This has been a busy week for us, and included visits with friends, and from two of our three kids and two of our three grandkids.  The week began as most of ours do with church and Sunday school on Sunday, followed by lunch at Chen’s.  On Monday, I drove into town for an X-ray on a thyroid gland.  Wayne rode in with me and we enjoyed a joy ride, driving through several Norfork Lake campgrounds on a wide-sweeping tour of the area while Kay got a pedicure.  The spring-like weather began changing in the late afternoon as yet another cold front swept in, bringing snow flurries to parts of the area.  Nothing else notable happened.

Tuesday, we traveled to Five Lakes Outing Club near Hughes, Arkansas, at the invitation of Ed and Linda Richmond.  This almost annual trip includes the Richmonds, Simanks, Dave Tefeteller and his wife, JoAnn, and us.  While John and Dave were friends previously, and John, Ed, and I were friends previously, the others of us met as a result of our annual trip to Quetico Provincial Park in Ontario, Canada, to chase smallmouth bass.  It was good getting to renew old acquaintances.  The cold front that moved in Monday brought frigid temperatures and breezy conditions Wednesday morning.  Despite these weather conditions, we fished Brushy Lake for bluegill and bass; the bluegill were not cooperative even on the full moon cycle, but a few bass took a fly I was throwing, and a lizard rigged Texas style, fished by Dave and John.  The new cook at Five Lakes Outing Club prepared both an awesome breakfast and another awesome dinner.  And, the laughter and storytelling among friends was priceless!

We departed Five Lakes Outing Club Thursday morning, traveling to North Little Rock for a brief stop at Sam’s Club to stock up on groceries, dry goods, etc. to “tide us over” for the next few weeks.  From there we drove to near Maumelle to for an appointment with Rennaissance Homes, Inc. to interview owner Brandon Tedder about new home construction in Hot Springs Village.  It was a great visit and we provided input on our “requirements” for a new house.  Rennaissance Homes, Inc. is seemingly a great company with good floor plans and ideas.  It is both a Green certified and Energy Star certified builder.  And then, we drove to Conway for my third golf lesson; I’m learning a lot, but not making much progress.  And then, finally, we drove home awaiting a visit from Harper, Jennie, and Brian who arrived about 10 PM.

Friday, Jenny and Brian slept in, and we enjoyed the adventuresome Harper; she knows no fear and ran all over the property, even at just over 20 months.  Ridge and Karyn arrived late morning, and it was fun watching Harper and Ridge get to know each other.  An Easter egg dying station was set up on the patio for the grandkids—yeah, right!  Karyn and Jenny spent a good portion of the early afternoon cooking and dying eggs; of course, the little ones lost interest after only a few minutes.  Late afternoon was spent conducting several egg hunts, but the most popular was the glow-in-the-dark eggs Karyn made; the kids loved hunting for them.  And then, they opened them up to find glow-in-the-dark tubes that could connect to make circles for bracelets, anklets, necklaces, and crowns; we laughed until tears came when Ridge started doing a Pacific Island dance swirling the glowing loops around his wrists in the darkening evening—what a hoot!  We ended the day with a great family dinner and making s’mores over a campfire in the back “yard”.

Ridge was up early Saturday morning, ready to play outside with grandpa DD.  It was a bit to cold and he opened the Race Car Easter basket grandma KK had set out the night before.  We raced cards until Harper awoke an hour or so later.  She opened the princess Easter basket from grandma KK, and by then it had begun to warm outside.  

We adjourned to the patio to play and let Ridge and Harper eat breakfast on the run.  And then, we had to go inside because of intense, acrid smoke from nearby burning leaves permeating the air around us.  We coughed and all our clothes smelled of smoke, and we closed all the doors to minimize its infiltration into the house.  

About mid-morning, Kay, Karyn, and Jenny escaped the smoke and took the kids into town for Easter Egg hunts, while Brian and I escaped by taking the bicycles to a couple of local roads, doing an 8-mile ride followed by an 11-mile ride.  The second ride between Jordan and AR Highway 5 just about did me in with almost 500 feet of elevation change.  I walked the bike up long, steep hills a couple of times on this ride!  Karyn and Ridge left mid-afternoon, Jenny and Brian walked, attempting to get Harper to sleep, and Kay and I just sort of hung out.  We spent a quiet evening, having a mixtures of leftovers and new food for dinner, and Jenny and Brian made s’mores again.