Almost Homeless

We're back from our house hunting trip, just in time to pack everything up and drive away from Marlise Drive.

The good news is that all our stuff is packed into the trailer and ready to go (we hired professional packers who loaded everything up in record time).  The bad news is that we don't have a new address yet to send it all to.  We found two good prospects to rent, but in both cases someone else signed a lease before we could.  We've made a reservation at an extended stay hotel in Maryland, and we'll live there while we continue the house hunt.  As Joy put it, we're about to be homeless for a while.

In the meantime, the kids are amusing themselves in a home with no furniture . . .

. . . the girls are winnowing kernels from Joy's wheat crop . . .

. . . and the only things left in our closet are the kids' favorite toys, who are apparently having a pre-move party before we all pile into the minivan for a long drive tomorrow.

Todd is tired of moving, and we haven't even moved yet.  Me too, buddy.

Where the Sidewalk Ends

When I was a kid, I read a book of humorous poetry entitled, "Where the Sidewalk Ends."  I thought the title was an amusing joke, because everyone knows the sidewalk doesn't really end, right?  Even when it reaches a corner, it just turns and keeps on going around the block.

Then we moved to Conway, and I discovered that the sidewalk actually DOES end here.  Rather abruptly, as it turns out.

As a matter of fact, it ends about a half dozen times on the big street near our house.

Sometimes it ends just a few feet after it begins (which is probably why these guys didn't bother walking on it).

The ending sidewalks have made me chuckle over and over during our year here, but I didn't get around to photographing them for a post until this morning.  I guess this is a fitting post to write as our sojourn here is coming to an end.  Later this week, Phillip and I will head off on a house hunting trip in the Baltimore area, then it's goodbye Arkansas, hello Maryland!  Wish us luck!

Mother's Day 2017

I once heard a joke that motherhood is a full-time job with no paid vacation or sick leave, you only get one day off each year sometime in May, and you still technically have to work that day.

All kidding aside, my family has done some nice things to make this Mother's Day a heartwarming day.  The kids wrote and drew sweet notes at school and church, Phillip bought me some lovely roses . . .

. . . and Joy and Anna baked me a cake, complete with my very own lollipop. :)

I'm not a perfect mom, and there are many times when I wish my kids came with an instruction manual, but I love them dearly, and I'm honored to be their mom and mentor on their journey back to heaven.

Reptiles, Fish, and Azaleas

We've been to Blanchard Springs Caverns.  We've been zip lining in Hot Springs.  We've been to Heifer International's headquarters and urban farm. We've been to Toad Suck Daze (twice).  The last thing on my Arkansas bucket list was . . .

. . . the Nature Center in Little Rock . . .

. . . where you can get up close and personal with cute, cuddly native critters like a snapping turtle . . .

. . . or a baby alligator.  This one's smaller than Todd, but two years ago a hunter set a state record for the biggest alligator ever bagged in Arkansas: 13 feet, 10 inches.  No wonder some people around here call them swamp dragons.

My favorite part of the museum was the long, segmented aquarium containing fish from various regions of Arkansas.  The tanks held carp, bass, catfish, and long thin gars (including one that was bright white and almost didn't look real).  Daniel wanted to see if the fish would be intimidated by a giant, stuffed trout.  They didn't bat an eye (figuratively or literally, since fish don't have eyelids).

Time for a photo op by the azaleas!  Pink goes so well with green.

P.S. Glasses are cool.

Seeing Bunnies at Toad Suck Daze

The girls had such a great time at Toad Suck Daze yesterday that they asked to come back again this afternoon (Daniel opted to stay home with Daddy).

Anna and I really enjoyed watching Joy race a toad yesterday, so we both wanted to race one today.  Joy raced one toad while Anna and I teamed up to race another (which Anna christened "Hoppy" because it sounds like "happy").  Hoppy actually won the race, and Anna got a blue ribbon.

Joy was still bummed that she missed out on the Ferris Wheel yesterday, so she offered to pay for her own ticket if I would buy a Kona Ice for us all to share.  Done deal.  Anna offered to pay for her own ticket, too, and the sisters shared a fun ride.

Our last stop was a petting zoo on the way back to our van.  The girls got to feed and hold chickens, bunnies, sheep, and goats.  One child tried to pick up one of the pot-bellied pigs, but it squealed so loudly that she put it right back down.  Note to self: Bunnies are for snuggling, pigs are for petting.

