- Last night was a late night, so we all slept in a bit again this morning. I had intended to pull the weeds in the front yard yesterday, but I certainly knew that I wasn't going to do this morning when I took the dogs out for the bathroom first thing.
- I didn't even walk since it is so hot outside, and really that isn't even an excuse since I have a treadmill. Graham did run outside for a minute yesterday, and then finished on the treadmill, but today he just did all of his run on the treadmill.
- Keaton left first today to go to a friend's house to sun tan. She drove me there, and then Robby and I picked her up later in the day after running a few errands. We picked up food for Thursday's meal and even planned ahead some for next week.
- Tonight everyone left the house-I went to Mahjong (where I won one game), Keaton and Campbell went to Bible study and then to eat and Walmart. Graham went to Bible study and then to a friend's baseball game. Whitman went to Bible study, and then Robby picked him up to go eat pizza. Anderson went to swim at a friend's house.
- If you are keeping count-that is 5 different places but there are only 4 cars here. Anderson had let Robby have his car so he ended up having to get a ride tonight. It all worked out though-Campbell is actually on the way home now with her gas light on. She was a bit stressed about it, so I'm watching to make sure that she does indeed have plenty of gas!
July 21, 2026
July 20, 2026
- Marley was the first one awake this morning. She didn't know that we all stayed up until 2 last night or she didn't care. Actually, Marley is sleeping on the couch right now so I really should jus wake her up since we sure aren't going to bed anytime soon.
- I had a pretty long list of things to finish today, and at least I tried! I did manage to make some cheese foccacia bread that must have been a hit-we ate all of it within 15 minutes.
- Cambpell, Keaton, and Graham went to eat with some church folks for lunch. Then they went to play pickleball for a little bit. Apparently, my kids are immune to the heat because Anderson worked on in the middle of the day, and later I believe that Graham ran some. This evening Campbell and Graham went to play volleyball.
- Robby and I ran a few errands tonight, and when we came home Whitman was waiting at the door for our pizza leftovers. He and Anderson had the leftovers split and eaten before I was able to unload the groceries.
- We are now sitting on the couch watching a new tv series for us. I just finished a book and after another one to start if this tv show gets boring.
July 19, 2026-Dennie Family Trip 2026
We woke up this morning and started working to get things ready to go. I text the girls and Whitman to make sure that they were awake. Whitman later said that he had set his alarm and woke with it so he was pleased with himself.
After getting myself ready, I walked to the little cabin, and the girls and Whitman had everything loaded up and sitting by the door. Soon Anderson picked up Grannymom and took her to check us all out. Then he picked up Graham and then Keaton. They were a little bit ahead of us until they stopped in Clinton for ice cream at McDonalds. Then they passed us when we stopped at a gas station on the way home.
Our trip home was smooth sailing. We had Campbell and Whitman with us and arrived just a few minutes after the kids. Everyone helped unload the camper and soon we were done outside. Usually, I try to do a few things inside and then a few things in the camper, but it was just so hot today that we finished the camper quickly so we could be inside.
Once Marley was taking her nap and clothes were in the washers and dryers, I had myself a short nap. Then I folded laundry and changed clothes from the washer to the dryer for the rest of the afternoon and early evening.
Graham left first to play volleyball while Campbell left next. I'm not really sure where all she went. The rest of us headed to the Wilson's for a good home cooked meal. We ate and visited while the kids played a few games. We came home around 10, and there is still laundry to work on.
July 18, 2026-Dennie Family Trip 2026
This morning started out with breakfast at Les' cabin. They had breakfast casserole and cinnamon rolls. It was all very good. Then we immediately started on lunch-at least making our sack lunches for our float.
We walked a little bit with the dogs, and then it was time to kick getting ready for our float trip into high gear. We had our two ice chests backpacks-one with drinks and the other one with our lunches. Most of us too had our phones in a case around neck (though I never used mine)
All of our group went on the float trip except for Grannymom and Dana They stayed back to hang out at the pool and then to greet us when we floated in. We met at the office where they gave us a brief orientation, and then it was on to vans to our drop off point.
There were 14 of us plus four other people in the two busses. We drove to Rim Shoals which was about 15 minutes away, and then we put our kayaks in. (Les and Cash both had canoes.) When we first started the float, I was thinking that we might could have done the longer one.
By the end, I was glad that we were only doing the short float. It took us 3 and a half hours to make it back. Pretty soon after starting, we stopped at a lunch spot. It was shaded and perfectly nice. The water was ice cold, and there was often a breeze so it was pretty pleasant....except for knowing that the sun was absolutely frying us.
My arms and face feel a little burned, and I think that Robby and Graham did fairly well too. Everyone else are varying shades of pink-Whitman's arms, Anderson's legs, Campbell's entire self, and I can't really remember about Keaton, but I think that her face a was a bit pink.
The kayak trip was really pretty-especially the last little bit where the bluff was beside us. Towards the very end, I was beginning to think about waving (or even winking-whatever it took) at a fisherman to get a ride back. Once we realized where we were, we were so close to being back.
Most of the kids rated the kayak trip as a 7 out of 10, so that is a definite win for sure. After taking the dogs out, Campbell, Robby, and I took Bentley and Marley to swim in the river. They just aren't swimmers! Bentley does not like to get her feet off the ground-she is fine in the water as long as she can touch...like me. Marley did swim some, but she was just trying to get to Campbell and even scratched Robby trying to get back to safety.
