Mid America Museum

Last weekend, we went to Mid America Science Museum in Hot Springs. Not much has changed since I was kid. Except, has it always had the word "Science" in the name? Maybe it has, but I think they added that to make it sound more educational. Anyway, it was something fun and air conditioned to do on a hot summer day.

Afterward, we went by Mom and Dad's house. As I was looking through some old pictures, I found some of me and my sisters at Mid America looking in the same mirror. Like I said, not much has changed. They have added a simulated ride that my kids went on and have a dinosaur exhibit that runs through the end of the summer.

What Did You Do This Summer?

Good question. Summer 2010 has been the year of the "stay-cation" for us. We didn't go on any big trips, but we've still been very busy! About a month ago, we said goodbye to a faithful friend: Jeff's 10-year-old Xterra. I've got to say that I was attached to it. It was our first major purchase after we got married. We logged a lot of miles (almost 200,000!) and a lot of good memories in that truck.

Speaking of good memories, I can't let the summer go by without mentioning Toy Story 3. I'll admit it, I cried...a lot...in the theater. If you've had a little boy who lived and breathed Buzz and Woody for the first 5 years of his life, then you'll know why. If you haven't, then you might think I'm ridiculous. I know it's cliche, but they grow up SO fast. Here's a picture of the kids and Meme playing with the Potato Heads. Meme and Pop took them to see the movie for a second time before they left on their trip to Alaska.

After the trip, the kids (with a little help from Mom) made signs to welcome them home.

Also growing up before our eyes is our puppy Lucy. The first picture was taken at the end of May:

And this one was taken about 2 months later:

She's about 30 lbs. now and keeps our backyard in disarray. She has a lot of energy and likes to dig! One of the casualties of her digging is my tiny garden. (It's more like a glorified flower bed.) I can't blame it all on the dog though. By other accounts, this has not been a great year for gardening. I did take one picture of my produce:

Suspiciously absent from my blog is much ranting about the heat. It has been a scorcher this year, but my dad said that tolerating the heat should be a badge of honor for true Southerners. So I'm trying to suck it up a little bit, but I still don't like it!

One of the best parts of our summer has been visiting with all of the cousins. The Johnson and Stacy kids all got to come home for extended visits. We've also seen Abby lots this summer since she has been babysitting for us on the days that Jeff's and my schedules overlap. And in 2 weeks, my kids are going to "camp" at Aunt Debbie's house with Jenna all week. Pictures (and most likely, crazy stories) to follow.

Jared (who just turned 14!) and Nathan playing Wii. Jared schooled Nathan on Mario Kart the last time they played, so this time Nate wanted to teach him how to play Super Mario Bros.

Jenna still thinks Ashley is a baby and wants to carry her around. Ashley doesn't mind the attention. On a side note, in almost every picture I've taken of Ashley this summer, she is wearing "bracelets" on her arms. They are not Silly Bandz (though she has plenty of them) but ponytail holders. Usually, she's wearing at least a dozen! It's her new thing.

That just about sums up our summer to this point. It's hard to believe that school starts in less than three weeks!

Flower Power

At the rehearsal dinner, Danielle (the bride) gave Ashley a cute monogrammed bag with several gifts inside including this adorable, sparkly "Flower Girl" tank top. It was a little big, but we made it work. She was so excited about it that she slept in it last night.

We started our day at the hair salon. Danielle wanted Ashley's hair up. Thanks to our stylist/bridesmaid Lindsey and a LOT of bobby pins and hair spray, the hair went up and stayed up rather well for 10 hours! Of course, I did spend most of those 10 hours saying, "Don't mess up your hair!" (The final bobby pin count when I took her hair down tonight was 35!!)

Bride and Flower Girl

Next we moved on to the nail salon for Ashley's first mani/pedi. She loved it! We went to the place that has a kid-sized chair with DVD player. She sat still the whole time that I was getting mine done.

We skipped out on the bridesmaid lunch and came home for a little down time. Then it was time to head to the church for pictures. Unfortunately, most of the pictures were outside in the heat. Ashley was a trooper, but it was about halfway through the photo session when we started to lose Flower Girl #2. She was only 2 & 1/2, so by the time the wedding started, she was done!

We had a lot of time between the pictures and the wedding. I think this was good because we hung out in the sanctuary, and Ashley got really comfortable in there. Maybe a little too comfortable at times...

My little cutie did a great job as the solo flower girl! Appropriate pace, well-scattered flowers, and almost a smile while walking down the aisle. Even without a nap, she did not whine or complain all day! Here she is with big brother and then with the whole family after the wedding.

Rehearsing for the Big Day

Tomorrow's the day that Ashley gets to be a flower girl. While she's very excited about the whole event, you wouldn't know it tonight. She was acting shy and nervous throughout the rehearsal. I'm coaching her to walk slowly and smile and bribing her with a special surprise if she does well. I feel a little bit like one of those crazy pageant moms on "Toddlers and Tiaras".

She has an appointment tomorrow scheduled by the bride at 9:30am to get her hair done. The wedding's not until 5:00pm, so we'll see how long this up-do lasts. Trying not to cross the line in becoming a psycho mom, I promise not to apply any spray-on tan to my 4-year-old. ; )

However, I'm also thinking about taking her for a pedicure because I think she would love it, but mostly because my feet are in desperate need of some pampering.

Zzz...zzz...zzz...

It's 9:43 on Tuesday night. In our living room, Jeff's on one couch asleep. Nathan's on the other couch asleep. And Ashley's in my lap - you guessed it - also asleep. I'm enjoying a few minutes if peace. If only I could reach the remote without waking anyone to turn off the TV.

Shuttle Service

A while back, I joked about our house being Hotel Adams. Lately, we've been running the Adams Airport Shuttle. Renee flew in last week from PA, and I picked her up at the airport. This week, it was the Stacy kids who flew in from Florida - by themselves! I was worried, but they did great. I don't know if all airports have this, but the LR Airport recently updated its website (http://www.fly-lit.com)/ to include a Flight Tracker where you can watch flights in real time on your iPhone. I don't know how accurate it is, but it kept the kids entertained while we waited.

Tomorrow's shuttle service will be dropping off Jeff's parents to fly to Seattle for their cruise to Alaska. I'm totally jealous! I would love to go to Alaska - especially this time of year.

Should you need to shedule our services, call soon. We're booking up fast! ; )

Bar G Bar Ranch

The Johnson kids were in Arkansas for 10 days, and they did a LOT in those 10 days: camping, Toy Story 3, Wild River Country, family reunion, Chuck E. Cheese, and more! No surprise that my kids were also involved in much of the activity, but I've been sick and not available for documenting the events.

However, I was feeling a little better on Thursday, so we all went to my aunt and uncle's ranch in Gurdon so that the kids could get in one more activity - horseback riding.

One of Jeff's and my favorite things at Babe and Kelly's is this big, old oak tree. Dad estimated that it was about 200 years old.

I let Nathan take pictures of the kids riding with my camera. Some of them turned out pretty good. Like this one:

But most of them were more like this:

In true Adams' fashion, it was safety first! The bicycle helmets didn't look quite authentic on the ranch, but neither did the Crocs and matching Life Point Sports Camp T-shirts that Renee brought the kids back from PA. Oh, well! We have never claimed to be cowboys. The kids all rode the horse and seemed to enjoy it. All the adults enjoyed the cool weather and low humidity that we had on Thursday night. It was a welcome relief!

After lunch at Senor Tequila, Renee and the kids headed back home on Friday and should make it back to PA tonight. Travel safe! It was good to see y'all!