Camping Weekend!!!!

Our Campsite this weekend at Lake Sylvia. We can now completely set up camp in an hour! Woo-hoo! We had a most relaxing weekend that included an adventure-some Saturday and waking up to a rainstorm today...complete with packing up camp in the rain! But was it worth it? Oh yea, even the chiggers! HA! Here we are Saturday morning (self-timer on the camera...heehee!)...after breakfast (and I do LOVE a good camping breakfast), we blew up our floaties (oh, and don't tell Dad that I can actually do it myself b/c I usually sucker him into blowing up my floaties..heehee), loaded 'em in the car and decided to go exploring. Wow! We had no idea where we were at times, but we saw some beautiful parts of Arkansas and felt like we were the only two people in the world. Because we were literally out in the middle of no man's land!
Just to give you an idea of the roads less traveled that we were on look at the picture below...needless to say, we never passed any other cars the entire time. We saw three deer...the first one was a Momma deer and her baby but my camera was in the back. The buck that later ran out in front of us was way to fast even if I wanted a picture! Look at the view ahead of us...we probably drove upward around 15 miles before we started back down the mountain we were on.
Turns out, we were in the Flatside Wilderness of the Ouachita National Forest. We were told this may be Flatside Pinnacle Mtn.??
We saw so many beautiful streams and creeks that I lost count!

Look at this old timey store we stopped at after we found our way out of the forest...it even has a sign out front that still says "washrooms" and points to the bathroom.
Now, we are just heading back to camp and notice a dam and lake that neither of us even knew existed in Arkansas, so of course, we had to stop and check it out too. Ever heard of Nimrod Dam or Nimrod Lake? I hadn't and thought it was a funny name! We climbed up on the Nimrod Dam and checked things out from above. You can camp on the river side or the lake side...the river looked dirty but the lake looked nice, and there were lots of people fishing on the river side.
We finally made it back to camp, had lunch, took a nap in the AC of the pop-up and then headed out for a late afternoon swim. Ahhh...relaxation!!
Of course, we then had to have some good 'ole campin' food for dinner...see the corn? That is from our garden!!! Yay!

Check this picture out: It looks like the towels are on fire but they are a long way off from the fire - I promise! It had rained earlier that day and the wood was wet. It was driving Kevin nuts that he couldn't get the fire going, so he got a bunch of brush and wham - we had fire! Thanks honey!Happy Campers!

(gonna have to crop out that trash in the background for the scrapbooks..ha!)

The best part about camping is that we BOTH love it!! There is nothing better than spending the weekend in the woods with your best friend, no agenda, just hanging out and seeing what adventures come your way. We are very lucky that we love each other's company and can do these things and not ever get bored with it just being the two of us. Love ya Kevin!

Spur of the Moment Camping Trip

Kevin finished up work early Tuesday and had today off, so we thought, why not hitch up the pop-up, load up the dog and hit the road? Which is exactly what we did ~ much to Jax's dismay! Above is a great picture of our campsite ~ which I thought was awesome! My family and I camp at this park every summer but are usually in different sites. This was the only section open because of all the flooding earlier in the year.
This is probably poor Jax's second and final camping trip ~ a camping dog, he is not! He was miserable. In his defense, he is ten years old and has arthritis. We took him out of his air conditioning and comfortable bed and put him on the hard ground and hot air! heehee! He paid us back with his ferocious gas in the car!! yikes! We got set up in no time and Kevin knocked out some grub. Then, we set off walking around the camp grounds to explore the flooding. It made me really sad to see all the litter washed up from the flood waters and to see so much of the campgrounds not open! We usually have gone camping by now for our big family camp-out every summer. That got cancelled because the sites were closed. My parents and I have reservations for the second weekend in July....but after what we saw last night, those are going to get cancelled too. It was too dark to take pictures, but after all these months, the water is still flooded over the road, some of the campsites are still completely under water, and the ones we have reserved have water all the way up to the tables....sad! :-( I had to see it to really grasp the damage though.
We had a gorgeous view but couldn't get out in the water b/c all the swimming areas are gone b/c of the flood. The water came right up to the decking of our campsite. But, our campsite normally is up on a cliff, so at some point, it just drops off to nothing...not real safe. So...we came, we saw, we relaxed, and now we think up plan B for our July trip!!

