Erica's Pre-Birthday

We went to the Bar and The Capital Hotel and had appetizers for dinner

We had fun taking pictures. I think Finley looks so handsome here.

A tourist from the Netherlands took this picture. He was with
a group here in the States studying the election. They
looked so chic and European. It made me want to
move to Europe - or buy a scarf.

This is the next morning. We went to the opening of the
Mosaic Templar's Building in Little Rock. Finley developed
the site, so we were invited to a breakfast. I was SO impressed
with the museum and look forward to going back. There is a
map displaying deaths of African Americans by lynching.
It was a heart-wrenching!

Downtown "Pool"

We went to the new downtown park the other day to play at the "pool." Right now, all bodies of water are pools - the river, the lake, the sprinker, the pool. She enjoys watching the syncronized sprinklers and the kids running through them. We have gone three times now, and she still spends most of her time on the sidelines. She will occasionaly touch the water, with parental coaxing. At the end of the day, we are much wetter than she is!!

Abbie is trying to lead Norah into the water.

She finds a puddle that is more to her liking.
(Finley explained the drainage flaw that created this puddle.
Suprisingly, Norah was not bothered)

Here she is at the end of our 2 hour visit. DRY!

Home alone(ish)

The weekend before last, Erica went to the lake with some friends. Norah and I were on our own for nearly 48 hours, a new record for us. Saturday was particularly eventful. Here is a brief(ish) synopsis.

On Saturday morning Jeff Killingsworth called and invited us to the zoo with his girls Laura Beth and Abbie. Admission was free that day, and Norah was very excited about going to see the animals and her friends. We arrived at the zoo and were greeted by a 389,578 razorback fans. The entrance to the zoo was blocked by a large woman with a sour face who informed me that the zoo parking lot was closed. When I inquired about the “free” zoo day she said “admission is free, but you’ve got to pay $20 for parking”. It’s worth mentioning at this point that zoo admission is normally $8 for adults and $6 for children. I hope that you don’t need a calculator to understand why I was more than a little frustrated. It didn‘t help that I didn‘t even have $20. My father has always been frustrated with me for not carrying cash, I guess I should have listened to him. After failing to bribe the parking attendant with a $25 best buy gift card, I fought traffic back across the highway and managed to slip under the yellow caution tape at an abandoned restaurant that had recently been repaved.

We arrived at the zoo after a ½ mile walk past the empty parking lot. I was sure that the Killingsworths had bailed on the whole thing at this point, but the two of us still had a good time. The best part was the lion exhibit. There was only a plexiglass wall that separated us from a couple of very large lions. I watched Norah walk over towards a full grown lioness that was standing only inches away from the glass. After staring at one another for a few moments, Norah then put her hands on the glass and gave the lion a kiss. It was awesome.

Despite having a great time at the zoo, Norah was disappointed about not getting to see her friends, so I was determined to keep the second half of my promise. I called Jeff and agreed to let him plan the evening, thinking that if his girls were having fun, Norah would be too. With great power comes great responsibility. He took us to Chuck E. Cheese. Holy crap, I am never going there again. I cannot find the words to describe how horrible is was. When we finally escaped, Jeff took us to Chili’s. Keep in mind it was Saturday night. Two dads, three kids, one recipe for disaster. After Abbey threw up, Jeff announced that we were leaving for Tunica. Next time, I am planning the evening. Norah and I both agree that it’s very good to have Mommy back.

Norah returned to Mother's Day Out this week. She is going 2 days a week, 10 hours total. I am having to talk myself into taking her, just like I did last year. I love having 10 hours to run errands (without my sweet toddler) and clean the house, but I have a tendency to feel guilty for various reasons (the money and the time away from Norah mostly). But I always come to the same conclusions. First and most importantly, I am a better wife and mother when I have some time to reorganize and restore. And second, Norah likes it. She walked right in her classroom and started doing a puzzle. So, I will choose to enjoy this time and pray that God blesses Norah's time away from "Baba."

Labor Day

Erica, Norah, and I just got back from Disney, OK. Never heard of it? I hadn't either. It is a small town on Grand Lake where uncle Kevin and aunt Henri bought a lake house a few years ago. Almost the whole family (Kevin, Henri, Sam, Jake, Joe, Gramps, Grams, Mom, Peter, and us) spent the weekend swimming, tubing, eating and having fun. The best part was that "the boys" (Sam, Jake, and Joe) were wonderfully sweet to Norah and she had a great time playing with them. I miss them already, and can't wait to go back. Norah is still recovering...