Arkansas Vacation – Day 3 (Saturday, April 3)

On Saturday morning, we woke to some pretty fog outside - here’s the view in front of the cabin (it was a pretty remote location) -

Here’s the view in the back, looking out over the river -

It was fun listening to the kids’ conversation while eating breakfast together -

I had a rough morning because I hurt my foot pretty badly. I saw baby Caleb starting to climb up the stairs (inside) and I knew that made Elizabeth nervous, so I raced over to grab him. However, I didn’t quite clear the first step (which was higher than a normal step) and it was a pretty rustic, sharp wooden step with some slight jagged edges in the corner. My foot was sliced pretty badly at the point where the toes meet the rest of the foot (on the underneath part) and it was about an inch wide and 1/4” deep. OWWWWWWWWWWWW.

It was a while before my foot stopped bleeding (after applying lots of pressure with a towel). Ohhh it throbbed. Even after I took two motrin. We debated whether I needed to go to urgent care to get stitches, but after an hour or so, the pain lessened and it wasn’t gushing blood anymore. I was able to hobble around the cabin by stepping on the side of that foot.

Ben and Caleb had originally planned to go fishing that morning, but switched plans around after I got hurt. We had fun hanging out at the cabin, and took turns floating down the river while the babies napped. Here are Caleb and Ben (with Eli) carrying it down to the launching area.

Ben decided to cast in one time before we started the float, and actually caught a large brown trout! He fought it for a while, but this was probably 22-inches long and pretty heavy.

Can you see how his pole was bending? The fish got away (the line broke), but Ben was just so happy about catching that big fish.

Eli had a great time once we were on the boat, floating down.

Here’s Eli singing Row Row Row Your Boat:

Eli on the Boat in Arkansas (Singing Row Row Row Your Boat) from Sarah on Vimeo.

We thought the bluffs and rocks were pretty along the river -

Here’s the back view of the cabin -

And some random brotherly love pictures… (poor Charlie!) This is Eli “giving Charlie a hug.”

We grilled burgers for dinner and headed into town to check it out. There were lots of interesting signs. Like this one on one of the city buildings:

Mountain View is a pretty small town, but is known for its folk music. There were small groups playing music on lots of corners throughout the downtown area. You can get a feel for it by watching this:

Arkansas Folk Music from Sarah on Vimeo.

Everyone was very friendly there and they encouraged us to let Charlie try playing the mandolin : )

Charlie Playing the Mandolin from Sarah on Vimeo.

Then Eli took a turn -

You can hear lots of Arkansas accent in this one:

Arkansas Accent from Sarah on Vimeo.

This 10-yr-old boy (in the red shirt and hat) was AMAZING at the mandolin:

10-yr-old Arkansas Boy Playing Mandolin from Sarah on Vimeo.

Here are some more videos with music, complete with Eli getting his folk song groove on :) (they’re short clips)

Eli Dancing to Arkansas Folk Music from Sarah on Vimeo.

More Eli Dancing in Arkansas from Sarah on Vimeo.

More Dancing in Arkansas from Sarah on Vimeo.

After a while, we moved on from the music to get some ice cream cones. The place where we ate had lots of funny signs on its front porch -

My disclaimer on this picture – I was totally dressed like a bum after my traumatic morning with the foot accident… :)

Below is a photo of the Mountain View downtown. One funny moment was when a man in overalls (with missing teeth) came up to us and asked if we had ever met a true hillbilly. Nope, this was my first experience… :) There were a lot of hillbillies!

Back at the cabin, the guys built a bonfire and we had s’mores. It was a nice way to end a pretty low-key day.

Elizabeth and I had fun catching up on this trip, especially when our husbands were gone fishing and we were hanging out at the cabin trying to keep the four kids happy and getting along. (Translation – keeping Eli happy/sharing since he was in a sour mood for half of the trip! Sofia was so sweet with him and they were friends by the end)

It seems like at least one kid has to cry on vacation, right? Here’s a sign that Eli needed to go to bed :)