FALL COLORS ROAD TRIP

 While we've had this camping road trip planned for a while (we saw an article about an Arkansas fall colors driving route back in July), the extreme stress and disappointment of last week's election results really made this the perfect weekend to disconnect from the news (and most of "civilization") and just "get away from it all". Camping is our happy place (we really should do it more often... if only our schedules allowed!) and we were all wishing we could have stayed away longer (despite the cold nights).

We took the kids out of school Friday (really, Veterans Day should be a school holiday instead of Columbus Day), after making sure their teachers didn't mind (they just tested early on Thursday). We left as soon as I got off work Thursday (which was pretty late...) and drove a few hours up to Pine Bluff, staying in a hotel for the night since we were all exhausted and it was so late (and dark - who likes setting up camp in the dark?)

Our first stop on Friday was Hot Springs National Park, which was so much cooler than we expected. Admittedly, I did very little research (or planning) for this trip and we just winged it (seriously, we didn't even have camping reservations!), but I had figured we'd spend an hour in Hot Springs, then head out into the woods. Well, instead, we spent an hour taking the self-guided tour of the baths and the downtown promenade (Hot Springs NP is the only national park with a town running through it's center), another hour eating lunch and tasting beers at the old bathhouse that's been turned into a brewery, and another hour hiking up Hot Springs Mountain and riding the elevator up the lookout tower to see the incredible views. The kids were disappointed that I hadn't packed swimsuits, so we'll just have to come back sometime so we can all swim at one of the two operational bathhouses (or maybe just Jay and I will come so we can enjoy massages and other ammenities!)

The kids thought the bathhouse was awesome and got into everything they could! There were probably a hundred bathtubs/foot tubs, but also a few steam boxes and "needle showers" (which sounded like medieval torture devices to us...), "cooling rooms" (with cots lining the walls to relax on after your hot bath to prevent fainting), massage rooms (with historic "tools" available for viewing), parlors, rocking chairs (everywhere!), locker rooms, tiny overnight guest rooms (historic, not to stay in now), a gymnasium (complete with historical gym equipment that the kids were sorely disappointed they couldn't play on), and so much more. Lots to see, lots to learn. And lots of pretty statues and stained glass windows throughout!

 (They both requested their photo solo on this rock. There were many stops on the way up the trail to pose for photos on rocks, at their request. I figured one each was enough to record the event here though...)

(Outside the gift shop at the base of the tower - another bathtub, of course!)

 By the time we left Hot Springs, we were limited on time to get up into the mountains and find a camping spot for the night before it got dark. We took the scenic byway, stopped briefly at Mount Magazine (to confirm that they had no cancellations for campsites - they were booked completely for a yoga retreat), and discovered a great little USFS (that's US Forest Service for you non-government-acronym-loving folks) primitive campground at the base of the mountain called Cove Lake. There were only half a dozen other campers between the two loops, so it was easy to choose a spot on the lake. Which happened to be just across from one of the playgrounds (a swingset at a primitive campground? WINNING) and not too far from the bathrooms (pit toilets - which the kids found fascinating, of course).

I mean COME ON - Those colors! That view!

Supermoon rising and my happy photographer (who doesn't get out to do this as often as he'd like)

The reason we came!

Thankfully, this federal campground was exempt from the burn ban that the county was under, and the campground host had loads of firewood to sell, so we enjoyed a fun evening around the campfire, roasting hot dogs and marshmallows before bed.

It was a cold morning (43 degrees, we think - we didn't have cell phone reception to check the weather app), but the light coming through the leaves was incredible. We had another campfire with breakfast and took our time cleaning up camp before the long drive over to the Buffalo National River.

 (This sequence cracks me up because he was sitting there cupping his hands around his warm mug, just breathing in the steam and chocolate scent, and I wanted to take a photo because it was so cute, but I ended up catching his first sip as well - a little bit hotter than he expected!)

We checked out the boat launch, bathhouse, and front lawn before leaving Cove Lake. This place is probably hopping in the summer time... the facilities were large and well equipped, and they have boat rentals and more. If it wasn't so far away (and off the beaten path), we'd plan to come back to check it out. A little bit of rock-skipping practice and we were off!

 On the way to Jasper, we stopped at Artist Point to take in the view and purchase some little souvenirs for the kids (and sarsaparilla for us - hard to find that these days!)

