Pinnacle Mountain Day

Headed to Pinnacle Mountain this morning to hike to the top but found that they are doing some trail maintenance.  You can still go up the west side but you have to take the base trail around to the park access road and then go up from there.

The view from about marker 5, maybe 6 looking back north.  It was a beautiful clear day.  Just wish my camera lens had been clean.  Dang it!!!!

The girls were full of themselves today.  We laughed all the way up and all the way down the mountain.  From watching them hanging out in trees, to scaling the rocks, to striking poses, they were cracking Marty and me up!  The joy of being parents of two fabulous girls.

Dad found himself in a bit of trouble and required a hand from the girls.  Ha Ha.

Erin was enjoying being at the top of the world striking poses for me.  She has been looking forward to the day when I would let her scramble across the rocks without hollering at her to be careful.

I think the smile says it all!!!  Thank you God for the beautiful day that you blessed us with.

A little troll in the woods has a umbrella on it's porch.


Had a great weekend with my family.  We enjoyed bike riding, working in the yard, playing Eartholopy, and more bike riding.

The weather has cooled and dried out and is starting to feel like fall.  This is my FAVORITE time of the year.  I hope to have many more weekends just like this with more photos to show.

Forgiveness

Okay, for the last four weeks our church has been doing a church wide study called "Live Like You Were Dying." Yes it is based off the Tim McGraw song. It is only four weeks long and the topics have been 1) live like you are dying, 2) speak sweeter, 3) love deeper and tonight 4) give forgiveness.

Now we were charge to do a spiritual inventory of the broken relationships in our lives and then to call, visit or email those people and reconcile the relationship(s). I've been thinking about this and I sit here and struggle with the doing. Not with the reason why we need to but just the doing. I fully agree that Christ has forgiven me and all who have sinned and to be like Him, that I too must forgive. But the calling of someone who has hurt me and tell them I forgive them or someone whom I have hurt and ask them to forgive me????? How do I do that? How do I know they even give me a second thought much less care? What if it was something big to me but something they don't even remember? What if I did something that is eating away at someone that I don't now about and I miss communicating with them and asking their forgiveness?

What if...........

I can only repair myself, I know. It must start with me, I know. But where do I start, this I don't know. There in sits my dilemma. Who have I hurt? I have never meant to hurt anyone in my life. I can't stand to think that I have though I know I must have. After all, I'm human and it's our human nature.

If anyone out there is reading this and I have hurt you, please send me an email and let me know. It's not that whatever I did that hurt you doesn't matter to me but I just don't remember all that well anymore. Not an excuse, mind you, just a sad fact that I keep trying to avoid. I barely remember yesterday much less last week, or last month, or last year.

Forgiveness - what a complexed emotion. Can we ever really give it and let go like Christ? Can someone we tell we are sorry to, really ever trust that we really feel it in our heart and mean it? If I actually make those calls, and that person has read this, will they really believe this is something I feel (which I won't make the call if I don't feel it) and not just an assignment that I was trying to fulfill?

I don't know what I am going to do other then pray a lot. I know God has a plan, I just hope I will shut up and listen to Him.

Beautiful Day to Ride

Today was such a beautiful day and we just couldn't let this day go without riding. We added a twist though, we actually went caching too. Hadn't been caching in over a year and a half. We use to cache all the time but when we started bike, for some reason we stopped caching. I had to do some maintenance on a friends cache this week and it resparked the bug. We hunted for four but only found two. One thing I noticed though is that there aren't enough caches along the river trail. I don't want to put any more out but I might have too.

The ride was great but the wind was brutal. We parked at the submarine and headed west to the Big Dam Bridge then crossed over to the Little Rock side and headed back east to the River Market. We paused at the playground to let the girls run around. We met a nice family of 7 who inquired about riding the trail. Maybe we inspired another family to ride together. Then we headed back across the river via the new junction pedestrian bridge.

Labor Day Get Away

The family hadn't taken a weekend to ourselves since Spring Break and since Labor Day was my first weekend since I quit being the Children's Ministries Director for our church, we decided for a family camping trip. We had been going to Mount Nebo a lot and though we love it there, I wanted to go somewhere different. Marty did search on the state parks site and because we are really getting back into biking and our bikes are mountain bikes he found that Cane Creek State Park has put in a new mountain bike trail. I know. There are mountains in the delta of Arkansas. I work there and that was my first thought. Well there are hills, just so you know.

