Petit Jean, Ark

Jeff has been wanting to go to Petit Jean for a while.  We finally made the trip in Oct. 2011.  It was amazing!!!  I can't believe that something so beautiful is so close to  home, and we have never been there. 

Our first trail to walk was the Rock House Cave trail.  It led to a large rock shelter that was once home to Native Americans.  We were even able to see some of the cave paintings that were done.  It was a fun trail with nice views and formations to see.  The most interesting formations were probably the turtle rocks. 

Looking back at this photo now, I realize that it was our last trip with the pop-up camper.  That little camper took us lots of places and opened up so many doors for us to travel and see.  As our kids grew and got bigger, we just knew that we were outgrowing it.  I am so happy for our bigger camper, but will never forget the memories that we made in that little pop-up.

Our next trail was the Cedar Falls trail.  It was a two mile round trip hike to a 95-foot water fall...Cedar Falls.  There were parts of the trail that were a little more strenuous than we have done in the past, but we all enjoyed it so much.  The views were beautiful! One of the best things was seeing the changing colors of the leaves.  We caught it at just the right time!

While I loved all of the great views at Petit Jean, I didn't love how nothing was railed off.  Everything was just so opened with drop offs that took my breath away every time Jeff or one of the kids would get close to them.  Carter, especially, loved to get as close to them as he could and had no fear of running upon them as if they were small ditches.  I tried so hard to step back and not stifle them, but there were some moments that I was literally sick to my stomach with anxiety.  These moments did, however, give us some amazing photos!!!

On our last day, we did a fun and beautiful trail called the Bear Cave Trail.  It was a great place to let the kids climb and for us to see some odd, amazing structures. 

We have camped in a lot of places, but I think that this one was my favorite.  Every day we found new things to see and do...new surprises.  I know that it is a place that I would love to re-visit!!

Packed up for the last time!

Halloween 2011

 Once again, we spent Halloween day with my friend, Chelita, and her family.  We have so much fun making treats and doing fun things with the kids.  Not all of them want to do our little crafts and things, but that's okay.  As long as we have some who want to do them, we will. 

 We had so much fun trick or treating in Jeff's brother, Jerry's, neighborhood that we went back this year.  Jerry and Danielle had a live DJ at their house with lots of kids and a hayride.  It was so much fun!!

Fair 2011

We finally made it back to the fair with my sister and her family in my home town.  We have a lot of fun memories there as children and also as parents with our children.  It was strange, though, in a way that is hard to describe.  First of all, the fair was set up in a different place.  It was not in the cubby hole of a field that we had  to walk through a gap in the fence row to get to.  It wasn't a mystery to be discovered as we paid our $2 and walked through that line of workers.  It was just out in the open for anyone to drive by and behold.  It was smaller as well with hardly anyone there.  It was a let down, but we made the most of it as we do and ended up having a good time.  I rode a lot with my kids and enjoyed the fact that they were old enough to venture off on their own in pairs or groups. 

Demonstrating Acids and Bases