Visiting the Chris Callicott Family / AUG 18-21

After leaving Dickinson, we drove to Ft. Hood (Killeen, TX) to visit Chris, Amy, Adam and Lottie; it's about a 4 hr drive from Dickinson. While we were there we drove into Temple, TX, to visit Bob's uncle, Paul Elmore, and his wife, Ola. Paul is retired from the Army. We took Adam and Lottie with us to give Amy a little "alone time" to get anything she needed done. Paul and Ola have a nice pool in their backyard. However, we forgot to bring swimsuits, so the kids got to go "skinny dipping." They had a great time. Here's a picture of Paul, Ola, Adam and Lottie on the bench in their front yard.We also had time to get a shot of Adam, Lottie, Gram and Bapa.ADAM starts school! While we were there, Adam's school had "meet the teacher day" on Thursday, 19-AUG. Adam's school started on Monday, 23-AUG; he's in pre-kindergarden. Here's a picture of Adam with his teacher, Ms. Baker (FYI: a former college soccer player).As usual, Mom has to fill-out all the paper work. Amy is working with Adam to get him to sign his name on the paper.Chris stopped by to see Adam's room and meet the teacher. The room is really neat with various learning stations.On Friday morning, Amy, Adam, Lottie, Gram and Bapa walked from their house over to the school. Amy wanted to see how long the walk would take. It took us less then 20 minutes to make the trip. We also had to wear our cowboy hats on the trip.Saturday, 21-AUG, was Chris' birthday. We celebrated with pancakes for breakfast before Gram and Bapa had to leave for the trip back to Arkansas. Happy Birthday Chris! Thanks to all of you for the fun visit. See ya soon!

Visiting the Flachmans / AUG 16-18

We recently made the "Texas circuit" to visit Chris and Karen and families. Our first stop was in Dickinson, TX, to visit Karen, Shane, Logan and Kayleigh. We had a fun visit and had a great time at the Houston zoo - in spite of the heat.

Logan enjoyed getting to see Sam again. Sam also enjoyed being hand fed; he doesn't get this level of pampering at home.Kayleigh is a woman on a mission. She is always on the go.Our first stop at the zoo was at the sea lions. No, we're not simply staring at the ground, we're watching the sea lions swim around. They're fast!Logan and Kayleigh enjoyed playing on the sea lion. Looks like Logan is driving and Kayleigh is on the back.Logan also enjoyed the elephant. The zoo had a new baby elephant, Baylor. We got to watch Baylor get his morning bath.Kayleigh had fun chasing the birds while we stopped for a brief snack. Look out birds - your relaxing time is OVER!On Wednesday morning, Logan, Karen and Bob went get skiing at the local bayou. We had a great time and got to go FAST. Karen and Logan are sitting on the jet ski before we left. After we got back from the jet skiing, we cleaned up and headed out to Frogerts Farm Market for some delicious fried pies. Yummy!

Thanks for the great visit! Hope to see you again soon!

July 29&30: Flachman Family Visit

The Flachman Four (Karen, Shane, Logan and Kayleigh) stopped by HSV for a brief visit on their way back to Dickinson, TX, from Peru, IN. They arrived about 1 AM on Thursday morning - no problem, we had a brief nap and were ready to go!

Since the weather was rather HOT (highs near or above 100F) we went to Balboa beach both days. The kids really enjoyed the water and playing in the sand. Logan enjoyed "washing away" the sand turtles Bapa built. However, I'll admit they looked more like lumps of sand as opposed to turtles.

Logan and Shane played in the sand.

In the morning - when it was a bit cooler - Logan enjoyed playing outside with the dump truck. He could move a lot of rocks.

Since the temperature was sooooo hot, we spent a lot of time inside. Kayleigh liked playing with the push frog. It's not only fun to push but can also be used to hit older brothers with. Wow - a toy with multiple uses.

The kid toys are stored in large plastic containers. Of course, the container is as much fun to play with as the toys - if not more fun.

Bapa and Kayleigh were busy playing with the shape ball. Mr. Mischief is getting ready to attack someone. I think it's Shane.

We also spent time at Lake Sophia throwing rocks into the water - a great pastime. Both Logan and Kayleigh enjoyed making splashes. Logan can throw rocks into the lake with either hand!

Kayleigh is focused on getting more rocks to throw. She's a woman with a purpose - better get out of the way! On Saturday morning before they left, we took them over to the lake to distract them while Karen and Shane loaded the car. Kayleigh reached for a rock in the water and fell in. When I pulled her out, she was ready to go back in. So much for getting dressed up for the trip.

Logan also likes helping in the kitchen. Here he's helping Gram cook. Great job, Logan!

As usual most of the pictures are of the kids. Since Karen took most of the photos - we don't have many of her in front of the camera. Gram was so busy playing with kids, she didn't get her camera out of the case. Oh well, at least she had her priorities right!

Thanks for the visit, Flachmans. See you soon! We're headed your way in August - hide the valuables!