Speaking of bunnies, all the animals at the petting zoo were for sale, and when it was time to leave the girls begged me to buy a rabbit.  Don't get me wrong, I'd actually like to have a pet rabbit.  They're cute, cuddly, and they would do a much more effective job of "composting" veggie kitchen scraps than I've ever managed.  Timing is everything though, and I explained to the girls that three weeks before we move out of state to a possibly yardless rental isn't the best time to buy a pet.  Maybe in a couple of years.

Toad Suck Daze

It's Cinco de Mayo today, but most folks in Conway weren't home eating guacamole.  They were in the center of town eating funnel cakes at the annual town carnival called Toad Suck Daze.  In case you're wondering about the name, Toad Suck is a park down by the river, supposedly named because steamboat sailors used to stop at a tavern there, and the locals complained that they would suck down liquor until they swelled up like toads.   In 1982 the sailors were long gone, but the town started an annual festival at their park with the quirky name.  It eventually moved to the center of town, where it has its own dedicated plaza (though it overflows into several surrounding blocks). 

Despite the colorful history behind its name, the Toad Suck festival is very family friendly.  Our kids were immediately won over when someone in a booth handed them free balloons (and cheerfully replaced the one Daniel instantly lost).

One of the festival's signature events is the toad races.  Every participant can bring their own toad or select one from the venue's "stable," then race it against about nine other toads on the two-yard racetrack.  The locals really get into it.  The two girls in the front of this picture were wearing homemade "Toad Racing Pro" shirts, and in the background you can see three older ladies who came wearing neon green wigs and calling themselves the Toad Queens.

Between races, the Toad Master (the guy dressed like a giant leprechaun) invited everyone from out of town to come line up so he could ask where they were from.  I didn't hear the invitation because I was off somewhere with the little kids, but Daniel gamely joined the lineup and told the Toad Master he was from California (I guess we haven't lived here long enough for him to feel like an Arkansan).  He didn't realize when he lined up that he'd be asked to dance the Toady Pokey.

After Daniel finished dancing, it was Joy's turn to race a toad.  Before the race, the Toad Master asks each contestant what their toad's name is.  The most popular name is "I Don't Know," followed closely by "Jumpy."  Joy named hers "Toadarina."

When the race started it was absolute chaos.  The toads jumped in every direction, and the race rules say if your toad jumps out of its lane you have to put it right back in at the spot where it jumped out.  Joy and Toadarina didn't win, but Joy did have a lot of fun.

I gave each of the kids $5 to spend, and everyone but Joy opted to spend their money riding the Ferris wheel (Joy later regretted her choice because she saved her money for a snow cone that wasn't very good).

The kids who rode the Ferris wheel really enjoyed seeing our town from way up high.  As we left the ride and headed back to our van holding our balloons, Anna said she wished she could live at Toad Suck Daze.

May the Fourth 2017

Hooray!  It's Star Wars Day!  I love any excuse to be geeky and celebrate with food (in a Martha-Stewart-would-roll-her-eyes sort of way), so this holiday is right up my alley.

In addition to our traditional (OK, this is only our second year, but if you repeat something even two years in a row that counts as a tradition, right?) Millennium Falcon sheet cake . . .

. . . we had Obiwan Kebabis, carrot light sabers (from our garden), ewok food (AKA veggies and a yogurty ranch dip, which no one but me liked and I will probably swap out next time for Sarlacc hummus like I did last year) . . .

. . . and double light saber hot dogs . . .

. . . with Vaderade to drink.  It's hard to see Darth Vader on those labels I printed because, um, they're kind of on the Dark Side.  I got four colors of Gatorade to represent different Star Wars characters' light sabers: red is Darth Vader, blue is Luke Skywalker, green(ish) is Yoda, and purple is Mace Windu.  Of course, Phillip chose purple because he thinks Mace is cool.

Daniel used to say he didn't like Star Wars, which felt a teeny bit like blasphemy to me, but I let it go because he was young and let's face it, it's not like his salvation depends on him sharing my geeky passion.  When we turned on Episode 7 after dinner, though, he sat through every minute and announced that he likes Star Wars now.

Anna, on the other hand, found the movie a little overwhelming and spent most of it in another room.  After we finished the film, she said she likes the girl character, but she never wants us to watch Star Wars again (no promises, Anna, but I will offer her an alternate activity next year).  She says she has no issue at all with Star Wars Day though, because she likes hot dogs, cake, and Gatorade.