Mississippi

We are having a nice summer and have kept plenty busy!  In June we finally got around to putting out new mulch.  Our snow shovels came in handy.

We actually had too much mulch.  Eventually we bagged up the extra and put on the side of the road.  Haley put a "free" sign on one of the bags, and someone came by and took them! 


One morning we met up with my friend Brittany at the local children's museum. She had extra passes and it was sweet of her to get us in.  The kids had fun playing and I enjoyed a fun visit with Brittany.






Our first summer trip came!  The kids and I went to Mississippi.  Clark was going to miss scout camp here due to family reunions, so he went to camp with his cousin and uncle. 


It was a double bonus going to Mississippi for me because I got to spend the week at my sister Lena's house.  I loved being there and my kids had a great time too.  I think we might make a yearly pilgrimage there!


Happy Father's Day Lee!  We celebrated a week early, but here are the kids on Father's Day down in Mississippi.


While at Lena's I helped paint the girls' room.




We picked blueberries one morning.


Pictures are out of order, and I don't want to switch them.  But more painting! I admit, I have a hard time painting with kids.  But we let them paint a little.




Lena and her cute baby Steven.


Right across the street from Lena's is a park.  There is also a SUPER steep hill.  Perfect for sledding down in the summer!






Elden and Keith had a blast together.


Okay, back to blueberries.  A retired dentist planted a bunch of blueberry bushes.  You can go there and pick them, and then just leave the money in a box outside.  We did meet the dentist at one point that morning.












One afternoon, I think Tuesday, I heard that Mike's bike was not working properly due to a mishap Monday morning. I offered to take a bike out to scout camp so he could use it.  Some of Lena's kids tagged along which was fun.  Mike (Lena's husband) is the scoutmaster and does such a terrific job.




This scout camp is ranked about #8 in the USA.  It is so cool.  I'm glad Clark had the opportunity to go there.


Back to painting!




We went swimming twice.  It was so fun.  Their pool is awesome. Since it is small they lifeguards let you do fun things that you normally couldn't do at a pool....like go down the slide backwards.  And the pool water is WARM!  It was soooo nice.  Loved going there.


Keith bought ice pops for a lot of people.  So sweet of him.  You can buy them for $0.25 each.








One night I finished up the girls' room.


Lena has some fun garden boxes in her yard.  We spend about a 1/2 hour out there one morning helping out. I enjoyed delicious tomatoes from her garden while I was there.


One afternoon we went downtown.  There is a Mississippi River museum, with a river boat that you can tour.








Lena can do some awesome hair-dos.


Isn't this so cute?!





After the museum we went to a store...can't remember the name.




It was an local artist store, plus a thrift store.


I bought my sister Deb a cheese platter and dome. 




Next up, the Catfish splash park.








The other awesome thing about visiting Lena is terrific food.  Every morning we had something hot and homemade.  The morning after picking blueberries she made these beauties.


Thursday afternoon Lena and I went to the Mad Baker.  We met up with a friend from church, Ashley Mitchell.  She and I knew each other in our ward in Missouri while we were stationed at Fort Leonard Wood.  Small world!


The blueberry dessert wasn't that great.  I really liked the flaky pecan roll thing on the left though....


More hair dos!


The girls' room!  The paint is not this green.....see prior pictures for paint color.  And the trim and ceiling look so great with a fresh coat of white paint.




We went to family day at the scout camp.  Lena saw that her Chick-fil-A was giving out free cones if you said "Happy First Day of Summer!" to the cashier.  Nice!






That morning and afternoon before we left I caulked and then starting priming the hallway.  I was really into a groove, and was sad to not have finished more.  I am slow at painting, but did make some progress...more than shown here. 


Thanks Lena for the terrific visit!  It was lovely.  The week was 99% technology free too for the kids and that was super nice.