Weekend Trips

We have made a few weekend trips this month. First, Mitch, his dad and Will went to Dallas to see the Texas Rangers play (he will post on that later). The next weekend we went to Hot Springs for my mom's family's get-together. And last weekend we went to Memphis for Mitch to play golf with his friend John Aikman, so the kids and I tagged along to hang out with Annette and the kids.

My uncle Phillip has a friend who is very wealthy and owns three houses on Lake Hamilton in Hot Springs. This friend lets Phillip's family use the "compound" for a long weekend every summer, so for the past several years, the rest of their siblings and families (whoever can make it) come to Hot Springs and enjoy their facilities. Not many people could come this year, but we had a good time anyway. Phillip took Will out on the jet ski again this year, which he loved. He kept telling him to "go faster"! He tried to take Ainsley but she chickened out. Mitch, Ainsley and I went on a nice long boat ride with several of my cousins later in the day, and she enjoyed that.

Here are a few pics.





Last weekend was Mitch's "guy's weekend/golf trip" and we all went on. While Mitch, John and Russ (John's cousin) were golfing (and eating at Paula Deen's Buffet in Tunica), Annette and I talked about several options for kid-friendly activities. It is hard to shop with 4 little ones, and it was too hot for the zoo. There were a few other ideas we talked about, but we finally decided that since they're at the age where they can be easily - and cheaply - entertained, we would make it easy on ourselves. On Saturday we drove to Grenada to a very large, nice park called Conger's Crossing. We stopped at Wendy's on the way home and made everyone take naps once we got to their house. We filled up the kiddie pool and let them play in it that evening. We grilled out that night and the Myricks came over, along with my childhood friend Shea Morgan, who lives in the Memphis area. On Sunday we went to a playground at a nearby school and let the kids swim again that afternoon. They had just as much fun doing that as anything else we could've done. The kids got along well together and it was a good weekend with friends!


Lexi, Matthew and Will

Lexi and Will enjoyed the tire swing

Lexi and Ainsley exploring a "cave"

Will loved this big slide

Evan Myrick and Will playing in the pool

Ainsley and Lexi eating

The Life of Brownie Bear

Hi! I'm Brownie Bear, Ainsley's favorite stuffed animal. Ainsley has been carrying me around since about the time she could walk. She has two shelves full of stuffed animals in her room, but I am the chosen one.

I thought I'd share a little about my experience in the Colvin family. I was originally given to Ainsley's mom by Ainsley's dad while they were dating. I was part of a Valentine's day present - I was wearing an amethyst necklace and a pair of amethyst earrings. Thankfully Ainsley's mom kept me and several years later, I became Ainsley's faithful friend. I am truly part of the family.
I am in family pictures.

I attend family birthday parties.

I go on family trips. I've been to Bentonville, Memphis, Hot Springs, Little Rock, Dubach, La., and many other places.

Ainsley plays with me every day and sleeps with me every night. She carries me under her right arm, with her arm under my neck. I even helped potty train Ainsley by demonstrating how to sit on the potty.

We have had a busy couple of weeks lately. On the Friday before last, I went with Ainsley and her mom to meet G.G. and get some VBS supplies rounded up. We went to lunch at Elm Street Bakery and then came home. After Ainsley had been napping for about an hour, she woke up crying. I knew something was wrong; she is usually a good sleeper. Her mom got her up and realized that she had fever. Then the vomiting started. I comforted Ainsley throughout the day as best I could, helping her take her medicine and encouraging her to drink, which was something she did not want to do. Ainsley's mom tried very hard not to get me dirty. One time while Ainsley was getting sick, she literally threw me across the room and turned so that she would get dirty instead of me. Whew, I was relieved. However, late that night, Ainsley got sick so fast that her mom couldn't save me. I was thrown in a pillow case and given a bath in the washing machine.

Ainsley got better over the weekend, and VBS started on Monday. I was going to wait in the van while she was at VBS, but she was so upset when she got inside (new people, lots of crying babies) that I had to come inside with her. I went with her every day that week. We sang songs, painted pictures, had snacks, read books, played outside . . . it was fun.

That weekend Ainsley's family went to Hot Springs. Ainsley and I slept on a fold-out couch with a terribly uncomfortable mattress (we're almost too big for the pack and play). While we were at the lake house on Saturday, Ainsley and her parents went on a boat ride. I stayed behind with Will, G.G. and the rest of the adults. Suddenly, Will picked me up, ran across the deck and threw me over the railing into the lake! You have never seen old people move so fast!! (Ainsley's aunt's words, not mine). Aunt Susan shoved her grandbaby into someone else's arms and ran to get a broom to try to keep me from floating under the deck. Someone else grabbed a fishing pole and tried to fish me out. I am not a very good swimmer, but I tried not to panic. I floated away from the deck and Uncle Phillip ran down to the sidewalk and grabbed me out of the water. Will started saying that he didn't want his parents to come back from their boat outing because he knew he'd be in trouble! Cousin Clayton was worried about me being wet, so he put me in the dryer. He checked on me often until I was dry enough to play with Ainsley again, which was very nice of him. Swimming in Lake Hamilton was not an experience I'd like to repeat!!