 A quick stop in Jasper at the Commerce Center led us to the local bakery cafe, which led us to a very nice lady who helped us find the local natural wildlife museum and ranger with camping information, who led us to another primitive campground (this time through the national park service) along the Buffalo National River. There was a long, steep gravel road leading down into the campground, but we found real bathrooms and two large Boy Scout Troops on site, so we happily set up camp just above the river (can't argue with a water view!), then quickly went back into Jasper (not a hopping metropolis) to grab fixings for another campfire dinner (hot dogs again? why not?) and settled in for card games and a campfire (again, loophole in the burn ban - YES!) It was even colder this night (we later found out it got down to 32 degrees) and we woke up to frost. Thankfully, I had randomly purchased snow boots for the kids (and remembered to pack them) and we'd put them to bed in 3-4 layers of thermal underwear and pajamas and microfleece, and they are now well versed in sleeping completely tucked into their mummy bags, so they were fine. And we were fine because we thankfully remembered to purchase new sleeping bags for ourselves before this adventure!

(Most stone-skipping practice on the Buffalo)

(Baby Aurora went everywhere with her this weekend)

(They ganged up on me and beat me 3 times... and yes, my wine helped keep me warm)

 So, so cold in the morning, but SO BEAUTIFUL along the river with the mist...

 Once we packed up camp, it was time to head home. We made one stop on the way (lunch with a view of the "Arkansas Grand Canyon"), then made a beeline for Mississippi. It was a long drive, but the kids were great as usual (they are such good travelers - obviously, or we wouldn't do these types of adventures! - and James actually slept for the first 2 hours - Cora napped the previous days).

(We got lucky for lunch - this was the only place around for hours and it was their last day open this year!)

This was a wonderful weekend for our family and I'm very grateful for the opportunity to spend this kind of time with my little crew!

JAMES' FIRST READING FAIR

 Reading Fair boards are not required for 2nd Graders at Southpark, but they are for 3rd Graders, and we wanted James to have a "practice year" where it wouldn't count against him and we could all get our bearings in putting together our first board (look dudes, Science Fair projects were eons ago for us "almost 40-somethings"). We asked his teacher for the instructions, learned they were due in 3 days, and got right to work.

James chose one of the "unofficial" Minecraft chapter books that he's read recently and I listed out the elements he needed to pull from his memory to create the board. I had to explain things like "Setting" and "Resolution" to him, but I was impressed with how quickly he answered each item (how focused he was throughout the process - he wrote out all the information during the hour Cora was in her combo class). Once he had everything written down on paper, I pulled out my laptop and let him get to work typing it into PowerPoint (because his handwriting is not up to par for board judging and typing is encouraged anyway). He made it about halfway through before Acro let out (he doesn't get much practice with typing, since most computer work at school is done with the mouse to answer questions and typing is reserved for entering user names and passwords), then finished it at home while I cooked dinner. After dinner, I went over everything he'd typed with him and asked him some leading questions to help fill in a little more detail (and to spellcheck it all), but we basically just went with what he thought to include (because this is his project, not ours). He wanted to create his own artwork for his board, so he drew some characters on a paper that I later scanned and enlarged (and made multiple copies of, hence the many Endermen on his board). I found black construction paper and Jay created a giant Enderman for the center of the board (because he is both more artistic and more patient with measuring out spacing than I am), then I printed out some Minecraft blocks and characters to supplement his drawings, and we let James decide what he wanted to include and where each element would be placed (Jay helped get the grass blocks and text portions taped on straight and level, but he put everything else on solo, and he was very happy with his idea to put a picture of the book in the Enderman's hand!)

 He was SO PROUD of the finished product (and was pretty pleased with all the attention he received from his classmates for having "cool Minecraft stuff"). He even agreed to pose with his teacher. In front of the other kids. (There is nothing more satisfying as a parent than watching your child succeed in something and be proud of themselves. It just feels GOOD.)

Boards were judged yesterday and James came home with a 2nd Place ribbon today! He'll now get to compete at the District Level. We're pretty excited about this, since James truly took the reigns with this project. We weren't participating with the goal of competing this year - we really just wanted to get some practice and teach the kids how to describe a book and entice others to read it (yes, Cora too - she watched and learned, and helped a little bit with board construction). Mission accomplished!

 Hooray for stories that keep little boys entertained for 20,000 words!

