New Bikes and Pinnacle Mountain Picnic

One of the biggest additions to our family lately (besides the baby news, of course, if you missed my last post) are new bikes for the kids. We bought them (used) a couple of weekends ago, and they've been a hit around here. Because we don't have a great place to ride bikes, our kids' cycling skills weren't up to par. Sissy couldn't even ride a tricycle. She never learned, and now she was too big for one. Feeling shame on our parts, we loaded the kids up one day and headed off to buy bikes and helmets.

I love Sissy's Schwinn because it reminds me of a bike I might have had when I was little. She's really great at riding now. They love for Ryan to go with them on long rides in our neighborhood as often as possible.

Dash is still using training wheels. I don't think it will be too much longer before he can take them off. He can steer down an incline without them on; he just can't pedal without them yet.

Dash

And we also got Tornado a bike, but we haven't found the right training wheel match-up yet. It's hard to find a bike with training wheels that is big enough for his long legs. We're also looking into getting him one of those low rider bikes for older kids/adults. And we're trying to encourage him because it's just not something he's as interested in. When something is physically challenging, he wants no part in it, and we're working on making it an attainable activity for him.

Friday night, Ryan suggested we meet him in Little Rock for supper. We picked up food from Whole Foods, then met him at Pinnacle Mountain State Park. It had been awhile since the kids had been to that side of the mountain, and it felt all new and exciting for them.

The kids played on the playground for quite awhile after we ate, while Ryan and I had a rare moment of sitting alone to talk and watch them. We also walked through one of the trails along the creek. Fun night, and it wore the kids out. I think they all fell asleep (or close to it) on the way home.

Just a heads up since I haven't been posting as much lately; I have several posts going up this week so check back!

Beholden

Continuing my list of big things and little things for which I am thankful (my goal is to make it to 1,000!)...

#127: Fun with the microphone...of course, I can't tell you who this is...I have to protect the privacy of my house guests...but I'll give you a couple of hints:

He likes to sing, and he's as big of a ham as I am.

And he looks a lot like this girl.

#128: I'm thankful that Sissy can so quickly go from this...
"Don't take my picture!"
to this...in 30 seconds flat.
#129 I'm thankful that a girl has the prerogative to change her mind.
Because the kids are, then I am also thankful (#130) for a little rain because although sand is fun, a hole of wet sand looks even more inviting.

#131: remote control cars in the park

#132: family picnics

#133-134: hands to hold onto you and the joy that comes from twirly slides

#135: big cousin looking out for little cousin

Rush was not amused.

#136: cousins as friends

#137: little girl giggles

#138: Ryan bringing flowers home to me one day for no particular occasion

#139: the love of Googie...

All on her own, Sissy was singing this song she made up, "I love Gooooogie. I love Gooooogie!" as she looked at my Mom's (realtor) business card. And then she kept kissing her picture.

#140: COACHES...especially volunteer coaches

#141: the tunnel

#142-143: a Mother's Day card from my kids and the names carefully spelled out in their own handwritings

That pretty much sums it up.

#144: and one from my true love

#145-146: I'm grateful that Ryan spent the whole day helping me clean and organize the house. And then he gave me a massage right before I fell asleep. Awww.
#147 my present from Dash (painted onto a ceramic tile)

Also #148-154: a positive parent-teacher conference with Tornado's teachers, fun field trip to see a kids' concert with Dash's class and Sissy, watching (I really love it.) Dash play soccer and t-ball this weekend, another great day of soccer for Tornado (Ryan had to take him because we were double-booked.), and a nice little field trip with Dash and his class plus Sissy to the library this morning - grateful for the fun little experiences his school sets up (You wouldn't believe how EXCITED the kids were to see the other side of the outside book drop-off. The librarian went outside and dropped the books in to demonstrate, and it was like magic to them.) and loved his excitement over getting his own library card.

Last, #155: the nap of which I am about to take on this fine, rainy day...

Blanchard Springs Caverns

Update: If you're stopping by from Field Trip Friday, we will be out of town; I won't have time to post about a new trip. Here is a visit to one of our favorite places in Arkansas.

We enjoyed having Daddy off for the 3-day weekend. Friday, we decided to go to Blanchard Springs, which is about two hours away. The only down side is how carsick Tornado and I always get. Practically any place we want to go in Arkansas gets the two of us feeling awful (but luckily, we never throw up). It doesn't help that we are the two that like to read in the car.

