Emma Learns to Ride Her Bike

We finally took the training wheels off Emma's bike. We had tried riding it a few times, but she was nervous. I gave her a "controlled" fall (meaning I held the handle bars and lowered her down to the ground), and she immediately hated riding her bike. Yeah...I've got serious Dad skills.

I searched the internet and spoke with Brett Harkey about how to teach her how to ride her bike and gain confidence. Brett's idea seemed plausible, so last weekend I took Emma to the old driving range near Lewis & Clark. They have a ton of grass, and a few little short hills. I held the bike for her halfway up the hill, then let her coast down it, learning how to balance. I reminded her to use her feet to keep from falling. She coasted down and used her feet to not fall when she slowed down!! She was SOOOO stoked! We kept doing that over and over, going higher and higher up the hill. She started pedaling at the end of the hill, and was riding all over that driving range! It was awesome! We called Mommy, and she beamed the news over the phone. She eagerly wanted to ride on the road, so we got in the car to head home.

On our way to all of this, Emma found her camera in my car. On our way home, she said she wanted to go on a "photo adventure" with me. So we stopped at the railroad tracks in Johnson and went exploring with our cameras. It was so fun! I'd take a shot, and she'd try a similar shot, then show me and ask me if that's what I was trying to do. There are some pictures from the adventure (her's & mine) below.

When we got home, the fam went outside to see Emma show off her new riding skills. Here's the video. Please disregard my fatness and moobs. It was a pretty perfect day!

Thanks for the Rain, Gustav!

Hurricane Gustav dumped a lot of water on Arkansas this past week, much to the dismay of almost everyone I know. However, I was yelling at Gustav to bring it on! The more rain, the bigger the waterfalls! I got up at 4:30 this morning and drove down to the Jasper/Ponca area to hit up some easy-to-find waterfalls.

First, I went to Triple Falls near Camp Orr, a Boy Scout camp in Mt. Vernon (outside of Jasper). After a very steep drive down into the valley, it's a very easy 200 yard walk upstream. Usually, there's only 1 or two falls here, but with all the rain, all three were flowing nicely. The big fall on the right was running so hard, that it was causing a decent wind and mist at the bottom. I kept having to wipe my lens dry. It was worth it!








On my way up and out of the valley, I came across a nice opening that overlooked the valley I was just in. The best thing about this part of the state is the early morning fog...it's super thick, and creates some really stunning views from above.







I then headed to Hammerschmidt Falls, a few miles west of Triple Falls (just outside of Low Gap). The best part of this one was the Jeep trail you take to get there. I have a Jeep Liberty (the pansy version of a real Jeep), but it's a free company car, so it's even more fun when it's not your own. I got to go into 4x4 Low and tackle some 2-2.5 foot ruts where the road washed out. On my way out, I did get two wheels off the ground and rocked sideways a bit. It was really fun!

Hammerschmidt Falls is another easy falls to get to. You park, then follow the creek downstream for about 200 yards, past all these great cascades. When you get to the falls, you're actually on the TOP, so you have to hike down into the base to get a good look at the waterfall. It wasn't running at full steam, though. During heavy rains, the entire top of the falls is going, not just the little spigot you see here. Regardless, it's a very cool spot, and I spent most of my time photographing the cascades at the top of the falls.







All of that, and I was home at 10:30. We had a great outdoors day celebrating the Fall weather. Allison will post more about that later. If anyone is interested in joining me for a waterfall outing, let me know...I'd love some company!!

Adventures with Emma: Mud Creek

Last Saturday night, after it rained so hard during the day, we took the girls to the low water bridge in Johnson to see the bridge under water. Emma and I walked out across the bridge to experience it. We had a blast, though in retrospect, it was pretty dangerous.

Tonight at dinner, Emma wanted to try out her new rain gear: a kitty cat raincoat, boots, and umbrella...all pink, of course. We thought it was going to rain, so I asked her if she wanted to go to that creek and wade around in it with her rain gear on. She changed faster than I've ever seen her change before! So, we headed off to the creek. Sadly, it didn't rain. We followed a path along the far side of the creek and wound up underneath a railroad bridge going over the creek. Someone had made a big tree swing that swung out over the edge of the water (shallow water). We played there for a bit, then just waded downstream for a while. Emma's boots kept filling up with water, so we stopped (a lot) to let her dump the water out. She carried her umbrella the entire time (opened, of course...just in case it rained). After we got back to the main bridge, we were going to wade out to a rope swing someone put up, but the water had risen almost 2-2 1/2 feet since we got there! Apparently, it was raining somewhere upstream! As we stood on the bridge, we watched the water rise until is overflowed the bridge. It's crazy how fast it rose! We loaded up and came home. On the way home, Emma said "Daddy, I'm putting polka dots on your ceiling!". I glanced in the rearview mirror and saw her jabbing my ceiling with her umbrella. I now have mud spots (aka polka dots) all over my Jeep's ceiling. Lovely.

