Reality with the Riles: A little dirt never hurt . . .

A little dirt never hurt . . .

(that's what my momma always said anyway)

We recently made a road to trip to see Mumsey and Pops before Mumsey had to go back to the hospital in Houston for a while. Most of the time our feet were bare with dirt between our toes.
And we loved every minute of it!

We traveled a little different route than normal and spent a night in Hot Springs, AR. Magic Springs was a place that Steven and I both remember visiting as children and it was fun to bring our daughters there together. It was a Monday afternoon and we had the place to ourselves. No lines, overcast sky, and lots of smiles from two happy little girls.

We stayed until the park closed. Grabbed food on the way back to the hotel and then jumped in the
hotel pool. We had two tired munchkins that night.

The next morning on our way to Mumsey and Pop's house we stopped at a state park to ride horses. Abi even rode her very own horse named "Cloud". She was super excited! Adison played with all the Daddy-Long legs as we waited to saddle up. We had the sweetest trail guide. She and Abi hit it off immediately! We made an hour long trail ride around the lake. It was quiet, beautiful, and so relaxing. The girls are at such a fun age and we are loving our times to get away just us and them!

Next Stop = the middle of the woods (ahhhhh . . . )
sketchy cell phone reception
no Internet
crickets chirping
tomatoes and blueberries ready to be picked
a tire swing ready for riders
morning of coffee on the back porch
cousins to catch up with
mud-pies to be baked
a 4-wheeler waiting to burn fuel
grandparents' laps ready for the grand babies

As we drove down the driveway, the soles of little feet in our car were ready to hit the dirt!

First on the agenda = a 4-wheeler ride

Pop's didn't plant as much in the garden this summer, so the girls had plenty of running room!

Abi loves to read with Mumsey!

One afternoon, we took the girls to a neat place to take a few pictures. Then we headed to a nearby zoo and went swimming afterwards.

I was sitting on the couch one evening and was wondering what Adsion was up to. This is where I found her. She had washed her hands and then decided to hang out a while and make faces in the mirror. :)

The guys were busy cutting down trees most of the time. This is one of my favorite Pop's pictures

from our time there.

Mud-pies are a Mumsey tradition. These girls baked some good ones!

Adison headed down to the pond with the guys one evening, so I decided to walk down and snap a few pictures. She was having a blast!!

She and Pops had a busy day.

We had to have the annual water balloon fight. It was lots of fun as always!

We had a great time away with family and look forward to getting together again after Mumsey returns home. Thank you for your prayers for Mumsey and please keep them coming!

We ended our vacation time with a bike ride at a nearby state park. The girls are both riding really well these days. It was a fun and relaxing day together!