The Abbotts come to Arkansas

Haven't had a chance to write much lately as I've had a busy work week and last weekend we had company. Not just any company- the best kind, my sister and her family!

As much as I love my sister - and I love her fiercely - the big attraction here is my super adorable niece Claire. Toddlers are natural comedians, and at two and a half, she's officially entered the "interesting little person" phase.

It was a beautiful weekend as fall weekends in Arkansas tend to be, and we did our best to take advantage of the sunshine. Friday was an at-home day for everyone but me (work!) so it was mostly hanging out, swinging in the back yard, and the midday nap that is a standard part of every toddler's routine. Actually, that was a part of the routine I'd kind of forgotten about - along with the twenty-minutes-to-get-out-the-door part of the routine. Being a toddler parent is hard, y'all, but the good news is that just a few years out of this age, you apparently don't remember the hard parts very clearly!

Around here, Saturday mornings in the fall start with soccer, so we all trooped over to the Lewis Soccer Fields, chairs, blanket, diaper bag, snacks and water bottle in hand. In a quirk of timing, it happened to be A&M/Arkansas football weekend. Susannah is a legit Aggie, and I and my kids have adopted Old Army, and we showed up in our maroon and white despite being smack dab in the heart of Razorback Country. Bold choice!

As precious as Claire is, I think my own kids are pretty darn cute, too! Caroline at the soccer game:

And ohmygoodness, my little man is getting so big. And so handsome.

John has such a tender heart and loves his little cousin. She loves him right back; all weekend long, I heard a lot of "hey John! Hey John!" and "where's John?" from the tiny little toddler voice. He is so patient with her, playing together in the playroom and then out in the sandbox for a while, too.

Their visit last year was on a similarly beautiful weekend which meant enjoying the sunshine. I happened to snap a really great picture of Susannah with all of the kids out on the front lawn last year, one of those iPhone pictures that you look at and wonder how you got so lucky. We tried again, recreating the scene and capturing smiles across the board again this year.

The big event of the day was mini golf - I guess Susannah had mentioned going for a round to John and once you say something like that, you know you have to make it happen! You never know how things will go with a tiny little person, but it ended up being so much fun for everyone.

Pretty sure Claire is a natural!

I was a bit behind as we finished up the round; as I walked toward the 17th hole, I heard John whooping from down below me on the 18th green. Big man got a hole in one on the final hole!! I'm pretty sure it's a universal rule in putt putt - a hole in one on the last hole equals a free round. Kiddo was grinning ear to ear!

There wasn't any big-deal event or major effort to manufacture fun last weekend; the awesome thing about my sister is that when she comes to visit, she's cool with just hanging out. Seeing the kids spend time together, hanging out just talking is totally our kind of fun. Of course, fall weekends are also football weekends, so it didn't hurt that we got to yell for the Aggies from the comfort of the couch. If you were watching, then you know the game went into overtime, with us nearly hyperventilating until the guys in maroon and white finally put it away.

Like most visits, it went by too fast and ended too soon. Sunday afternoon came and Susannah, Justin and Claire headed back home to Houston. Life is super busy, and seems to accelerate with each passing day. Last weekend was a chance to capture those fleeting moments.

Fall in the Ozarks

If I had every available color pigment, in every imaginable hue; every artistic tool of every shape and size; and the ability of the masters throughout history; I still don't think I could paint anything that comes close to the beauty around me in this breathtakingly beautiful Ozark fall.

Fayetteville routinely comes out on "Most Beautiful" lists. Truly, Fall in the Ozarks is wondrous. After four years living in the Hudson Valley and two years in Massachusetts, I naively assumed I would never see the kind of riotous color of a New England fall anywhere else. This year, though, I admit I was wrong. This may be the most glorious, vivid, words-can't-really-describe-it fall color I've ever seen.

We got our first glimpse of the extraordinary palette to come with our train ride a couple of Sundays ago from Springdale to Van Buren, Arkansas.

The Arkansas-Missouri Railroad has scenic tours along the rails in NW Arkansas, and we've wanted to take the kids since we moved here. Justin planned this one perfectly - the leaves were approaching peak; the weather was glorious; and the layover in Van Buren was just long enough for lunch but not long enough to get bored in the three-block-long Main Street.

