On Ballgames and Hot Nights

Wow.  It’s hot in Arkansas.  
We have tried to stay inside but couldn’t stand it any longer
and ventured out to see our local team, The Arkansas Travelers, play Frisco last night.  
Go Travs!
 Here are a few shots of my over-heated kids all sugared up on cotton candy 
(which they aren’t supposed to have,) 
frozen lemonade, popcorn, and peanuts…
Enjoying the forbidden

Ice Rings

Cracking up at Dad’s Heckling

Arrows to Show Us The Way to the Car  (Chalk is a Handy Thing)
When we came out of the game it was probably 9 PM (almost dark) and the car thermometer said 104!
School starts this week and we are all in mourning.

Off to Oz?

Tornado Damage in Clarksville
My grandpa’s property was devestated by a tornado a last month. 
He lives in Clarksville, Arkansas- up on a ridge overlooking the town.  
The tornado came from close to the river and made it’s way up along a country road- destroying the country club, some homes, new car wash, and more.   It continued across the interstate and over the creek and up the hill to my grandpa’s house. 

Backyard
The crazy thing was this…
After tearing up the electrical posts across from his house and splitting them in 3-4 parts it circled his house- taking up EVERY TREE in his yard except for one.  He had huge oaks, buckeyes, walnuts, pecans that were torn up by the roots like daisies and thrown.  His HAM radio antenna (about 40 ft tall) was twisted like a cherry stem.  
HAM antenna
NONE of those many trees hit his house.  His garage and sheds (except for one) were destroyed, some just gone.  There were shingles embedded in tree trunks.
  Craziness.  
A pine tree was thrown through one of his kitchen windows and sucked out again.  
(He doesn’t even have pine trees and neither do his neighbors!)  
Through the kindness of strangers they had all the trees chopped up very quickly.
(I believe they said it was the local football team and the Arkansas Baptist Association.)
My mom and uncle are still up there helping with the mess.

Emily’s favorite Pin Oak (Was about 3.5 ft. in diameter)
After sucking all the siding off the house, the tornado went back into a neighbor’s field and took 100 of her trees from a pasture.  It then went to my aunt’s house and crashed her garage and took some trees.  Then it decided to hop up into the air again and destroyed an apartment complex and a few new homes before heading out of town.  I think the death toll was five. 
Storms have been so bad this year.  
To me it’s a sign that global warming is VERY real.  Weather patterns are changing.
Mother nature is not happy.

On Angels Watching Over Us…

We had a beautiful day at Lake Ouachita on Sunday,
 Boating, Picnicking, Swimming, Exploring…

Boys Swimming

 

Driftwood
Pretty Cove

Until Max fell off a rocky hill about 15 feet down
and hit the rocks ALL THE WAY DOWN into 50 feet of water.
I’ve never seen so much blood.

Waiting on Stitches (Cleaned up Version)
And we had to high-tail it to the marina and then to the ER. 
5 hours, 5 Stitches, 1.5″ laceration (to the bone), lots of scratches, 
and a mom on the table with him, later we made it home.
Angels definitely involved in this one.

On Crossing Bridges

My life has been full of bridges lately-
J bridged from Kindergarten to First Grade,
E “bridged” from 8th grade to High School…
So I thought I’d share some summer sunset bridge pics.  

Sunset View from the “Big Dam Bridge”

Lights on Bridge

 

My Boys Being Nice to Each Other!
The kids got out of school the second week of June, so we have been swimming and swimming.  School starts back in three weeks so I’m trying to plan a quick mini-vacation.  
Lake Ouachita, Silver Dollar City, or Chattanooga?

On My Crazy Life…

I feel like I can breathe now (for a minute anyway…)
Since the last post we’ve had multiple dress rehearsals, 
four birthday parties,  practices, soccer games, two recitals, and school field day 
for two of the munchkins. 
AND- someone on a high speed chase crashed into my yard,
killing three trees and stopping a FOOT from my house.
Whew. 

M and Cole playing in Riverfront Park (Oh, and he turned 9!)

E- Listening at Dress Rehearsal

 

J- Jumping at Field Day

Why is it that my kids’ social calendar is more full than mine?

Coming up for air/sun

Wow, 
We have had some fun weather lately in Arkansas…
I think it’s rained for a few weeks straight, and I’ve never heard tornado sirens go off so much in the entire time I’ve lived here.  
 
Pretty scary.  
Several ancient oaks in our neighborhood were ripped from their roots or struck by lightning.
With all the devastation around us I feel so fortunate that the only damage 
we’ve had is a few leaky spots in the roof from hail and wind damage.  
Is that the sun?
 J’s last soccer game was played by the river (never seen it so high) with half of the fields totally flooded.  He said “Mom, look at those geese playing water soccer.”  We saw a boathouse and half a car going down the river, as well as a HUGE tree. Many schools in the county are still closed because roads are submerged.  
Yesterday was gorgeous.
The Old Statehouse (from our killing time walk during last night’s rehearsals)
Today is too. 
I am enjoying it while I can!