Kenly Added Arkansas....

...to the states she has visited. On July 8th, we hopped a plane to visit the Wisers in Rodger, Arkansas. Andrew is one of Adam's friends from college, and since he was a part of our first day, he has become a close friend of mine. Andrew and Dru were expecting their first child while we were visiting. Shepard, their son, has since been born and he is a handsome hunk of baby love. While we were there, we had great time visiting some of western Arkansas's attractions. One of our favorite ventures was to the Gentry Wild Wilderness Drive Through Safari. The mix/number of animals on this "farm" will blow your mind. There is a massive petting zoo with goats, cows, pigs, kangaroo, and about any other "petting" animal you can imagine.


The animals have been known to nibble clothing and try to escape. In fact, Andrew and Adam had to corral some renegade goats while we were there. Here are a few of my favorite shots from the Gentry Safari.

This pig was massive. Kenly wasn't even slightly intimidated by this monster.

Most of the kangaroos stayed out of petting distance, but this critter wanted a little loving from Adam.
I loved the kangaroo babies.
Kenly even got to ride a lion while we were there.
They had two babies tigers that we were allowed to pet. The strength of these tigers was intense.
After we spent some time in the petting zoo, we decided to go on the drive through safari. We were able to see water buffalo, zebra, peacocks, emu, ostrich, antelope, deer, fox, wolves, leopards, lions, bobcats, tigers, alligators, camels, and hippos from the comfort of the car. Kenly was beside herself with excitement.
On occasion we had to stop and wait for a camel or a water buffalo to decide to move from the roadway. This camel came within an arm length of the car. If we had put the window down, we could stroked his matted, fly-covered fur. Adam even took a few close-ups of his slime covered teeth.
We also went to a theater performance that culminated Dru's drama camp. I was worried about taking Kenly to a performance because she can't sit still or keep quiet...she's 23 months old. What can I expect? Dru told me that noise and movement would be fine. Dru made being 9 months pregnant look easy.
Kenly loved the performance. She danced on the floor in front of my seat and between every set she eagerly asked, "They be back? They sing again? After the performance, we were able to let Kenly get on the stage and dance. She loved the loud music and the spotlight.
Kenly enjoyed hanging out with the Wisers' three dogs--Phoebe, Boon-du, and Kobie.
We also took off to explore Eureka Springs, AR. This mountain town is filled with the artsy vibe of Asheville, NC. I enjoyed wandering through some stores with Dru and Andrew while Adam entertained Kenly for awhile.
The rare family photo--even this one isn't complete because Chance isn't in it.
On the way home we stopped at the Buss Stop for a giant ice cream come. The largest cone is over a foot of soft serve ice cream. Kenly, Adam, and I shared one cone. Kenly was in hog heaven.
Andrew and Dru also took us to the coolest bowling alley that had a massive arcade with plenty of Kenly-sized rides.
Kenly was angelic on all four of the flights we had to take. For the most part, she behaved well while we were with the Wisers. On occasion she did bang on the piano before 8:0oAM, but overall, she listened and enjoyed her visit, especially since they had a pool. It's hard to believe that Kenly has already been to Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Maryland, Arkansas, and Florida all before the age of two. She has also driven through Virginia and Washington, DC. We hope she'll grow up with the travel bug because her daddy and I are infected in a serious sort of way.

We enjoyed our visit with the Wisers, and we are thrilled that Shepard has joined his loving, wonderful family. He is truly blessed.

Surfside Beach--The Makings of a Beach Bum

As soon as Adam and I wrapped up our date in Myrtle Beach, we started prepping for the next adventure--a week in Surfside Beach (June 27th-Juley2nd). June 27th just so happened to be my Daddy's 62nd birthday. It also happened to be the day we were leaving camping behind to have a week in a condo with Mops and Pops. Everyone decided to get together for dinner that evening. It's rare for both families to be in the same place at the same time, so we took full advantage of it. Adam cooked a lovely meal, and we celebrated Dad's birthday with an ice cream cake.

The condo had a kids pool area that was simply spectacular. They also had enough kids activities to keep a child busy for days.

We spent lots of time splashing around in the "bucket" pool as Kenly liked to call it. There was a giant bucket that dumped about 60 gallons of water every 2-3 minutes. Needless to say, Kenly avoided that area of the pool.
She loved this area. She took a "shower" several times during each visit.



There was also a lazy river that circled the pool area. Adam and I didn't get a chance to use it because Kenly is the opposite of lazy. Chilling in a tube with Mama and Daddy is the antithesis of a good time--its pure torture. Can't you tell she's thrilled?

One of the kids' activities was a rubber ducky race in the lazy river. Kenly picked duck number 8. She really wanted to take him home or to take him for a swim in the zero entry pool, but we raced instead.
Lining up for a good start.
Following duck number 8, cheering wildly. Adam cheered so exuberantly that he got strange looks from some of the more boring reserved parents.
The staff let the kids race the rubber ducks about six times. Each time duck number eight tried his hardest. He wasted a little energy spinning in circles, but we loved him anyways.
We kept the faith, hoping for a first place finish.
We cheered fervently. We urged him to pass his fellow competitors.
But, it was not meant to be. Duck number eight came in dead last, but he finished the race and that's all we care about.
A strong effort and a winning spirit was all we required.
A little later in the week we took Kenly bowling. Surfside had one of the coolest bowling alleys in the whole world. Kenly warmed up by driving an ice cream truck.
She learned some cool celebration moves from her Daddy.
She bowled her little heart out until she got bored. Then she spent most of her time exploring the many different types of chairs the bowling alley had to offer.


During our time at the beach, Kenly wanted to try a EuroBounce. We paid $7.00 for five minutes of bounce time. The attendant strapped Kenly into the harness and told her to bounce on the trampoline. She took two bounces and burst into tears when she realized that he was hoisting her into the air. I took her five minute bounce right after downing a huge barbecue lunch. Not a good idea.

We loved hanging out at the beach during the evening hours--both with Nana and Papa and Mops and Pops. The wind picked up, the temperature dropped, and the golden hour is beautiful on the beach.

Kenly learned that the wind makes it easy to blow bubbles.
Mops helping Kenly reload the wand.
The Brand men launched a kite for when Kenly decided she wanted to "fly" it for a few minutes.

Kenly shoveled dirt and made piles with her cool beach set that Mops provided.

She explored a large hole someone dug on the beach.
She decided that Daddy's flip-flops were better than sand castles and kites.


She braved the surf to get some water in the buckets.
She snuggled Daddy when the waves got overwhelming.

We had a lovely time exploring Surfside Beach. Mops and Pops also let Adam and I escape for an evening. We had an adults' night out with Brian and Jenny Feid. We went out to a kid-free zone. Then we went bowl, and we ended the night with some Baskin-Robbins ice cream. I even got to test drive Brian and Jenny's Honda Odyssey. Let's just say that I thought I wanted a minivan a few months ago. Now I'm smitten, over the moon in love with the Odyssey. Maybe one day...