Half-Indian Princess

For Mama and Dada's engagement party back in 2003, Stella's cousin Zoe wore an Indian outfit (a salwar kameez). Zoe kindly passed this outfit onto Stella recently and Stella was more than happy to model it for Amamma and Appachen when they were here visiting.

Popsicle, Yum, Yum!

Even though summer is about a month away according to the calendar, it's officially summer around here if Des is eating a popsicle. This is the first time we have let him hold one and eat it all by himself. He did pretty well until he got to the end of the popsicle which broke off onto the floor.

Beaver Lake & Eureka Springs

We took a day trip to Beaver Lake (1 hour away) and Eureka Springs (1.5 hours away) today with Amamma and Appachen.
On our way to Beaver Lake, we stopped at a little town called War Eagle and ate lunch at the original War Eagle Mill, a water-powered grist mill on the War Eagle River built in 1882 that still grinds grains on site today. The original mill has been preserved over the years and turned into a restaurant and gift shop. After lunch, the kids had fun walking around and looking at the nearby ducks and geese. Des is just absolutely crazy about animals.

After lunch, we drove around Beaver Lake and then headed to Eureka Springs, a picturesque Victorian town nestled in the Ozark mountains. It's quaint streets are windy and hilly and they are dotted with cute little stores selling anything from jewelry to clothing to paintings and sculptures.

After all of the walking, we took a break at a beautiful little park where the kids got to get out of the stroller and stretch their legs a little bit.

One tired little boy after a long day of sightseeing.

It was an absolutely beautiful day and we enjoyed seeing and exploring another part of Arkansas.

Lake Fayetteville

We went to nearby Lake Fayetteville yesterday and had a picnic lunch there and walked around the park and docks. Despite the overcast day with on and off light rain, we had a fun time.

The Gup thoroughly enjoyed visiting the lake, pointing out fishies, boats, birdies, trees, and flowers.

Amamma & Appachen Are Visiting

The grandparents came into town tonight to visit with us for a week. The kids are really excited to have them here and to play with them. Once we got home from the airport, Desmond didn't waste anytime showing Appachen his endless array of toys. He was especially happy when Appachen colored with him and drew lots and lots of elephants for him on the easel.

Tulsa, Oklahoma or Bust

We went on a road trip yesterday to Tulsa, OK to go to the Tulsa Zoo. It was going to be a beautiful day (no rain in the forecast) and we took advantage of it. The kids had a great time...Des loved the zoo, being the animal lover that he is and Stella liked watching DVDs in the car on the trip there and back=;).

Desmond's favorite animal is the elephant. So we went to see them first. When Des first saw the elephants he didn't know what to make of them. I don't think he expected them to be so big. Seeing them in person versus seeing them in books & DVDs are two different things when you are 18 months old! Des started to cry (I think the Chuck E. Cheese experience from the previous day was still too fresh in his mind). But once we calmed him down and told him that the elephant is not going to come too close or hurt us, he seemed to enjoy the whole experience. Des would tell strangers next to him very excitedly, "Look, look, elephant, see? see?". He loved seeing the elephants so much that he didn't want to leave...we had to pry him off of the fence promising him to show him other animals like lions and giraffes and tigers.

Stella & Des looking at elephants

Des telling Dada (in case he missed it), "Look, look, elephant, see?"

We also saw giraffes, penguins, tigers, lions, bears, meerkats, monkeys, primates, zebras, exotic birds and fishes, and reptiles.

Des really enjoyed the exotic fish in the aquarium and in the pic on the right, he is doing his best fish face!

Stella getting up close and personal with a donkey

The last stop was the petting zoo. Unlike Stella, Des didn't pet any animals, but did say "Baa" as he walked past a sheep.


Stella stayed in the stroller for most of the time at the zoo while Des enjoyed walking around as much as he could. We think Stella's mellowness at the zoo, had to do with the fact that she was on her way to getting sick. She has been complaining of a headache since lunch today and has vomited four times this evening. Poor baby!

First Trip to Chuck E. Cheese

Dada felt it was time to introduce Stella and Desmond to one of his favorite places to go when he was a kid...Chuck E. Cheese. This was their first trip to Chuck E. Cheese and Stella loved it but Desmond, not so much.


This slide was probably Stella's favorite thing at Chuck E. Cheese. You can see by the big smile on her face in each picture, how much Stella enjoyed her first trip to Chuck E. Cheese.

Des, on the other hand, was not a fan!! The following pix pretty much capture how Des felt about his trip to Chuck E. Cheese.

When they first got there, they sat down to eat lunch. But their table happened to be close to the stage where there was a moving Chuck E. Cheese robot, and that just scared Des so much that he started, not crying, but SCREAMING and frantically clinging onto Dada!!! I guess our little man is not a fan of the giant rat=:) The screaming was so bad that Dada eventually had to move to another table where Des couldn't see the Chuck E. Cheese robot. Des then settled down, only to be upset again when the costumed Chuck E. Cheese walked by the table waving at him. Even sitting next to a non-moving Chuck E. Cheese figurine in a car was too scary for the Gup (see above right pic). But towards the end of their trip, Des eventually tolerated, not enjoyed, being put down by Dada to sit in the cars and trains.

I guess only Stella and Dada will be coming back anytime soon to Chuck E. Cheese!

Rain, Rain, Go Away...

It has been raining nonstop for the last 2 weeks here and we were all ready for some sunshine. The sun finally came out today and we headed outside soon after breakfast. Our kids love being outside. Des will go to the deck door and pull back the blinds and say "outside, outside??" with that puppy dog look of his. Here are some photos from our time outside today. Des ended up getting so dirty (the backyard is still very wet and soggy from all of the rain we've had), that mama had to take him in at the end of the play session and hose him off in the tub.

Stella's Pigtails

Mama put Stella's hair in pigtails last week and loved how sweet she looked with them. Look how tiny her pigtails are...soo cute!