It was awesome to hang out with just Emma and do "adventure" stuff! I may have two girls, but that doesn't mean they don't love adventures! Boys just don't stop to pick flowers as much as Emma does!

Mud Creek Trail Bike Riding

After dinner last night, we decided to take Emma to the Mud Creek Trail in Fayetteville to practice riding her bike. The whole family went, including Belle. Lord knows that dog loves a good walk! Last time we tried taking bikes to a trail, Brooklyn ditched hers after about 15 feet and walked the rest of the time. This time, we put her in the stroller, which she pleasantly enjoyed. Emma rode her bike like a champ, with only one little fall after doing figure 8's. I took my camera and caught the highs and lows. Pictures at the end.

The Mud Creek Trail is a really fantastic trail! It's 2.1 miles long, and winds around between Paradise Valley Golf Course and the Target store in Fayetteville. Also, the actual creek is pretty cool. It's now on my places to visit with my camera (I'm getting a pretty long list!). Anyway, if you're looking for a nice place to stroll, jog, ride bikes, or explore a cool creek, give Mud Creek Trail a visit...you won't regret it!

Kids Will Put Anything in Their Mouth (aka It Wasn't Mine!)

I recently started a photography business. Specifically, I'm focusing on kids sports photography, but am willing to give anything a try. There's my plug, and the background needed for the following story.

A story entitled "Kids Will Put Anything in Their Mouth (aka It Wasn't Mine!)"

I went to take some pictures of a few T-ball games for the Cramer's. While standing around talking after the game, all the kids were climbing around underneath the bleachers. Parents would glance around long enough to see if their kid(s) were about to die, but we pretty much kept the conversation the main focus. While talking with the McGooden's, I hear Allison tell Brooklyn "Stop...don't put that in your mouth!"

Then...

"Oh gosh! STOP!"

I look over to see Brooklyn with a mouthful of brown stuff. Apparently, one of the parents (NOT ME!) took their big plug of Copenhagen and tossed it under the bleachers...where my 2 year old was playing. Brooklyn just stood there, mouth WIDE open whining, while Allison frantically dug out my daughter's first dip. We got a wet wipe and cleaned her off (externally and inside the mouth). When everything calmed back down, about 5 parents turned and look right at me.

"It wasn't mine!"

That night, Brooklyn was suspiciously wired at bedtime. I think she had her first buzz. Or she was having withdrawal. Here's some pictures.
Publish Post

St. Louis-Day 2

My Dad loves to travel, so he always made a point each year to take us on some really cool trips. My most fond memories growing up were vacations with my family. I think that is why I like traveling so much. It brings back good memories for me and allows me to make new memories with my family now. There is something special about being away from the everyday stuff and the "to do" lists and just enjoying the 4 of us. Everyone seems more relaxed. Especially myself. Today, after we laid B down for a nap and set Emma up for some quiet time, I laid on the couch, without guilt, and watched HGTV until I fell asleep. It was great!

The Weather Channel said we had pretty clear skies until noon and they were right on. We ventured out to Grant's Farm this morning. The grounds are wide open, green and beautiful. The first thing you do when you get there is ride on a tram that takes you around the grounds and then drops you off at the animals.








We saw cows close up (B loved that) and many deer and buffalo along the tram ride. At the farm, the girls were able to give a bottle of milk to some baby goats. We had to have all hands on for that adventure, so John took a picture of another little girl feeding so we could remember the memory. :)






While we were there, we (well, really John) got interviewed for a segment on the news. Click here to see the video. The Busch family owns and runs this farm, so at the end of the farm, you can get free beer samples. The Anheuser-Busch Clydesdale's are also on the land, so we went to the stables on our way out. Right at noon, the rain came and we were in the car heading for our hotel.







Brooklyn and I took a long nap while John and Emma watched E.T. (it must have been a good nap for B. check out her hair after she woke up) The rain brought some cold air in and it was still drizzly, so we had to do something inside. The front desk said there was an outlet mall called The Mills that had a large children's playground, so we headed there for the night. I have never seen a mall playground like this. Apparently PBS sponsors the area. It was amazing. We also let Emma jump on this crazy trampoline. As John said, "This is what vacation is about. Letting our kids do things that we normally would not pay for."

