new to teaching, some like me were just new to that district, but we were all taking on a new journey together. And it was wonderful. We were all fast friends (along with two girls who had been there a few years) and even though most of us have moved on to different schools, different careers, or even different states (like KB) I'm blessed to still call these people friends. 

KB and her husband moved to AR when Sassy was born. Since then, they've had two kiddos (W is Keke's age) and our families have remained close.

They packed an awesome picnic lunch and we ate on the lawn of Crystal Bridges which we've been dying to see. What a beautiful museum!

There was a cool interactive kids' room where the girls designed sunglasses and played with all kinds of manipulatives.

I loved watching Sassy draw--she had to listen to instructions and then see if her drawing turned out like the painting at the end.

And she loved walking around and looking at the art. I'm so impressed with what her art teacher has taught her, and it was fun to listen to her and KB (an art teacher as well) chat about the different exhibits.

 

We spent the afternoon and did dinner, and all too soon, the day was over. It was wonderful to spend time with these friends I'm so blessed to know. It's funny to me that I met each in different towns, in different schools, at different times in my life and now they live about 20 minutes apart! I'm a big believer that God makes people a part of our journey for a reason and I'm so grateful that He placed these two in my path. I wish they lived closer, but now I have two big reasons to visit Arkansas!

Camping Fun

Every summer I get irritated that our weekends fill up. But then I look back and remember that amid all the crazy, we have a lot of fun. This summer we were able to camp six times! And yes, it rained almost every single time...go figure...

We spent the July 4th weekend at a campsite near Uncle S and Aunt B's new house. Grandma and Pop brought their camper down and met us. We had a great time! There was a pool, Grandma made snow cones, we watched the world's longest fireworks show, and of course, we hit the river.

We got to spend another weekend at my aunt and uncle's lake house. Air conditioning, beds, toilets, showers, kitchen....my kind of camping. ;) It's always fun to see my cousin's family and spend some time at the lake. 

At the end of July, we met up with my side of the family for the annual cousins' birthday bash. We stayed in the cutest cabins on a lake (again, my kind of camping!), every family was in charge of one meal, and we had a blast. Plus the kids had Christmas in July (complete with a Grandma-stuffed pinata!) so they were pretty happy.  I hope this is a tradition we can continue--so much fun!

We got to camp three times with some great friends who have daughters just a month apart from our girls. We have a favorite campsite where we've become regulars. :) Most of the time we just chill on a rock bar for the day but this past weekend we went floating.  Our girls always play so well together and we've had a lot of fun through the years.

It was like having six mini vacations throughout the summer. I love that our family and friends love the great outdoors like we do. I love the memories we're making for the girls. I love that we live in a place that has such beautiful scenery. And if I can't be on the beach, the river or lake is definitely a close second.