Monday pics

Today has been a mixture of lazy and getting things done too! I would accomplish something and then rest a bit! ha! Vacation is good like that! First, I got the pop-up ready for camping season. I popped her up in the garage (let me insert here - I quickly remembered why I usually leave this job to Kevin! Jeez! I thought I was going to die before my out of shape self could get the thing popped up!) But I did it, and sat there taking several deep breaths for a bit to recover! ha! She is all ready now to pull out of the garage and hit the camping scene. I have a very short shopping list to get her restocked on a few things.When Kevin got home he tilled up an extension area of my wild flowerbed against the fence ~ which I will work on tomorrow. I scored a BUNCH of free plants today. My cleaning lady was here (yeah - I now have a clean house!!), and she had a friend who was tearing up one of her flowerbeds. She was going to toss out the plants - throw them away. See the bucket below ~ I got 5 buckets full of plants from her today for FREE! hee-hee!! I love it! Between those and splitting some of mine that are in desperate need, I will have the extension filled up in no time and for free!! (even better!) Look - here is Kevin's garden so far this year. He's so proud of his mini greenhouse. Today was the first day without the lid....he has Friday off and the start of working on the garden begins!And, here is Nala seeming to say, "I'll use this thing if you aren't going to." LOL! And, what is it about cats and boxes?

Wordless Wednesday: Favorite Things About Camping

We're home! :-)

We ended up going to Charlton - about an hour & 10 min. from home. It was just what we needed! We headed out Saturday morning, sat up camp, relaxed, listened to the Razorback game, Kevin made dinner, and we sat around the campfire. Sunday, we went exploring & headed home. Having a pop-up camper ROCKS!! We took Jax for his first trip since we were close to home. I am not sure what he thought about it - he liked the exploring part, but sitting around camp, he could probably do without. Somehow, I have managed to raise a dog that can't swim (discovered on a recent hike) and WON'T go #2 in the woods - I guess he prefers his own backyard toilet - ha! He seriously held it until we got home! And, yes, it was a gassy ride home! LOL! Enjoy the pics! More tomorrow!! hee-hee! Only I can go away for 24 hours and come home with 35 pictures! (I won't make you suffer through them all! ha!)

Fun at the Lake

The first night Kevin served up a shrimp boil and steaks....YUMMY!!! I really can't even tell you how good it was - it was THAT good! ha! Shrimp, potatoes, corn on the cob...mmmm!!!
Mom and Dad got there about 9:30 Friday night and had Autumn's (my niece) new puppy with them. CUTE!!!! It is a shih tzu and schnauzer mix (have no idea if I spelled those right!). That puppy is the most laid back puppy I have ever seen!! You start petting her, and she just rolls over on her back and gives you her belly to rub for as long as you will do it! Too funny!
And, of course, we jumped off the cliffs! I even jumped this time - TWICE!! Although, the second time I wondered WHY I had climbed up there again! The first time I did it to try and make Taylor (my Bubby's girlfriend's daughter) feel a little better about jumping. HA! I got up there and looked down and was like "Woe - I'm not doing this!!" She ended up jumping before me! The pics of me jumping are on my Mom's camera - if I don't look like a cow, I will show you when I get them! LOL! That is my niece in the pic above jumping - she has no fear of it at all!!!
Kevin and I on an afternoon boat ride! And the crazy hair is because the boat was in motion! ha! And, yep, I did some major cropping on this one to get my swimsuit out of the pic!! ha
My Bubby on the sea-doo that Mom says has a limited number of days left in our possession! The men make us a nervous wreck on that thing! They get as close as they can to splash the heck out of you ~ Mom and I are the worriers ~ everyone else thinks it is funny! I say it is dangerous!! I guess I'm gettin' old!! LOL!

