August trip to Flippin

We decided to make one more quick week-day trip to Flippin to visit my parents before school starts...no more of those until next summer break, I guess. :( We've had so much rain this summer that you would definitely not guess it was August by looking at these pictures. The grass is usually brown and crunchy by this point, but everything looks so pretty and green. What a blessing! It even rained while we were there, which was disappointing to the kids, but it moved out and the sun was shining the second day.

The first night we were there we went by my Grandparents' house to take them a box of tamales from a friend of Dad's. It was raining a little bit, but we sat on the porch and the kids played in the rain. They had fun trying to catch the frogs on the cellar steps and counting the goldfish in the fish pond.

Alexee insists on wearing her pink boots with about any outfit while we're there. I think she looks so cute--I want to remember this look forever! (She wasn't drinking coffee--this was the only cup we could find with a lid for her lemonade.)

We took a stroll through the field to the mailbox and down part of the dirt road. Crosby didn't seem to mind the bumps in the stroller. He fell asleep once.

Rhett doing one of his MANY favorite country-life activities: looking in bird houses. Most of the nests are empty now, but he still likes to peek in.

This was NOT one of my favorite parts of the trip. We were coming back up the driveway when I saw this little guy slithering over to the grass. I yelled and stopped in my tracks, but Mom grabbed my camera and went in for a closer look. She assured us he was non-venomous, but I'm scared of all snakes.
Shortly after our walk, Granddad got home from work, and the kids ran to greet him.
Dad made these next three pictures when he and Rhett went out to do some chainsaw work. Rhett used to hate loud noises so Dad said he warned him to cover his ears the first time he started the saw. But he said that R wasn't bothered by the loud sound--maybe he is over that! Dad told Rhett that his Dad taught him to use a chainsaw at almost this very same location many years ago! I LOVE this picture of R wearing his boots and gloves. What a happy boy! He told me last time we left Flippin that there were "100 things to do in the country and only 40 to do in the city where we live". Well, this trip he said it increased to "1,000 things to do in the country".
Dad gave him a pair of binoculars, and he has stayed busy looking for deer, wild hogs, etc. They came with a small, soft cloth to wipe the lenses with, and I think R has nearly worn a hole in the cloth already. He told me, "From now on, I'm just going to clean the lenses once a week--on Mondays".

Where did the summer go!?