Flippin, Part II

More fun in Flippin...playing in White River and pony rides...

Dad had to go out of town Friday evening, but he hurried back on Saturday. The two babies ran to meet him at the door (I think Rhett & Jaiden were too busy fighting to hear the door open--ha! They're like siblings--they're best friends but they fight a lot, too.)
Saturday afternoon we took the farm buggy down to the river below my parents' house. Alexee was napping and missed out on this trip. Watching the kids playing in this spot brought back a lot of memories of my own childhood. My sister and I and our cousins spent hours and hours riding 4-wheelers on the river banks, looking for crawdads and pretending to baptize each other in that FREEZING cold water (how could we stand to dunk completely under the water!?)

Here's Jeryn testing the water. This was his first time to go to the river, but he wasn't afraid. He was soaked within about 30 seconds.



We were looking for crawdads under the mossy rocks. We thought it was funny and cute that Rhett called the moss "seaweed".
I only found one. Rhett liked him, but Jaiden didn't really want to see him up close.


R & J found a remote control boat in the garage and wanted to try it out. We didn't have time to fully charge the battery, so it wasn't super fast, but the kids thought it was fun anyway. Notice R's arm on J--trying to reach for the remote for his turn.
Looking under a rock for his own crawdad.
Rhett & Granddad watching the boat.
Leaving the river bottom. Jaiden insisted on walking back up the hill until Dad said, "okay, but I sure hope you don't see that big bear that lives right up there." She hopped right back in the vehicle.
My dog, Oliver, is buried here at this shady spot beside the river. Micaela was home the weekend that O died, so she showed me the place where she helped Dad bury him. It's sad not to see his fuzzy self sitting on the back step when I'm home now. Mom and Dad say that their other dog, Clay, misses Oliver. :( Maybe they will get him a new companion someday.

Our last adventure before leaving Flippin was a pony ride. Alexee & I came to the barn later, so I missed out on taking pictures of the big kids riding. They all love riding Banner, including Alexee. She cried when I took her off. She looked so cute! Her Uncle Mario lead the pony around in circles while she rode and Mo walked beside her. Alexee sat really still and never acted like she wanted to jump off.
Rhett cried when we had to leave today. I used to cry, kick and scream when I left my grandparents' house, and I even lived in the same town as them. It breaks my heart to make him leave because he loves being there and playing outside so much. It's always hard for me to leave, too. He's already asked approximately 20 times when we can go back. And "soon" isn't specific enough for him--he wants an exact day and time so he can look forward to it.