ELECTION DAY 2016

 I didn't wear a pantsuit, the kids didn't dress in red, white, and blue (they were out of school for a teacher in-service day, so they spent the day at work with us - though Cora's "#nofilter" shirt from Grambot was pretty fitting), and we didn't bother trying to change anyone's mind last-minute via candidate-specific Facebook posts. But we voted (yes, the kids behaved and "didn't make a peep, because we're not chickens!"), and we didn't need hugs afterward, because we know we voted for the best candidate. Fingers crossed the evening doesn't cause us too much stress (though we do have a bottle of wine on-hand, speedwork in the morning be darned!) and that people start being nice(r) to each other soon. What a horrible, terrible, no-good election season this has been!

MARATHON TRAINING AGAIN

 Back in the spring when The Blues opened their registration for 2017, they offered a $10 deal to the first 50 registrants in celebration of it being their 10th Annual Event. Unable to resist that price ($0.38 per mile people!), I refreshed and refreshed, and managed to grab one of the deals! I figured, once it actually came time to train (about 12-16 weeks ahead of the event), I could decide whether I'd actually train to run the full or if I'd plan to drop down to the half. And so I slogged through the summer, maintaining my usual 20-25 miles/week with 8-10 mile long runs each Saturday (honestly, not an easy feat for me in our crummy heat and humidity). I ran Big Butts at the end of July (after pushing my mileage up with double days for about a month - race goals always help to get me moving), took some time off to recover (because 32 miles on the pavement necessitated a break), started trying to speed up for some fall events (but neither 300 Oaks or Over the River Run went as well as I'd hoped, since I hadn't trained nearly as well for speed as I did last summer), hurt my hip (probably because I ramped up the mileage and speedwork too quickly after my poor showing at 300 Oaks in the hopes I'd redeem myself at OTRR) and had to take more time off, and then suddenly it was October and I had a decision to make...

So after a couple weeks of easing back into it (AKA slow, low mileage), I did a 14-miler and a 16-miler the past two weekends and hoped for the best. (Don't worry, I'd run a few 11-12 milers before I hurt my hip, so I wasn't bumping up from 10.) And while my plantar fasciitis has returned (oh my gosh I hate PF so bad), my hip agreed with the mileage (and the time-on-feet) and everything else generally seems to be ok too (though I've been MUCH better about stretching/yoga, foam-rolling, and ice baths/Epsom salt baths the past few weeks now that I'm officially in "training mode"). The weather is FINALLY cooling off and a few other members of my running group are gearing up to run the full at Blues too, so I have some long mileage training partners, which makes it SO MUCH EASIER to get it done (and is something I badly missed two years ago while training solo for Soldier, Greenville, and the MS 50). Hopefully, I can get enough long long distance runs (meaning 15+ milers) completed over the next month and a half to tackle this marathon with confidence, but there's always the option to drop to the half at the last minute if need be. Hopefully not, but I do have that security blanket. While I ran that 32-miler this summer, it was technically broken into 3 parts (though they were all completed within a 12-hour time period), and I haven't run 26.2 miles straight since February 2015... Currently, with as out-of-shape as I feel (and yes, I know I'm not really out-of-shape if I can run 16 miles, but I promise you that I'm moving more slowly and taking more walk breaks than I should be), my only goal is to complete the race. Hopefully with some of my friends at my side (though that will depend what their goals are come race day, as some of them are far speedier than me). But if the next couple of months go well, maybe, just maybe, I can push for that elusive 4:15 that I missed out on twice two years ago. Blues is a pretty hilly course though, so it's definitely not most people's idea of a PR-goal race, but you just never know...

In the meantime, soccer has ended and thus I can now enjoy our post-run tailgates again. We were especially spoiled this weekend with a toasty fire pit and 90-degree swimming pool to warm up in after all the miles. Hooray for chicken salad, cheese dip, and tiny beers!

Just two months from today until I get The Blues, one way or another!

BREAKFAST OUT BACK

 Between the extra hour of the sleep (yes, we got it, even with two youngins in the house) and the gorgeous fall weather, we couldn't resist breakfast out on the back patio in our bathrobes this morning (plus, neither of us felt like cooking). Coffee (hot chocolate for the kids), muffins (Cora helped me bake Aunt Margie's banana muffin recipe last night), mandarin oranges, powdered donuts (leftover from the Halloween party last weekend), and bacon (that's not really cooking, since we just stick it in the oven like Robyn and Stephen taught us - very little effort involved) made for happy kids and relaxed parents. Buster even got to hang out with us without a leash (he did great!) and enjoy some bacon himself. Such a nice start to the day!

(No, we have no idea why he came out of his room in a top hat this morning. Sometimes it's best not to question these things and just roll with it...)