Marty booked it and so Friday after work, we packed the suburban full and headed south. We didn't get out of Cabot until 7:00 so we didn't pull into our camping spot until 9:00. Even though there are hills at Cane Creek there are also the delta mosquitoes. They were in abundance. We got the tent up, the canopy up and to bed we went. More out of preservation then we were tired. Though we were tired of being mosquito food.

We got up the next morning and cooked breakfast and then explored the camping area. The camping area is very nice and laid out very well. We always look at which sites we would prefer for the next time we come and we were very happy with the one we had. It was a great layout if your tent campers like us. Most of the sites are really set up for RVs.

The park had several activities planned throughout the weekend and one was painting with nature. So, of course girls had to do that, since I had a touch of a headache, Marty took the girls while I took a nap. There Marty meet the Park Ranger, Mike, and the girls meet the park interpreter, Courtney. Mike and Marty had a great talk about the mountain bike trail and boy scouts, while Emily and Erin painted fabulous pictures of nature with nature (feathers, rocks, leaves, etc.) They came back to camp and we ate lunch, then decided that we would attempt the mountain bike trail. It is 15.5 miles long with the first 8 miles through the woods (nicknamed "the Roller coaster" by bikers), then .5 mile along a mowed path through tall grass and then 4.5 along a mowed levee (no shade and no rest areas), then 1 mile on paved road and finally .5 miles back through the woods. There are 3 suspended bridges and roughly 30 wooden bridges along the 8 mile roller coaster. We were hoping to do the 4.5 miles to get to the first suspended bridge. We got to about 1.5 almost 2 miles when Emily took her first ever fall off a bike. She was in front of Marty who was in front of Erin who was in front of me, so I didn't see it but he says it was quite impressive. She hit a tree root, bounce her front tire and it landed just off the path to the right and down she went. She took the bars to her lower chest, skidded across her palms and cut and bruised her left thigh. All in all though not real bad. Just a trickle of blood on her left palm. However she was ready to go home. Not back to the tent, I mean home. The only problem was she was wanting a helicopter to pick her up and take her there because she was not going to ride her bike back out of there. Well, the old belief of get back up on the horse was the one her dad and I were raised with so we weren't having none of that. We cleaned her up and wiped away the tears and off we went. Dad first, Erin second and Emily and me way in the back. We took it slow and walked down most inclines, for awhile.

It took some encouragement but we finally got her going down inclines again. Most were straight and none had any drops on either side. We finally made it to the first suspension bridge and were excited. We told the girls there were 2 more bridges like that and asked if they wanted to continue or go back. Well, Emily didn't want anything to do with going where she had just come from and Erin was getting into this down fast and back up the other side with her dad so on we went. We did the next 2.5 miles with great fun and glees of excitement from Dad and Erin. Emily started loosening up and then.......

Erin did a quick down across a bridge and then splat!!! In this picture you can see the disenchantment of her face as she is put back together after her fall. Dad was a head of her and Emily and I were coming over the ridge behind her, so none of us know how she fell but she laid it over on her and she has a huge bruise to her right knee and skint up her left elbow. We took a break and Dad thought it would be cute to get a photo. As you see, Erin was not thrilled.

Well like with Emily, we cleaned up Erin and got a snack (she ate all my Swedish fish!!!) and wiped away the tears and then started back out on the trail. We had decided we were going to at least do the 8 miles out.

This is the third of the 3 suspended bridges. This is located at around 7.75 miles. We are almost out of the woods now. We asked the girls if they wanted to continue or go back and at this point neither of them wanted to go back so we pressed on. It was okay at first but the levee was 4.5 miles of flat, low cut grass with no shade. It was not easy and it was not fun. It quickly became more then we had bargained for, but we had now passed the point of no return. Go on ward we went. We stopped, we walked, some of us cried and some of us made deals for Purple Cow. We were all doing the happy dance when we finally got off the levee. However, we still had 1.5 miles to go to get back to camp. Though this part was actual paved road. We could do this because we do it all the time. Marty had actually planned to ride it and let us sit while he went to get the sub but the girls were headed home. So the girls and us did all 15.5 miles of this trail. We started at 12:50 pm and ended at 5:30 pm. We are blessed with two beautiful and extremely great sports for daughters. Course a visit to the Purple Cow is to follow.

We made it back to camp but the idea of cooking was out of the question, so after MUCH needed showers by all, we headed into Star City for a quick stop at Fred's for bug ointment, paper towels, citronella candle, and children's Motrin before heading to the local Mexican restaurant, Los Toritos. We had a very good dinner but desert was from Sonic. No Purple Cow in Star City, so that will have to wait but had to have a milkshake. Fried ice cream wasn't going to cut it this time.

