Our time in Arkansas

The statement time flies when you're having fun is certainly true! We pulled into Harrison, Arkansas last Tuesday afternoon and it's hard to believe that it's already over. Our week consisted of dashing here and there to do our many errands and spending time with friends as their schedule allowed.

Our first plan was to stay at a campground 30 min from town but when our stay got shortened to 1 week instead of 3 we asked dear friends, Freeman and Betty Jane Yoder if we could use their back yard. Of course they said yes and we had a fabulous time enjoying the privacy. The children loved having a hill to play on after being in a flat area of Texas for 4 months! The only downside was that Freeman's had to be gone for the weekend so we did not get to spend much time with them but we took what we could get! We had many highlights and I'll share a few.......

We promptly went out to our house so that we could get Eldon's motorcycle. There was lots of emotions going on and a teeny bit of regret for putting it on the market. Mostly though, I was SO thrilled to see that our renters have the place so clean and cute looking and we were both relived that we don't have to keep it up anymore :) . 

My husband had time to cook lots of yummy food!

Tickets were on sale and Sight and Sound in Branson so we took advantage of that.

Bass Pro in Branson

Penny Press machine!

Fire and Water Show at Branson Landing

Saturday we went fishing at our neighbors pond and spent a good bit of time with them. 

Ice cream!

Sunday lunch at Calvin and Judy's house

Orlondo made iced coffee!

Hot dogs with Brandon & Krista and kiddos

Shooting our new practice

Motorcycle rides

Presents from Shohrah! (hugs and kisses was our favorite)

I spent a day with my friend Sharla. 

Our sweet boys

She's a baby magent

All our children

Lunch at the park with these desperate housewives (missed you Sharla). Really, we're just a bunch of females who share lots of love and opinions. 

Our many children, minus one who wouldn't stop crying.

Like I said, baby magnet!

We have friends who do kids club on Tuesday nights so we showed up to hang out both Tuesdays. We did take food one time but mostly it was an excuse to spend time with DJ and Marie and Matt and Hannah.

The man with the ice cream had little friends.....

Emily and Adore' up to no good.

We also did a lot of other random things like teeth cleanings, cavities filled, well-baby check ups as well as several visits to the hospital to see Eldon's co-workers. We thoroughly enjoyed our time even though it felt like we ran everywhere but hopefully next time we'll have more time to spend there!!

Lake Catherine State Park

Monday morning found us pulling out of my parents place in Itasca, Texas. We had a great time with them but I was itching to get onward to new places:). Our destination was Harrison, Arkansas where we used to live but we planned to stop somewhere for the night. After 4 hours I pulled out the computer and started looking for a good place to spend the night. Lake Catherine is near Hot Springs, Arkansas so we chose that. It was very forestry with tall trees everywhere. We got into the campsites just fine with our 30 foot rig but any bigger would have not been a walk in the park. Just sayin'. 

Once we were all set up and ate some lunch a hike was next on the list! They have several to choose from but we chose an easy one that led to a waterfall.

The swinging bridge was a highlight!

There was multiple markers along the trail and in the trail brochure it gave an explanation for each one. A great way to learn about the park and its history!

The top of the waterfall

It was so peaceful here!

Tall, Tall Trees

The children played and played around our campsite that evening and also the next morning while we hooked up. Eldon and I were both wishing that we could stay for a week and fully explore the park and all the trails. But duty called, so we marched onward. 

Thankfully he slept a good part of the way on Tuesday.

More about our time in Arkansas soon!

 On Friday school was cancelled for my little sisters so we made some quick plans to spend the day with my parents at the Cameron Park Zoo in Waco. The weather was perfect to be outside! When we bought our annual pass, we received 5 free tickets as well so all of us got in free! It happened to be field trip day so it was busy but not nearly as crowded as I thought it might be.

The lily pond was so pretty!

All the children except Ethan.

I love observing the many unique animals God created!

It was after lunch until we were through the zoo. Dad had an Applebee's gift card so we went there for lunch. We thoroughly enjoyed our day and the children thought it was so fun to have Grandpa's and their Aunts go with us!. Far to often it seems like we don't take time to specifically enjoy the people we see often or the places close to home. I'm on a mission to change that :) . 

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On Saturday plans had been made to meet up with several other full-time families (aka, other families who are crazy like us and live in an RV full-time) in Fort Worth.

Our first stop was the Fort Worth Water Gardens. It's free but we did end up paying to park in a parking garage because we couldn't find a parking place after driving around the block about 12 times! The next step was to actually find the other families. We carefully scrutinized each family we walked past and did some texting and successfully all managed to meet up! Next time I'll take a flag or something :) . The Water Garden is in downtown and pretty much an oasis in the city. It's got 3 big pool/fountains and lots of pretty landscaping and plenty of shade trees.

This was called the active pool and definitely the most majestic in my opinion. There is steps all the way to the bottom. We went down but I did freak out a little since there was moving water all around and under you but it was fun!

At the bottom

Hurrah for having friends along to take pictures of us as a family!

There is also a mountain. The steps are all 20 inches high. I did not climb this but Eldon took the kids up.

The aerating pool featured many spray fountains. It was windy so the mist felt great! The third pool, called the quiet pool was closed so I didn't get any pictures of that. 

The King Family

The next stop was the stock yards. It's also free but there is many, many opportunities to spend money if you want . Like sitting on this steer, for instance.

Emily thought is was so cool that they had real cowboys!

We went for the cattle drive at 4 then 15 min later they had a gun fight.

The very calm longhorns walking down the street.

This was the cattle drive, by the way.

By the time we were done there it was hot and we were all tired! On the way to Trinity Park we all grabbed some fast food then had a picnic. The park was busy but the kids had such a blast.

I almost couldn't get Makayla off the merry-go-round!

Ethan loves to swing.

It's so fun watching their brother bond get stronger as they get older!

Emily and her new friend. 

Ethan is scowling because I'm wanting to take a picture instead of letting him slide!

Lots of talking among the adults as we played with our kids!

Sam is a crane operator so he was showing Michael and Eldon pictures. Michael is enthralled!

Makayla and Josie quickly became friends.

The whole gang, plus miss "fancy" in the front row just jumped in the picture too, lol.

It is very out of character for both Eldon and I to enjoy spending the day with people we don't know from Adam. But we did. It was wonderful to talk to others who are on the same journey of less stuff, more time. Hopefully we'll meet again, farther down the road!