St. Louis - Day 1

We traveled most of the day yesterday, so this is officially Day 1 of our vacation activities. I am going to try to blog each night, so we have record of our little trip. We have a list of things we want to try to do while we are here and are deciding what to do based on the weather. A bad storm came through last night and it was supposed to continue to rain this morning. Based on that, we decided to do the City Museum. We were not positive that it would be the best place based on our girls ages, but we decided to give it a try since it was inside. I am so glad we did. It was really fascinating. "Genius" is what we called it as we walked out. We decided that we need to come back in about 5 years when the girls are 6 1/2 and 9 1/2. (that is strange to say) The City Museum has things to climb, tunnels to crawl in, slides to slide, balls to jump in, ropes to swing on, and a little aquarium. I don't really know how to describe it, but whoever designed it is a genius. It was really fun. The girls really liked it. Emma was very brave going down some big slides and walking through dark tunnels. There was a toddler area that was a smaller version of the "bigger kid" things. Most of the activities we have planned are free, but the City Museum was not. I was skeptical of paying $12 per person (minus B b/c she is under 2), but it was worth it.












We made it back around 2:00 for B to take a nap. She seemed so tired, but then barely took a nap. The sun came back out, so we decided to head to the zoo for a few hours before they closed. The St. Louis Zoo is the best zoo that John and I have ever been to. (and yes, we have made a point to tour zoo's in most cities we visit, so we are experts :) To be fair, we have not been to San Diego yet) We knew that we would need more than just 2 1/2 hours to get through this zoo, so we went for a few hours tonight and then will go back again. It is a free zoo, so you can come as go as you please. Emma wanted to see the penguins, so we slowly made our way to the back of the zoo where the penguin exhibit was. We visited many animals along the way including elephants, bears, hippos, anteaters, etc.....I got a great picture of this little girl and the hippos that we watched swimming. I tried to get Emma with the hippo, but I could never catch the picture fast enough. I'm glad someone was posing!






Two of the cute highlights of the day were:

We were walking to get some dinner and came upon the Carousel. Brooklyn was walking at this point and was mesmerized by it. She was pointing with one finger and signing "please" with her other hand. I wish we had a video of it, but the picture below is the best we got. It was sweet.

Emma is fascinated with numbers right now. A light bulb went off in her head about 2 months ago that once you get to 20, everything starts repeating. We have been teaching her the 10's such as 30, 40, 50, etc....She is now constantly wanting to count or wants us to count. I told her in the car today that maybe she will be a mathematician when she gets older and she said, "Mom, I am not. When I get older I am going to be a princess!"

2008 Father/Child Hike

Last year about this time, Murray Williams and I took our daughters on a hiking excursion. It was a big hit with our kids and with us. So I sent out invitations (sorry if I forgot you...as people come to mind, I feel bad for forgetting them), and set the date for the Father/Child Hike 2008!

This year, we decided to hike at Devil's Den State Park. Me and Emma met Finley Robinson (with Elle & Silas) and Mike Munter (with Kyle) at the Visitor Center around 10:00 AM. It was originally supposed to be 9:30, but we quickly found ourselves in the thick of the Joe Martin Stage Race. 40 road bikers on mountainous terrain for 10+ miles is not good for being punctual.

We hiked the 1.5 mile Self-Guided Trail (National Recreation Trail). We stopped at the first cave (Devil's Den) and Finley took each kid in about 20 feet one at a time to get their spelunking feet wet. The consensus: it was really dark. After poking our heads in the crevaces and Devil's Ice Box, we made it to Twin Falls. With some rain this week, both falls were actually flowing. The kids loved it, so we stopped and had a snack. It's amazing that all the kids handled a moderate-rated mile-and-a-half trail without one complaint! And no one got injured, either. Always a plus!

After we got done hiking, we drove down to the Dam and ate a light lunch at a picnic table overlooking the waterfalls at the dam. After lunch, we all went and chilled beneath the Dam and threw rocks into the water. It was a great way to finish off a great day of outdoor adventures!

I now have a vision of the Annual (or Bi-Annual!) Father/Child Hike Day event(s) for the coming years! If you're interested in joining us for our next big outing, let me know (comment or email). We'd love to have you, and your kids would love going!











More pictures can be found on Flickr.