Yesterday I went with Ainsley to get shots, one in each arm. She cried and I tried to comfort her by telling her to be brave. Thankfully, she didn't cry long!

Ainsley is a good girl/owner and we have lots of fun together. Since Ainsley's mom saw Toy Story 3, she says I will never be thrown or given away. I'll be saved for Ainsley's children (if I survive!). Now, I'm going to take a nap!

Happy 4th of July

Our town celebrated July 4th on Saturday (the 3rd) with their annual Fantastic Fourth Celebration (with food vendors, crafts, games for the kids, etc, at the football stadium all day) and then the fireworks display at dark. We did not go to anything during the day because we had just started potty training Ainsley the day before! She'd had several accidents, but was doing pretty well. Still, we stuck close to the house all day. At about 7:30, we loaded up "frog potty" in the back of the vehicle and went to the Arts Center to watch the fireworks. We met Mitch's parents, my mom, the Harwells (Katie, Scott and Gray) and Katie's mom, Kittye. When we were growing up, my dad and Katie's dad, Jim (who were BFFs) used to park one of their trucks at Timmon's Hardware (right across from the stadium) and we'd all pile in the back for the fireworks display. I guess we've come full circle. Here are the kids being silly in the back of the truck.

Before the show started, Ainsley said she needed to potty, so we put her on the potty in the back of Mitch's vehicle and she went! We closed the door to give her some privacy, but I was so proud of her for knowing when she needed to go and telling us even with lots of other things going on. When the fireworks started, both of my kids got scared and started crying. I admit it was loud. They ended up sitting with Mitch's parents in Gill's truck - still holding their ears, but at least watching it. Yet, on the way home, they talked about what a good time they had! Go figure.

On the 4th we had our parents over for hamburgers and hot dogs. We spent some time outside doing sparklers, smoke bombs and snappers. The kids played with sidewalk chalk and bubbles as well. We watched some of the Washington DC celebration on TV and the kids marched around waving their flags. It was a nice, relaxing night.





I will try to get a better picture later, but I wanted to remember Ainsley in this outfit. Sometimes you see outfits and they just scream your child's name (ok, I'm pretty sure that doesn't happen to Mitch, but it does to me) . . . this one was like that for Ainsley when I saw it at Old Navy. I think she looks adorable in it. The shirt is cute, but the shorts are cuter - they are cutoffs and have red and silver stars on one leg.

Father's Day and Grammy's Birthday 2010

For Father's Day, I helped the kids make a watercolor painting that we framed and gave to Mitch. They had a good time making it. They also get excited to give people gifts and to "help" them open.





After church that morning, we went to pick up the kids from the nursery area. Ainsley came running down the hallway as fast as she could, completely passed me up, and jumped into Mitch's arms. She was proud to show off this tie that she had made in Sunday School. The picture is not very good, and I accidentally tore it and had to tape it back, but it says, "Thank you Jesus, for my daddy".

That evening we went to Mitch's parents house for supper. Will and Ainsley had helped me wrap Papaw's present earlier. We'd told them that it was a secret and stressed not to tell Papaw what it was. So, while they were playing ball, Gill asked Will what he got him for Father's Day and Will said "a shirt" (which it was). Gill then asked if it was a secret and Will said "yes". So much for that!!

This was my first Father's Day without my dad. He had been sick for many years so it had been awhile since we were able to celebrate with him, but it was the first year without him physically present. So, it was a bittersweet day. Last year on Father's Day he was beginning to really look "sick" and he died 2 months later. At least this year he is in Heaven celebrating with his own dad, which is something he had not been able to do in over 35 years.

The next weekend, we celebrated Vivian's (Grammy) birthday. She requested BBQ, so Gill brought that over and we had that plus cake and watermelon. We put candles on both the cake and watermelon and made her blow them out twice. The kids had fun wearing party hats and blowing their horns.

Pickin' Peaches

Last Saturday we drove around town to various vendors who set up on the side of the road to sell their fruits or vegetables. We bought a watermelon from the Senn family who bought the house where I grew up on Mt. Holly Road. They planted a watermelon patch on a piece of land where my dad had Christmas trees. We bought a "yellow-belly" melon and it was good! We bought some squach from another place and then decided to go pick peaches. We packed up the kids, picked up Mitch's dad and drove to Hampton, which is about 30 minutes away. We got to Suzanne's Fruit Farm at a few minutes after 12 only to be told that they closed at noon. After some begging, the owner told us we could pick for 5 minutes, so we hurried as fast as we could. Here are some pictures of our trip.