When we got back to camp it was off to bed, because these people were tired. Marty said that 3 laps of the river trail didn't wear him out as one lap of this trail. All I know is my knees are killing me.

The next day was Sunday and we had made plans to go to church in Star City but we were so exhausted from the day before we overslept. Which was good, because we needed the sleep but we really had intended to go. Instead we spend some quality time together after breakfast with Marty reading and the girls and I making bead people. We had also missed the morning kayak tour that the park interpreter was conducting around the lake. Emily was very disappointed because she really wanted to kayak the lake. After lunch we rented two tandem kayaks and out on the lake we went. Erin had never been in a kayak and was very uncertain of this plus she was convinced that the lake was full of alligators that would turn us over and eat her. Marty had Emily with him and I coerced Erin in with me and off we went. There is a 1.5 mile loop around the lake and we weren't sure how long it would take or if we could even paddle that much but out we went. Erin complained the first half of the trip. She didn't like the moss and the lily pads scared her. After showing her several open lilies and getting out of them into the cypress trees forest, she started to relax and enjoy it. We got through that forest and had to go back through more lily pads before coming to the dead forest (hard woods prior to the levee holding water on them). She really enjoyed the dead forest and looking at the markers that directed us through. Just as we got through the dead forest she figured out how to paddle and was really having a blast. Then we were at the beach, but we checked the time and still had an hour left so we decided to go again and do it backwards this time. It was so much fun.

Family time

We've been having a very full summer and not much family only time so last night after SLUFY we went and had a dinner at Applebee's and planned to come home and have a family tv night. Well the best laid plans were not last night. Instead we came home to find this:

Meet Snowbell or Snowball. The girls had her named in about 10 minutes but keep going back and forth on which of these two names they like. If you were the "wonderful, thoughtful" person that left this precious gift on our doorstep, Mommy and Daddy would like to meet you so we can personally.... ahhh.... "thank you". She is a very sweet kitten and we're not sure what we're going to do with her. At the moment she resides mostly in the wash house with some trips into the big house. Mom isn't sure if the itchy eyes and sneezing last night are from her or being on the floor on the carpet. If they are because of snow then other arrangement might for sure be in the future.

Another part of our family time was getting up today and going biking. Daddy packed the truck yesterday so we could get an early start today but we were alll so tired that we sleep late. That's okay, we still made it to the county farm out by Maumelle Park and went for about a 5 mile ride. We found a new part of the trail that they've constructed and rode it.

It was a beautiful day and we really enjoyed having time together. We ate lunch at Maumell Park after the ride and just enjoyed the day. It was hot but the breeze from the river was really nice.
Then in the afternoon we went to the Launius' house and swam in the pool for a while. It was really nice to cool off and relax. Now were going to watch Mary Poppins before we go to bed. Family is a wonderful thing to have.

The Weekend

The weekend started off Friday evening with a birthday party for one of my dearest friend's son. Cordell turns 7 later this month, but to have friends from school come they had it Friday night. It was a great evening of laughing and joking and talking with friends.


Saturday was a buzy day. My 3rd grade brownies bridged up into juniors. It is a truely awesome occasion. Emily, my oldest, is now a junior. This also marks a land mark for me because now I'm a junior scout leader and there are a lot more badges which require a lot more work.

We had it at the city park but had to use Plan B for the location because you can't reserve the pavilions and a lady had gotten there at 7:00 am to get the pavilion for her family reunion at 10:00 am. That's okay because we are Girl Scouts and we come prepared. I called parents and had them bring lawn chairs, sent Marty to borrow some from friends, I already had tables and Cheri called Mike for more tables and we just set up our own location next the bridge. I think it was actually better because the girls were closer to the parents this way and could be heard better. We had our Court of Awards first, which is where we give activity patches and badges earned to the girls, then we bridged the 3rd graders. I was very pleased with how it turned out.

Next we were off to the house to unload, change clothes, and water the Butterfly Memorial Garden before heading to Kristi's house for her girls' birthday party. That was lot of fun, about 10 girls, 2 boys and a Karaoke machine. How relaxing!! Hee Hee. It really was a lot of fun.

Then us adult girls took Tammie out for her birthday. Enough said. This we must do more often.

Sunday was the sad part of the weekend. Kristi's little sister, Sandi, lost her battle with cancer and has gone home now to be with our gracious Lord. Kristi was able to make it see her sister before she passed away but it is still hard to let go of someone so special. It makes me realize how much my own blood sisters mean to me, as do my christian sisters. I have been blessed with so much and this only makes me remember that more. Thank you God for the lesson you have given me through this experience.

(I will post pictures when I get a chance.)