It’s getting pretty summery in NWA so Gina bought a blow-up back yard pool for Abby to splash in. Gina insists Abby wear the floaties on her arms even though the water’s not deep enough for them to actually keep Abby afloat.
Abby persuaded Mama to get in with her and she had a big time pouring cold water on Mama’s back.
Abby, Gina and I took a little trip over to Eureka Springs today for a little walking and window shopping. We had Abby in her full tourist get-up. She likes to push Dora the Explora around in her baby stroller. You have to be patient when she’s got that stroller going.
A banjo, a fiddle and dog. Three reasons why Eureka is so much fun. That and cross-dressing bikers. (I didn’t have the gumption to shoot the cross-dresser.)
We took a little rest near the airbrush tattoo stand where these disembodied, yet sexy, legs were kickin’ it.
We watched a middle-aged woman get a butterfly tramp stamp.
The taffy puller at the candy shop was the most interesting thing about the candy shop, but Abby started yelling CANDY! so we had to go in. In order to get Abby out of the candy shop, Gina had to tell her that the candy was in her purse and we’d get it out when we got back to the car. We didn’t actually buy any candy.
We went down to Spring Street to see the Grotto Spring. It was apparently dug out in the late 1800s and a cool stone arch built at the entrance.
Ned in the first reader lives on Spring Street, evidently. We saw several of his trademark works along the sidewalk.
Thornecrown Chapel was out last stop. It’s made mostly of glass so it feels like you’re sitting in the woods at church. Except it’s about 15 degrees cooler and there are no mosquitos. The attendant was a little annoying with his photography rules and shushing the visitors.
Abby had a little trouble coping with all the festivities going on for her birthday last weekend.
Aunt Jodie gave Abby a bubble bucket and boy, does it make great bubbles. On Wednesday we blew bubbles and Abby chased them around the yard with a stick. The cat had great fun chasing bubbles, too. If you look closely, you can see the bubble bucket in the pic on the grill.
This doesn’t have anything to do with bubble antics, but I heard one of my favorite song lyrics on the radio yesterday: “She stepped into the alley with a single-shot .410.” I won’t break down why the line is great. Those of you who get it know who you are.
Dad and I drove down to the Buffalo National River and hiked to Whitaker Point and visited Hawksbill Crag, perhaps the most photographed natural feature in Arkansas. On the drive down we encountered a huge thunderstorm, part of a swarm of storms in Oklahoma, Missouri and Arkansas that killed a bunch of people. We pulled off under a tree when the hail got too bad. As we started off down the trail, we heard the ominous sound of thunder. We planned to visit Upper Haley’s Falls and then go on to Hawksbill Crag. Tim Ernst named the falls in his waterfall guidebook after Haley Zega who got lost in the area in the 2001. I suggested that the waterfall probably had a huge overhang — because most waterfalls in the area do — and we could take refuge under it if need be.
We spent Saturday afternoon at the Northwest Arkansas Botanical Garden, which is either in south Springdale or north Fayetteville, it’s hard to tell which. I was pretty impressed that NWA has such a flowerdy place. I was expecting a few ferns and maybe a pine tree, but the gardens are fairly extensive. It’s still early in the spring and some gardens are still under construction, so it should be better in a month or so.
Abby got a big kick out of the little ponds scattered all over the place. She spent a long time in the unfinished Japanese garden throwing decorative stones into the little pond. Each time a rock hit the water, she yelled out “blooop!” and clapped like crazy. We also saw a lizard eat a cricket. That wasn’t part of the garden show, we just got lucky. Abby really liked that because she’s really into lizards right now.
I was practicing using fill flash and I think it made the flowers pop a little too much in the above photo. I need to work on using the flash compensation button to dial it down a little, I think. The photos posted over on flickr look a little better.
Let’s revisit a fine feature film. It’s got an all-star cast.
As a treat for sleeping through the night, Gina bought Abby a Little People castle and some princess jewelry to go with it. When Gina opened the jewelry package Abby said “My bling!” Then she pranced around showing off her new stuff.
This is a test post from Flickr. Cross your fingers.