We were upgraded from the Club Car to the Vista Dome - and oh, what a view we had.

All Aboard!

 We were on board with the local Photography Club, so the train made several stops on the way down there. While we weren't able to get off the train, it did give us the chance to get some great photos of our trip and the view from the train:

That was a week ago, though - and in the seven days since our adventure on the rails, the colors have REALLY come out. This is one of our little maple trees in our backyard:

That's just the warm up...

That glorious blue sky!! I told the kids to enjoy it - I think Saturday may have been the most perfect Fall day of my life. I got this great shot of Old Main from the Library terrace:

We were at the library for the inaugural session of the Fayetteville Math Circle, yet another amazing thing about living in a University town. After the session, we headed over to Wilson Park for some fun with a friend:

Climbing on the castle at Wilson Park

Such a gift to have a Fall day like we did on Saturday. I don't really know where to begin to describe the leaves this year, and these pictures are just pale imitations of the real thing.

Wish you were here!

Houston in August: my favorite place to be

Last week was the annual summer pilgrimage home to Houston, and I cracked up at this text exchange with a friend of mine back in Arkansas:

Friend: Hey Amanda! Are you swimming this week? I can go on Friday.
Me: Hey Friend!! I'm in Houston on vacation, back tomorrow night. Maybe Friday lunch?
Friend: Amanda, you may be the only person ever who had visited / could visit Houston in August and call it a vacation.

Yep. Heat, humidity, mosquitos the size of small birds - paradise, I tell you.

The kids look forward to the trip home all summer long, with the promise of seeing Grandmommy and Granddaddy a source of sheer excitement. Throw in new cousin Claire and the mandatory trip to Splashtown, it's no wonder they were counting down the days!!

I love the trip home too, for the more obvious, grown up reasons. I get to see my parents; my kids get to spend time with their grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins; I get to see old friends who still live in the area; I get to eat Mexican food until I have to be rolled out the door of the restaurant. More than anything else, though, I love the trip home because it's HOME. It's Texas. And like every other Texan you've ever met, there is no place on Earth I'd rather be.

I can't really explain what that feeling is. I honestly think you just kind of have to be a Texan to have that feeling, that deep down, in your gut, visceral love. It isn't really the geography; the climate; the friendly people; the millions of things to do. It's... well, it's Texas. And if you don't get it, I can't really explain it.

So for the six days we were there, I soaked up as much of that as I could get. We went and did, and we sat and stayed. And we loved every. single. minute.

We had a ton of fun hanging out with my high school friends:

We went to church with my mom on Sunday and got to hear her play a special piece for the offertory:

We hung out at my sister's new home, grilled an amazing steak dinner, and celebrated the three August birthdays in our family:

We spent six hours at Splashtown in the Texas sun, loving every minute of it, riding almost every ride in the park:

And we hung out in the neighborhood, playing in the backyard and swimming at a neighbor's house:

We all would've loved to have stayed much longer, but I figure no matter how long we stay, it's always hard to leave. So we're back home now, enjoying the last few days before school starts. We have the memories, and we have the pictures. Thanks to my mom, those pictures include the latest family photo.

Gig 'em!

Sunday morning little moment

For the first time in weeks, it's an overcast, comfortable morning here in northwest Arkansas. We're home from church, I put my coffee on to brew, and Justin is cooking bacon and eggs for breakfast. I'm in one of my favorite places, sitting on the back patio with a breeze gently playing the wind chimes, catching up on Words With Friends before I dive into a new book.

The solitude never lasts long. And that's okay. This morning, John popped out on the patio with this:

 

"Look Mommy. It's called the Speeder Car. It has tail fins and antennas so it looks really fast. I just wanted to show you and Daddy. Can I go watch a show now?"

And just like that, he was gone. Back inside, a hundred miles an hour, happiest kid on earth. 

Back to the sounds of the birds, the wind chimes, and the neighbor's dog barking as the cars go by. 

Signs of summer

We decided to go out for dinner tonight, and using a universally accepted practice known as "bribing your children," we told the kids that if they behaved at the restaurant, we would walk next door afterward and get frozen yogurt. The kids were reasonably well behaved, so once the bill was paid, we headed out the door toward Too Cool Frozen Yogurt.

