Last Day of Camping

Our friends, Bradley, Kerri and Amanda joined us Saturday night for burgers and hot dogs. Anna was getting really tired, so she went home with her mom. We were all pooped, so we all went quickly to bed.

On Sunday morning, we slept late again, but instead of getting up and fixing a large breakfast like I had been, they got cereal and bagels. I thought I would be the only one eating bagels, but they wanted to try, and even Harley ate a bagel with cream cheese. When Eric came in, I just laughed!. He asked what I was laughing about, and I told him "I've won her to the other side!!" She's a picky eater like her daddy, and usually snarls her nose at most food.
After breakfast, we began to clean and pack up. Eric worked on the outside, I worked on the inside. I wanted to clean it all up so I wouldn't have anything but laundry to do when I got home, but no such luck. Eric was patting his foot to leave. I do just have floors left to sweep and mop, not too bad.

All the kids rode with me. We decided to take an adventure before coming home, and what an adventure it was. There is a spring, about 20 miles from Charlton, that Eric's dad knows and loves. It's called Collier Springs, and it is a picnic table pavilion on the side of a dirt road in the middle of no-where. At the bottom of this pavilion on the side of the hill, the spring shoots out and runs into a creek down below. I wanted to take the kids there and I knew they would love to play in the water. On the drive there, we were seeing deer and hawks, and then I spotted what I thought was a gruffy looking dog in the road. I thought "what in the world is that dog doing in the middle of no-where?" Then my brain clicked! - that not a dog, THAT'S A BEAR! It was a bear cub and he was very surprised to see us. I didn't see mom anywhere, but I'm sure he was around. That was the coolest part of my day. Elizabeth keeps saying "I know mom, we saw a bear, why do you keep saying that?" Very cool. We finally got to the spring, and the water was very cold. The kids and I walked on down to the creek and played int the water and waterfall. It is a beautiful place. Then we went to the cemetery where Eric's Dad's parents and brother are buried. Leah got to see the tombstone of the grandmother who she was named after, and I think it helped her understand that Granny Petty was a person. Eric's Uncle John is also buried there. My nephew is named after him and the girls noticed that also. I would love to spend more time there, because there are many grave sites from people who fought in the civil war. The cemetery sits on a hill and overlooks the Ouchita Mountains. It is a very nice cemetery, as far as cemeteries go. Then it was onto Caddo Gap, where there is a statue of DeSoto the Indian. I have always been mesmerized by that statue. I don't know why, maybe because it's a statue in the middle of know-where, and it's kinda cool. I'm silly that way, and the kids thought I was too. Since the kids entertained my silliness to find all of these places, I treated them to a Happy Meal, then off to home we went. Their parents I believe were getting a little worried as to whether I was going to bring them home.

Once I got home, I began cooking for SNAC(Sunday Night After Church) fellowship. The youth had youth services last night and had a guest speaker I wanted to hear. The girls had met her at camp last week and just fell in love with. She is 27? years old and she is going on a mission trip around the world for a year. She is aloud to take one large backpack, and that is it. She doesn't know anyone she is going with and none of them are from Arkansas. She will go to many un-developed areas and work with orphanages. She was very sweet and brave. Please pray for her.