The Soggy Summer of 2016

The threatening clouds above and below tell the tale of the Summer of 2016 here in south Arkansas--it's been a soggy one!  Not as bad as that experienced by our friends in southern Louisiana, but we've been getting steady, heavy rains pretty much all summer, resulting in wet ground, high rivers, and a lawn that needs weekly (or less) mowing every week this summer!

The wet weather has helped us get ahead on a few projects by forcing us to stay inside somewhat more than usual...In addition to finally getting new carpet in our living room, I've spent some time this summer turning some of these antique wardrobes into bookshelves:

We decided to modify these antiques, which can usually be found inexpensively, into nice looking, solid shelves:

We also found some time to get out of Monticello, including one day for which we planned to go to a water park in Hot Springs...but with an impending storm system, decided to play miniature golf instead:

On a different dreary day, we ran Kenny up to the Ferndale 4-H Center near Little Rock so he could tell a gathered group of 4-H alumni that had donated some money to one of Hope's archeology-related 4-H programs about what he and others did during that program:

(Kenny did a very good job!).  We also got to some swim meets this summer, although about half of the originally planned ones had been canceled due to rain.  Below, Stephen chills before the big regional meet (he wasn't competing in this one):

 Beth and Kenny did, and swam very well...That is Beth in the second lane from the left, about to win her heat:

Kenny swam very well, too--until storms shut this swim meet down, too!  Below, you can see how he's now quite a bit taller than his mom:

Kenny also got an early birthday/Christmas gift this summer--his very own bass clarinet, purchased by Hope when she was in Fayetteville for a meeting:

Stephen's birthday was early in August, and here he's opening his main gift (Beth plugged her ears to not hear his squeals of joy over a new hand-held video game system):

We've also done some experimenting with making breads this summer, inspired by one of our favorite PBS TV shows ("The Great British Baking Show").  Below, the kids prepared an Indian flatbread called "naan" with their own unique flavors:

 Below, you can see the final product, which indeed tasted as good as it looked!  Today, Stephen and I are baking a honey-white bread, which is currently "proofing" or rising:

Kenny also managed to get his learner's driver's permit (on the first time trying the test):

With Kenny getting older and more responsible, we're entrusting him with more "supervisory" tasks, including watching his younger siblings while Hope and I snuck out to watch a concert that included the Doobie Brothers and one of my favorite bands as a teenager (in the 1980s), Journey (pictured below):

Today, the boys and I loaded up our canoe using a new bed-extender carrying rack, and went to the nearby Saline River for a very pleasant morning-long paddle:

Again, the rains we've gotten this summer impacted what we could do on this canoe trip--the water was higher than usual, so we only found one gravel bar to scour for petrified wood or other "treasures"--no, I didn't bring home this empty turtle shell, but we had fun!

I'll close with one final "obligatory" picture--the kids heading off to their first day of school!

They actually are starting their third week of school tomorrow...