After a delicious lunch at Nana's, we left Forrest City on Saturday afternoon and headed for the hills. Literally. It has been many years since we drove up through Jonesboro, Hardy and Ash Flat. We even took a new route, through Calico Rock, to come in on the backside of Norfork. Our dear friend Cindy invited us to stay in her "guest" cabin on the Norfork River. Cindy was an amazing host to us and we are very grateful for the nature connection and down time we were able to get!
Our boys had their first introduction to the frosty river. Unfortunately they have not been exposed to many natural bodies of water, and this was their first trip to any river.
Braden was fascinated by the rocks, and I tried really hard to find a few crawdad's for him.
Mason was not quite sure he liked this cold water!
On Sunday we drove over to the Fish Hatchery below the Norfork Dam. They had this scenic catch and release area blocked off for kids. Parents could cast and hook, but the kiddo's had to be the one to reel it in. Mason and I got a little ahead of Blake, Braden and Cindy to get to this spot, and in the gap a two foot long king snake darted out of the woods....chasing a lizard....and then right back across the path. We were all a little on edge the rest of the time.....
Trout fishing has to be one of the most frustrating types of fishing. You can see them in the water and even though you are dangling the bait right in front of them, they don't always bite!
Braden asked me a million times if this water was ok to drink....
Anytime we left Cindy's house the boys thought we were driving through the Jungle. I couldn't get them to fixate on the forest, but we did see some local wildlife besides the snake.....this baby fox was trotting along the road on our way back from dinner.
This was one of about five deer we saw. Of course Mason was still looking for the lions, tigers and zebras.
Cindy taught Braden how to skip rocks and which ones were perfect for skipping
Mason was quite happy to hang out on this log....
Saying goodbye to our view of the river. They ran about 2 generators in the afternoon and it was a hard concept for Braden to grasp that he could see the gravel bars in the morning but then it was swift by lunch time.
Thank you Cindy!!!!
We have a silly face contest more often than not at dinner and Mason has jumped right in! Even Mom and Dad participate, but you will not see those pictures on here, although Dad has some great ones!
He will say in the car "look at me, Momma" and make his best silly face
Braden has mastered tying his shoes...these are an old pair of "tie shoes" and barely fit, but have worked for practicing. Now he wants new tie shoes for school and of course I just bought a pair of velcro!!!!
So proud in his pj's and shoes he tied himself!
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