Home from Camping!!

Woo-hoo! We are back and even with all the rainy and yucky weather last week, WE DIDN'T GET RAINED ON ONE SINGLE TIME!!! YAY!! Friday it was storming so bad here that cancelling was a serious option. I'm glad we didn't!! Yesterday and today were gorgeous days to be out on the lake. As you can see by my niece's excitement riding the tube! :-)
I will share more pics and stories tomorrow and get caught up on everyone's blog!!

Autumn's Camping To-Do List

Be sure to feed the geese (they just kept coming ~ I think we counted 23!)
Give up, throw all your bread at once, and RUN from the hissing geese!
Challenge Aunt Lori to a game of Go Fish and beat her!
Drive the boat and do donuts to try to make Grandma and Aunt Lori sick!
Find fishing poles, trick Aunt Lori into buying crickets, THEN tell her you won't bait them yourself!!, and finally....fish off the back of the boat!

Camping Trip

My first campsite with the camper!! yay!! My niece helped me set up and was actually helpful! ha! She helped me make the beds, hang the lights, put the tablecloth on, and get the trash bag set up "just like grandma does" ~ she made me stop and watch so I'd know how to do it!!! She is about to be in 3rd grade and is like a mini-grown-up! LOL!
The first night was nice with a good breeze and I didn't even have to use the air conditioner!! But without the AC running, the next morning, I heard EVERYTHING going on like being in a tent! ha! I ran it the next night and slept in a little!! It sure beat sleeping in a tent!! And, the best part is that all my stuff is stored in the camper now and all I have to do is go to the grocery store and I'm ready to roll!

Kevin and I were chillin' reading and having coffee (him) and a morning Dr. Pepper (me). How can you start the day without a DP? :-) If you see the look on my face, my Mom shocked me with a comment right before snapping the picture! She can be a little spunky when she wants to be and you never know when it's coming! I said something about Kevin reading the paper and I was reading about sex in Cosmo. She comes back with "sex is a sport". Hence, the look on my face - I know she didn't!

Time to load the boat (my parents) and go home! :-( I'll try to post more pics tomorrow and stories tomorrow!! It was a good trip, but too quick!

I got back last night and started summer school today ~ I only had 4 kids!!! Who knows what tomorrow will bring?!?

I am drowning in laundry so I gotta go! I will catch up on everyone's blog this week ~ promise!! :-)

Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda

Where has my night gone??? I had plans to do this and that, transfer pictures from the weekend, upload 'em to my blog, share 'em with Kevin's Mom, call and catch up with some folks, yada, yada...Somehow the time slipped away...

I don't remember what time I started on my taxes tonight, but I just finished about 9 o'clock....and yippee yay yee-haw!!! Can you say refund??? I am pumped, b/c I have been broke for what seems like forever now, and my savings account can finally be out of the red!!! In other good news, I got an email today about the summer school program I taught last summer. We are definately having it again!! It was by far my BEST teaching experience to date!! I am excited! No. 1 to have a summer job and earn some extra money. No. 2 to have a summer job that I actually enjoy and LOVE the people I work with! We had so much fun last summer! It is only 4 days a week for 5 weeks, so I manage to still a month off! You really just can't beat it!

And...when you put those two bits of good news together, it equals me being able to buy my Uncle's pop-up camper from him! Now that really gets me excited!! I love camping!!! And I will be so glad to step up out of the tent!! My BFF in NW Arkansas camps too, so we are planning to meet up some this summer and fall. Luckily, Kevin loves the outdoors too! I see this being a GREAT purchase!!

I have rambled enough...I'll get pictures posted tomorrow! I'm off to dream about summer time camping trips....or winning the lottery (you know I got new tickets this weekend!!)