Little Rock Family Vacation

At the end of July we wanted to take a little family vacation.  We chose Little Rock because it's far enough away to feel like a "trip" but not too far to go for just a few days.  We chose several kid-friendly activities to pack into a three-day trip.  Avery is still not a great car traveler, but the boys were all happy to watch DVDs and have snacks the whole way.  Since Avery is almost three, I feel hopeful that in the next few years, traveling with the kids may be a little more relaxing. A light at the end of the tunnel!!

Day One was the five-hour drive, checking in to the hotel (which Avery called the temple the whole time), and then we went to a little Mexican restaurant for dinner. 

Hudson basically ate an entire basket of chips and salsa by himself.  It's one of his favorites!

Then we went to see Inside Out. There was no need to rush, as we were the only ones in the theater! The kids thought that was pretty great.  

Avery spent most of her time at the "temple" calling Manny from the room phone.  {Unplugging the phones is the first thing we do when we check into hotels these days.}

Day Two  Jamie took the boys on a hike at a nearby state park in the morning.  The little ones and I opted to stay at the hotel and swim. You can see my priorities =)

The hotel pool wasn't ideal for little ones.  There were no steps (other than the metal ladder), and the most shallow part was up to their chins.  So they spent a lot of their time playing with toys on the pool deck, including this ice bucket we found in the bar area!

After swimming and lunch, we headed downtown to the Museum of Discovery. It is full of hands-on exhibits, demonstrations, and imaginative play areas.  Definitely fun for all ages!

These wind tunnels were a favorite of all the kids:

Scarf Wind Tunnels from ashley walker on Vimeo.

This particular exhibit was full of brain-teaser puzzles and challenges.  Some of them were too challenging for the kids, but Jamie and I could have stayed all day trying to solve them!

During a demonstration of solids and gasses, and boiling points and freezing points of various types of matter, Boston volunteered to eat a cheeto dipped in freezing liquid nitrogen!

Liquid Nitrogen Cheeto from ashley walker on Vimeo.

The last thing on the agenda for Day Two was an Arkansas Travelers minor league baseball game.  Except for the suffocating humidity, we had a great time! The kids all brought their gloves and had high hopes of catching a foul ball.

(Avery had just been woken up from a cat nap in the car, so she was not in the mood yet)

Let's just talk about how things turned ugly towards the end.  Everyone was really in the baseball spirit for about half the game.  When the kids started to get antsy, I decided to take them for a walk to the other side of the park where we'd heard the Little Rock Zoo had a booth with some animals.  

Sadly, the animals were gone already, and the excursion had taken us perilously close to the Kid Zone full of bounce houses and arcade games.  After spending the amount we had on tickets and over-priced ballpark food, I told the kids I didn't really want to spend another $20 for them to play in the Kid Zone while Dad watched the game on the other side of the park.  The kind lady at the entrance witnessed all this, called me over and said, "Honey, I stop charging after the top of the 7th inning, so bring them back and they can go in for free." Score! 

We walked back to our seats with the promise of returning after a few more innings. During the 7th inning stretch, we made the trek from our seats on the 3rd base line over to right field. Just as we walked up, all the lights in the Kid Zone went off and we could see the silhouettes of the bounce houses deflating against the city skyline behind it. Apparently it closes after the bottom of the 7th inning.  What the what?! Minor league baseball innings last about 5 minutes! I wish the ticket-taker would have mentioned that.  Basically it was only free for half an inning. But in her defense, there was a huge sign stating the closing time that I hadn't noticed before. 

I cannot explain the mayhem that ensued.  It was already about 9pm, well after a reasonable bedtime for a long fun-filled day.  We were all sweaty, exhausted, and disappointed.  Avery and Hudson immediately burst into tears.  Mercifully, Cade did not throw a fit, but he did pout about it the rest of the night.  Boston handled it well, as I recall. Not knowing whether to cry or laugh at the disastrous situation, I called Jamie, told him to grab the bags and meet me at the entrance; we were calling it a night. All eyes were on my sorry crew as we made our way out.  They could probably hear the bawling from the parking lot. 

Jamie saved the night by snagging some cotton candy from a vendor on his way to meet us, so the tears were soon dried, and we were able to get everyone bathed and slipped into bed without any more mention of the Kid Zone Disaster!

Day Three was our last day. We checked out of the hotel and headed to the Little Rock Zoo for one last outing. 

Fortunately, we had the zoo almost entirely to ourselves.  Not too many other people wanted to brave the scorching heat, apparently!

This little one had a great time, as she was wheeled around in a wagon all day by her Daddy!

A few hours of walking around in the 100 degree heat is all we could manage before we hit up the gift shop for some souvenirs and then headed home!

July

The story of our July was: go, go, go! Looking back at my calendar, we did have plenty of down time at home, but we enjoyed several big family activities that we will remember fondly when we think of this summer.

We started with celebrating Fourth of July at my parents house with my whole family.  With Todd living out of state and the rest of us spread across Texas, it's less often that we are all together these days.  But we had a great weekend full of fun on the lake and spending time together.  I posted this on IG about our weekend: 

Had the best weekend with my family. On the surface some of us have very different beliefs, interests, personalities, and jobs. Sometimes when we are apart the differences can seem great. But then we get together and they don't seem that big at all. We play games, cook together, hold babies and keep track of big kids, quote movies, tell jokes, focus on the common ground and shared values. I love that about us.

