Savoring Summer

I'm one of those people who likes to soak up every last drop of life. 

I know life is short and that things can change on a dime, so, why not enjoy things while they are good?

I think life is made for us to enjoy, to find beauty anywhere that we can.

I'm extremely lucky to live in an area that makes that very easy to do.  

We found a lot of fun things to do this weekend with the kiddos.

First up on Friday, we ate lunch at Lin's Garden (our fave!) and then went to see Monster's U.  It was a really cute movie!

Friday evening, we ate BLT's at home (thanks to dad's fresh tomatoes!) and then went to First Friday downtown.  

I didn't take any photos of that, but our town was having the American Art & Music Festival that was sponsored by Crystal Bridges and Coca Cola.  

There was great blues music and all kinds of booths and fun things going on.  We found a bench and listened to the performers and just people watched.  

The weather was absolute perfection!

Saturday morning, we made our weekly trek to the farmer's market.  It seems to get better and better every week.

We picked up some freshly picked local peaches and some local squash.

Aren't these flowers gorgeous?!

A chef from Crystal Bridges was giving a cooking demonstration 

 We popped in to a new bakery/restaurant, Meridienne.  We picked up a couple of yummy French pastries. They serve breakfast, lunch & dinner.

 We also stopped by the very new, Black Crow Antiques.  They have some very, very lovely stuff!  They are in the same building as Shirley's flowers.

I adored the lanterns!!!

 Today was also the Kid's Bike Parade downtown!  This was our 3rd year participating.

 The Walmart Visitor's Center sponsors this event and provides decorations for the kids to decorate their bikes and they give away free ice cream cones for the kids at the end of the parade!

It was lots of fun!

B Boy had his first "drop off" birthday party tonight.  Whyyyyyy must they keep growing up?!

We decided to have a little "date" with C Girl.  We took her to dinner at Applebee's and then to Barnes and Noble.  B&N is one of her favorite places!  Both her and B got a new chapter book and she got a field guide about Arkansas' birds! HA! A little bird watcher!

Tomorrow starts the craziness of VBS week.  We have a big meeting tomorrow afternoon after church. 

I'm excited to have a friend that may be coming to church tomorrow!  And I made this and banana bread for Sunday school!