TEACH A FRIEND TO BREW DAY: 2016

 After my run this morning, Jay headed up to Martin's to brew a red ale along with some of his Delta Brews friends. They had a great day for it out in the Beer Garden!

HILLS AND HURDLES

 The weather promised to be nice all day today, so I mentioned to Cora this morning that we should go for a hike after school and take Buster out for some exercise. When I picked the kids up at 3:00 and asked them if they wanted to go on an adventure, Cora immediately squealed and started talking a mile-a-minute to James about going for a hike with Buster. In the short drive home from school they'd discussed their packing list (learned from the recent Cub Scout hike) and insisted that we needed ALL the essentials, even if it was just for an hour or two in the woods, "in case we get lost". So as soon as they'd taken care of their after school chores, they packed their little backpacks with water, snacks, flashlights, a first aid kit, a compass, and a notebook and pen (we skipped the jackets because while it was nice, it wasn't remotely cold, or even cool). James even packed a Ziploc filled with snacks for me (THREE snacks "because you never know mama"). They grabbed their hiking sticks, I loaded Buster into the van with his waist-belt leash, and we were off!

They were very excited by all the hills. Especially the downhills. Not as much the up...

The giant leaves were a big hit too! As were the MANY stream (AKA dry ravine, due to our drought) crossings and fallen tree obstacles (which were much harder on the short-legged Buster than any of us - the kids loved climbing and ducking).

 Snack break after the first mile:

 In general, Buster and I led the way (to watch for snakes - me with my eyes, Buster with his nose), but every now and then the kids would race ahead, then quickly halt when I reminded them about snakes (the constant rustling of the leaves - due to squirrels and lizards and whatnot - had them on edge anyway, but occasionally excitement would overtake their caution). We never saw a snake, but we did see plenty of small mammals (squirrels and chipmunks), lizards and skinks, and a group of 7 deer (who all raced quickly down a very steep embankment to get away from our noise).

 Due to all the fallen trees, the route of the lower loop has changed a bit (making it longer). Since it took us over an hour to complete the first 2 miles and I had no idea what the return portion of the trail looked like, we opted to take the road back to the car (1 mile exactly, but faster, theoretically, due to the lack of terrain and exploration distractions). After another snack break, we got moving again, only to be distracted by cannons and monuments and grassy hills in need of exploration. And runners/walkers to talk to and show their dog off to. It's OK though, we had enough time before sunset and nowhere to be except for the pizza place for pick-up in about a half hour.

 Buster was exhausted (but happy! - just look at that smile!) by the time we got back to the parking lot (fat dog doesn't get out for the full 1 mile loop of our neighborhood much, let alone a 3 mile hike with lots of hill climbing and tree hurdling), but the kids were ready and raring to go for our usual pizza and a movie night (they finally got to see the new Ghostbusters movie, so they were thrilled!)

 Today has certainly been one of those extra good days and I'm awfully thankful for it!

CLASSICS IN THE COURTYARD

We eat lunch together most days (perk of working in the same building and having pretty flexible work schedules), but today we got to eat on a park bench and hold hands while listening to our running buddy Maria sing at the Southern Cultural Heritage Foundation's Classics in the Courtyard. The food was good, the fall breeze felt great, and Maria has a beautiful voice. We weren't able to stay for the entire show (flexible schedules or not, we can't stay out longer than an hour at lunch, including drive time), but the time we had was a wonderful start to the weekend!

EARMUGS, HEROES, AND DUMMIES

 I asked Cora who the girl in pink was. She said "Just some girl wearing earmugs."

 I asked Cora if the fish ate a big sandwich. She said "What are you talking about mama?"

I love the strings and the bowtie, and I'm happy he thought his costume was going to be the best (almost every kid in his class thought the same thing about their costumes - it was so fun reading all their notes hung in the hallway!), but my gosh we've got to work on his handwriting! Auntie Taryn, we need ideas...

HOT PANTS

Ever since Pointe&Motion (our dance studio's retail store) moved into the RiverPointe studio lobby, Cora has enjoyed "shopping" before and after class. I never buy her anything (so as not to create a monster, and because Discount Dance has such awesome deals online that I do all her dancewear shopping there), but she'd been eying these hot pink and black lace shorts (for Acro) for months... When I found them on the $5 table during their big sale last week, I obviously couldn't pass them up. She was so proud of them that she rushed over for a photo between classes today (shorts are not allowed in ballet/jazz class, only skirts, so she had to wait until she was heading into Acro to put them on - big suspense for a little girl who loves to dress up!)