  
My kids have never experienced fireworks up close.  We usually just watch displays from a safe distance since most years we've had at least one child scared by the loud noise.  But this year Jeff bought a ton of fireworks and lit them off from the dock.  The kids loved it. 

We were all worn out from the weekend away.  It was good to get home. 

A few photos from some of our more low-key days at home: 

One day the kids literally begged me if they could clean the windows.  Who am I to stand in the way of their happiness?

There is a great little park two doors down from our house.  We've spent a lot of evenings there.  I think Avery is Jamie's favorite subject to photograph when he's there! I often find them there waiting for me when I come home from work. 

Crazy Swings from ashley walker on Vimeo.

Jamie has resumed training for another sprint triathlon.  So that means the return of his #myphotorun photos.  There is no shortage of breathtaking scenery out here in the country.

He even brought all the kids for a bike ride one Saturday morning.

Boston turned nine on July 22nd! This boy who made me a mama…he makes me so proud every day.  He is so sensitive to my feelings, likes to help, is very responsible and mature, and loves to build and create.  We went to NRH2O with some of his old friends for his party.  

A few days later, Grandpa Mike came over and spent some time with the kids. He took Boston shopping for his birthday present, and all the kids got a wood-working project.  

June + The Story of Our Move

What a summer it has been! It all started with moving back in June...

The process of selling our home in Fort Worth and buying in Midlothian was not an entirely smooth one.  We were blessed to sell very quickly, with the best of ten offers in the first weekend on the market coming in well over our asking price.  We also found a new home that we loved, and our offer was accepted after a little negotiating.  But we hit a bump in the road when our buyer switched lenders half way through the process.  Necessary files were not received by the new bank in time to make our original May closing date.  Since the purchase of our new house was contingent on the sale of our old house, we were delayed on both the selling and buying end.  It was a very stressful delay, to say the least.  It wouldn't have been a huge problem for us, since we planned to stay in our home and lease back until school was out anyway.  But the sellers of our new home…how should I say it…were not so understanding.  I know it was inconvenient for them (us too!) but each time we had to delay closing due to our buyer's bank not being ready, the sellers got more and more upset.  They demanded we pay more and more earnest money, closing costs, even a personal check for their "pain and suffering." They threatened to back out of the contract and put the house back on the market.  Luckily we had amazing realtors who did everything they could to smooth things out.  The second week in June we finally closed on both houses!! If I never have to go through that process again, I'll be happy!

The rest of June was kind of a blur of moving and unpacking and getting settled in to our new space. We are really loving it here in the small town of Midlothian.  We have met more neighbors already in the first few months than we did the entire 8 years in Fort Worth.  It's a very friendly, tight-knit community. And the elementary school is literally across the street…no more driving an hour round trip to and from the school!

Some photos from the craziness of the month of June:

On the last day of school, the younger kids were in Plano for a sleep-over so I took the older boys to NRH2O and out for ice cream to celebrate the end of the school year. Jon and Boston have been friends since Kindergarten.  We have carpooled since first grade, and I watched him after school last year until his mom got off work.  He's like one of my boys!

Like I mentioned before, closing on our house was pushed back several times.  But we never had a firm date until the day before it happened.  We were supposed to go to Mississippi in early June with my family, but since we were on "stand-by" on the house, we couldn't go.  So we spent some time at Mom and Dad's house for a little distraction.  

Boston got to go to scout camp with his buddies the week we were closing/packing/moving.

The day we closed on the new house, Hudson got sick.  He had a fever for a few days and then got a few spots/sores on his hands and feet.  I think he had a very mild case of Hand Foot and Mouth. It had been going around our circle of friends, but luckily he didn't get it very bad at all. 

Finally in the new house!! The thing I love most about this house is all the light and open space.

There were a lot of picnics those first few days!

And several trips to Home Depot as well...

Father's Day:



Hudson turned four! I wrote this on Instagram on his birthday: My Hudsy boy is 4 whole years old! There have been several little moments the last few weeks--whispered "I love you"s and thumbs ups and sneaks into my bedroom at night for one more hug and kiss on the lips--that have made me just tearful with gratitude that I am his mom. He pines for the attention of his older brothers; both loves and barely tolerates his little sister. He loves dinosaurs and cars. He is always the last to fall asleep and the first to wake up. I still refer to him and Avery as "the babies" although somehow he has turned 4. Happy birthday to my independent, shy, stubborn and unbelievably sweet Hudson!

The last weekend in June, Erin and Jeff went to Philadelphia for a wedding, so we got to have the Nydegger kiddos for a few days.  Having eight children under the age of nine for the weekend was LOUD and crazy and fun! Breakfast for ten coming right up...

When it got too wild inside, we spent time outside with water balloons, the slip-n-slide, and our neighborhood pool.

Jamie took the older boys to a Shelby car show on Saturday.  I stayed home and made cookies with the little ones.

I almost didn't want to give this one back!! I could keep Miss Emery Jane forever.  

It really was a good weekend and everything went smoothly, until Sunday afternoon when both little girls were tired and sad at the same time and just wanted me. So we just had a nice cuddle on the couch until everyone felt better!