We had to stop at the Wal-Mart in Mountain View to buy Sissy a pair of shoes. Somehow she made it into the car without any. I'm not pointing any fingers. ;)

We found a lovely place to enjoy our picnic lunch and had a superb day.

It was really hot outside, and it was wonderful to step into the 58 degree cave. Tornado LOVED the tour. We chose the easier Dripstone Trail tour.

Dash enjoyed it, too, but he wasn't always quiet when the guide was speaking. He only got called out once for touching the cave wall, which was the biggest cave rule; it can damage the whole cave ecosystem apparently. Leave it to my son. In his defense, an adult man also got scolded once, as well.

Halfway through the one hour tour, Sissy had pretty much lost her patience. She was tired and thirsty. She wouldn't stop saying, "I want my juice."

It was impossible to get a picture to capture the cavern's amazingness, but if you're that interested, you can see a picture here. I literally said, "Wow!!" when we stepped inside.

There was a pretty good little museum to enjoy while we were waiting on our cavern tour time. The boys are now fascinated by bats, and we are starting a little bat unit because of their interest from this trip. Of course, they loved the huge piles of bat guano in the cave.

A little piece of trivia for you because I just looked it up to make sure I was getting it right: A cave is "any cavity in the ground that does not receive direct sunlight." A cavern is a specific type of cave. So a cavern could also be called a cave, but a cave isn't always a cavern. Got it?

We also watched a very informative/educational short film about the cave's formation/history.

We went swimming next. Here they are playing the Daddy-invented game, "Float the Rock." The goal was to land little rocks onto the big rock.

Dash could go swimming in the creek every day. He was right in his element.

He was the last one to exit the water at the end of the day.

There were signs at the main swimming area declaring the area closed due to unsafe water conditions (e coli). Is it weird that there were so many people swimming there anyway? I don't know how all that works.

The people at the visitor's center directed us to a different swimming area, which had apparently tested safe. Even so, we pleaded with the kids to keep the water out of their mouths as much as possible, just to be safe. This is my ever-so-obedient 4 year old, filling his mouth with water, even as we were begging, "Don't put the water in your mouth! You're going to get diarrhea!"

This did not phase him. Thankfully, it's been a week, and I guess he made it, unharmed. :0

"A good time was had by all..."

Clearly.

Visit Live the Adventure to read about other fun "field trips."

We love our new picnic table.

The kids and I loaded up the other day and went to buy a picnic table at Toys "R" Us. We had been wanting one for awhile, but I kept putting it off so that I could find the perfect metal or wooden one. Cheap (although it wasn't actually cheap - $89.99! For plastic!) and maintenance-free won out, though. It wouldn't fit in the back of our car so a sales guy helped me open the box and squeeze in all the pieces. Then Daddy lovingly stayed up in the dark that night to put it together for us.

Anyway, we use it almost every day now. Every day that doesn't rain, of course. I have been trying to have the kids eat most of their snacks and lot of their meals out there. Helps with indoor-mess problem. It's very helpful, too, that they are in charge of keeping their table clean. And they love going out there, damp cloths in hand, to clean it.

We were planning a trip to a nearby lake today, but we didn't want to miss out on seeing the cousins tonight. Instead, we had a special picnic outside, using our new stainless steel To-Go Ware container. It is three-tiered (and even comes with a little Sidekick that fits inside for dips or sauces, etc.). I always get inspired with the cute lunch boxes at Vegan Lunch Box.

We had sunflower butter and fruit spread (365 brand "Fruits of the Forest" - doesn't that name sound delicious?) on Food for Life fruit juice sweetened Brown Rice bread sandwiches. I think this may be my new favorite bread for nut/fruit sandwiches; it's spongy - like sponge cake (I mean, you know, as spongy as "less-processed" bread can be.). Fruit salad and granola "salad" with Galaxy Granola vanilla munch, Himalania Goji Berries & Almond Crunch, and a few Annie's Homegrown Organic Bunny Fruit Snacks mixed in. You know what they ate first, of course - the bunnies.

We also dig our new Bambu veneerware sporks (idea from Green and Crunchy...I'm such an easy target for cool kitchen gadgets that are pictured with pretty food)...spoon on one side, fork on the other. They are supposed to be disposable, but we have been carefully reusing them (can't leave them in dishwater, though, or they come apart in layers). They are biodegradable, though; I can just toss 'em out in the woods when we're finished with them!