Early summer adventures

Nothing says spring or early summer like flowers, and how about this large southern magnolia flower!  We've had plenty of moisture this spring, meaning things have been nicely green in southern Arkansas for a while...It has also made using our backyard a challenge, but as you can see from the picture below, we've managed to sneak in some activities, such as the evening campfire with Stephen's fellow Cub Scouts:

One weekend when Hope and Kenny were at a swim meet, I took the younger kids to an antique mall we like to go to near Little Rock, and bought Beth an antique wardrobe to keep her clothes in:

Early June brought some additional adventures and travel...The unfortunate death of a family friend back in Rhinelander spurred a last-minute trip to Wisconsin.  Hope had some 4-H commitments, so the kids and I headed north and met Rich Pruden in north-central Illinois at Starved Rock State Park, which we made a quick hiking tour of:

We found a nice little root beer stand, which Stephen relished:

I then proceeded by myself to Rhinelander, where I spent a couple days visiting with my parents before the funeral service.  Mom and I had a chance to enjoy walking through the pines:

We also enjoyed a campfire in the backyard, even though the mosquitoes were pretty bad:

Mom and I even found the time to run up to Minocqua and visit a number of antique shops, sandwiched around a visit to a nice little German restaurant in the downtown Minocqua area:

After the funeral service I immediately left to return to Arkansas, picking the kids up from Rich (he had taken them to Michigan for a visit).  We returned to Arkansas, but I didn't head home--I met Hope north of Little Rock and we swapped vehicles so I could take my truck to the next adventure...The 2017 Arkansas Archeological Society summer training program.  My first 2.5 days were not spent digging, however, but rather taking a class on "paleoethnobotany"--this is the study of plants and their uses by past cultures.  Below, our instructor Dr. Liz Horton (right) shows us one of the food plants domesticated by prehistoric Native Americans:

The summer dig is about socializing with others who share a love of archeology and the outdoors.  Below is one of the cookouts held at this event:

When my class ended, I got some chance to dig, although the rainy weather helped limit this--below you can see our covered units to protect them from rain:

We also got to see some rock art, here shown by Dr. George Sabo (kneeling, with hat):

I left the dig Saturday morning to race back to Monticello to pick Beth up from band camp, and attend the concert she performed in:

I flew out the next day for another round of leadership training (I'm in Washington, D.C., today).  More on this later...