It didn't take me and Justin three steps before we began having promiser's remorse (a first cousin to buyer's remorse). We had at least five different frozen treats in the freezer at home, and it suddenly seemed ridiculous to spend ten more dollars eating dessert out. Every once in a while, I think we must be doing something right as parents, because when we told them we would just go home and they could pick something from what we had, they didn't even argue. Much. 

Lucky for Caroline and John, we love ice cream at our house. I didn't realize the full extent to which we have already prepped for summer treats, but between the inside and outside freezers, our inventory includes:

• Ben & Jerry's Cherry Garcia
• Blue Bell Moo-lennium Crunch (if you've never had this, you need to find it. immediately. buy a pint, and eat the entire thing. by yourself. trust me.)
• Vanilla ice cream
• Klondike Oreo bars
• Klondike mint chocolate chip bars
• Nestle Drumsticks
• Choco Tacos (I know, right?!)
• York ice cream patties 
• Good Humor Reese's ice cream cups
• Freezer pops

Yummmmmmm....

And since it isn't truly summer yet, with oppressive heat and humidity, tonight is one of those evenings where you can't help but want to be outside. Nothing like swinging with your best friend, eating ice cream, as summer approaches. 

Signs of spring

From the various updates on Facebook, it looks like the spring weather has been nutty and unpredictable all over the country. We've had our fair share of back-and-forth down here in Arkansas, too: a few days of nice weather, followed by a front with rain and plunging temperatures, then we work our way back to a couple of springlike days before the pattern repeats.

I think the birds and the plants are confused, too. Mama Robin built a beautiful nest behind the trellis against our fence, but we haven't seen her in over a week. We originally intended to leave her be until the chicks hatched and flew away, but when she made an early exit, we figured we'd go ahead and move it so no other bird would have a chance to obtain squatter's rights.

Sad to see that Mama Robin left behind four gorgeous, robin-blue eggs:

Weather is capricious; life is short. A bittersweet reminder in our backyard to enjoy the fleeting joys in life.

Just a Swingin'

Spring Break week here in Arkansas, and the weather forecast isn't exactly spring-like. Last Saturday was beautiful, but the next day saw rain, gray skies, and chilly, chilly temperatures.

Monday wasn't much better, but by the time I got home at least it was dry out. Given that the kids were already bouncing off the walls, stir crazy with having been home all day, Justin had sent them outside to play in the backyard. They were happily looking through the cracks in the fence talking to the dogs next door when I looked out the window, and I got two happy waves back when they saw me.

My respite when I get home generally lasts exactly the amount of time it takes 1) for the kids to realize I'm home and 2) for them to cross whatever distance lays between us. Monday was no different; within 10 minutes of being home I had already been talked into putting my sneakers on and participating in backyard races between the fences. Strangely, I can run a marathon, but six times back and forth across the backyard, and I was winded. I was also soundly beaten by both kiddos.

I begged off, claiming too-tiredness and chilliness with the sun having gone down behind the neighbor's house. It was too cold in the shadows of late day without a coat, so off I went back inside.

I escaped inside to help Justin with dinner, but with all the windows in our kitchen, I had no problem keeping an eye on the kiddos while they kept playing outside. They eventually migrated to the playset (which, as an aside, I continually think was worth every.single.penny we spent on it - and that was a lot of pennies) to sit on the swings.

I knew what was coming - a request for me to come outside and push. I did my best to not-look; eye contact in this situation would have done me in. Kids are persistent, though, and always know what it takes to get their way - just a few minutes later, Caroline burst in the back door. Not to ask for me to come out and push John, though. Nope - bigger news.

John had finally, finally learned how to pump his legs and propel himself on the swing. This is yet another one those things you think kids Just Know. Wrong again - despite multiple efforts over the last many months, John just hasn't been able to get the rhythm down of extend the legs, bend the knees, and shift your weight back and forth to propel the swing back and forth, up and down. I guess it took his big sister explaining the concept, though, because he got it. Finally.

And both kids were happily swinging together, chattering excitedly, comparing how high they could get and talking about rocket ships.

Isn't this how we'd all like to spend the evenings? Not a care in the world, our best friend by our side. Just a swingin'.