After this, we got ready and met everyone at Salsa's Grill in Mountain Home. It was fine Mexican food-I always want to try something new when I eat out, but really I should just get something that I know that I will like-enchiladas for example.
After eating, we met back at Les' cabin to take a family picture. Then we loaded up a few things and headed back towards our camper. Whitman did run over to our camper to eat ice cream, but then Robby and I walked the dogs back to their cabin for a bit. Now, we are all in our beds, and I think that the big boys are sound asleep!
July 17, 2026-Dennie Family Trip 2026
We slept in a good bit this morning or at least I did. We did get up and quietly walk the dogs. The scenery is beautiful so Robby and I even sat on our bed for a while this morning just looking out the back window-we were playing on our phones of course too but still enjoying the scenery.
Keaton went to the pool pretty much as soon as she woke up. Whitman stirred after Keaton, but he said that he wasn't going to the pool. He then had lunch, and I guess Keaton convinced him because he put on his bathing suit and headed out.
Robby and I walked the dogs and then sat on the porch by the pool and office. We were in the shade and under the fans so it was pleasant. We thought we heard thunder, and sure enough on our walk back we could tell that a storm was rolling in.
And roll in it did. I had picked up my phone to text Keaton to say that a storm was coming when I saw that they were walking back. No sooner did they get back than the bottom fell out-it was a storm, and maybe the thunder was louder because we were near the bluff/mountain/hill/whatever.
Soon though the rain cleared and not only did the sun show up, but so did Anderson, Graham, Campbell, and Grannymom. Robby and I met them at the office and got everyone checked in. First, we stopped at Whitman and the girls' cabin. It is a narrow one room cabin with a little kitchenette area, couch, bathroom, and bed. It is actually pretty nice.
Then it was on to scope out Les' cabin. It is the nicest by far, and then we sat in Grannymom's cabin for a bit. Soon everyone started showing up. Dana had pizza for our supper, and we all hung out at Les' cabin. He has a wonderful screened in porch so our dogs and Les' dogs all hung out there.
After supper we visited quite a bit and then all took a walk around the campground. It was a pleasant evening after the rain, and now for bed!
July 16, 2026-Dennie Family Trip 2026 (an early start)
- I woke up and took a super short shower and then headed to pick up Keaton since she had spent the night at a friend's house. Once we were home, I did the laundry and woke up Whitman. Then a little bit after 9, it was time to head out.
- Keaton and Whitman joined us on this leg of the trip. We had no problems at all and drove right to Blanchard Springs State Park-Blanchard Springs is actually not yet officially a state park because (if I understand correctly) the law says that Arkansas can only have 52 state parks so they have to vote to change that.
- However, if I would have known that is the case, I could have suggested a few state parks that should be downgraded and lose their state park status-Lower White River Museum is the first one that comes to my mind.
- Anyway, I sure didn't write any of my thoughts down because no telling who would read them. We still counted this visit as a State Park visit, and Robby and I have been to 13 in the last 2 months and since 2020 we have visited 43 of the 53.
- Robby and I think that the last time we were at Blanchard Springs was when we were in 4th or 5th grades for a school field trip. We have been a lot of caves and even a lot of National Park caves, but this one is pretty impressive.
- We had even thought about not taking the tour, but I'm glad that we did. It was an hour tour and was pretty interesting. I did tell Robby that the older I get, the more educational things, like caves, interest me.
- From the cave, we just had a little over an hour of curvy roads to get to the White Buffalo Resort. We are right next to the river and have a very nice view. Everyone else will be pretty far away, but we will have a car so it will work out.
- Keaton and Whitman didn't waste any time and headed to the pool as soon as they could. Robby and I settled and then took the dogs on a walk. Before too long it was supper time-chicken pasta. Then Keaton, Robby, and I went exploring a little bit.
- Now we are all back in the camper-Whitman had some ice cream, Keaton had some muddy buddies, and Robby and I will have ice cream soon.
July 15, 2026-Happy 26th Anniversary
- I had big plans this morning to pull all of the weeds in the flower beds. There are currently more weeds than plants, so I had my work cut out for me. However, the rain saved me today. I was not expecting rain at all, so I was pleasantly surprised.
- Anderson and Graham left early this morning to go and earn a little bit of money. They moved some metal from one house boat to another place. They were paid and even got lunch out of the deal. They even drove through Mount Ida and were fairly close to Reagan though they didn't go by her camp.
- Robby left pretty early to do some shopping for this weekend. While he was gone, I did a few things around the house, and then I started working on redoing my plan for Keaton's history. I was able to do half of the lessons for her history, so I was pleased with my progress.
- This afternoon Keaton drove me to meet Robby to get gas. Then we went to Hobby Lobby where she bought a shirt, and then we went to Platos where neither one of us found anything at all. She enjoyed our trip especially since I let her drive most of the time.
- I made the boys' favorite supper tonight-meatball subs. I actually think that everyone likes them-I probably could make them weekly with no complaints. After Anderson ate, he left for basketball. He was gone for a little while and came back soaking because they played in the rain part of the time.
- I then took Keaton to a party tonight. She is even going to spend the night so she was excited about that, plus she was excited that I let her drive there too. Now, Robby and I are trying to watch our show that we didn't finish last night, but our ice cream is in the camper so I'm not sure what our anniversary dessert will be.
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