Sherri Clark and Scott Keith Wedding

On Sunday, 25-JUL, we drove from HSV to Springdale, AR, to attend the wedding of our niece, Ms. Sherri Clark, to Mr. Scott Keith. Sherri is Marinel's (Bob's sister) youngest. While there we also got to visit with Marinel and Rocky plus Marinel's other two daughters, Kathy and Jamie, and their families. Minutes before the wedding the "Bride to Be" looks beautiful but a bit nervous. Rocky had the privilege of "giving the Bride away." He's ready to go in his tux. He and Marinel looked great.After the wedding, Sherri and Scott cut the cake.Sherri got the first taste. Open wide! Kathy, Leon and their daughter, Danielle enjoyed the wedding.We also got a photo of Jamie and Todd, but bummer, no family shot.Following the reception and send off for the newly weds (complete w/ bubbles), we left for the 3 hour drive back to HSV. Good luck Sherri and Scott!

July 5 - 10; Whitney and Bible School

We had a great time the week of 05-JUL. Whitney Stonecipher visited us for the week and we also taught in Vacation Bible School at Mountainside Church. Actually, Rosie was the Bible story teacher and I was the "helper." Here's Whitney ready to start "Camp Callicott" - hope that doesn't sound too much like boot camp.The VBS theme this year was Galactic Blast. Here's Commander Boone getting us ready for another evening of fun and excitement. Where's Galileo?We had fun showing Whitney around the Hot Springs area. On Tuesday, we went into Hot Springs to ride on the Duck Tour. It's basically a tour down Central Avenue and a short foray into Lake Hamilton. Here's a picture of Whitney in front of one of the hot water fountains.On Wednesday, Rosie invited another 9 year old girl, Mackenzie Lillard, to join them for a trip to Garvan Gardens in Hot Springs. Here's a picture of the girls in the gardens.Here they are "Singing in the Rain" in front of the Garvan Gardens chapel.On Friday, Amelia Martin, another 9 year old, came over to play. First, they had a "spa day" - complete with painted finger and toe nails.After the spa, they went to the Tea Room for lunch. The Tea Room also has dress up clothes for the little girls. Whitney and Amelia are dressed up for lunch.Whitney's return flight to Dallas, TX, left on Saturday afternoon. However, no visit to the Little Rock area is complete without seeing the Peabody Duck march. At 11 AM every morning, the ducks march down to the lobby fountain from their penthouse. At 5 PM, they return to their penthouse. Here are the ducks marching towards the fountain.
After the duck parade, we went to Cotham's restaurant in Scott, AR, for lunch. This is fairly close to the LR airport and the home of the famous "Hubcap" hamburger - which needs no explanation.

Whitney had a good flight back to Dallas. Whitney, thanks for the visit. We hope you had fun at Camp Callicott.

Another Fish Tale

Today, we went fishing on Lake Granada - about 5 minutes from our house in HSV. We started fishing at 6:15 AM and fished until 9 AM (the temp was beginning to get hot). We caught about 20 bass of various sizes - many in the 12" to 14" range. Rosie caught the "big fish of the day" with a 16.5" bass. Her arm got a real workout before we netted this guy.We had a great time and got off the lake before the temperature got too hot.

More fish tales later!

2010 Purple Hull Pea Festival - Emerson, AR

Today Rosie and I drove down to Emerson, AR, to attend the annual Purplehull Pea Festival. We had heard a lot about the rototiller races and were interested to see this for ourselves. Really, we simply couldn't imagine how folks would race with rototillers (or why for that matter).

Well, it was quite interesting. There were two divisions: stock (as is) and modified. There were two "lanes" with a starting judge in the middle. Here's the starting judge saying, "Gentlemen (or ladies), start your tillers!" Also, as any tiller starter worth his salt, he's wearing overalls; even if the temperature was almost 100F.Here's two of the stock tillers "racing" down the strip.Next come a couple of the modified tillers. Both were fast and kicked up a lot of dirt.We heard several complaints about the rule changes for the tiller races this year. Seems like the size of the engine on the modified tillers has been significantly reduced. Last year the modified tillers really roared down the track - some with large motorcycle engines. Oh well, maybe they'll revisit the rule changes after this year's festival.

One of the highlights of the festival for us was the pea sheller - this was a cool machine. Here's the sheller on its trailer.The peas (purple hull of course) are added to the top - about a half-bushel.The peas come out the side.And the hulls drop out the bottom.The pea sheller was able to shell a half-bushel of peas in 2-3 minutes. Wow - that would take me half of a day. We bought a half-bushel of shelled peas and brought them home to HSV. They look yummy. Naturally, we had lunch of peas, corn bread, peach cobbler, and SWEET iced tea.

There were also several antique tractors on display.However, my guess is many of these are still used on a regular basis.

I don't know if we'll ever return to the Purple Pea Festival. Now that we've "been there and done that", we can mark it off the list. However, if you've never seen tiller races, it's an event of a lifetime.