River Arts Fest

We ventured downtown this past weekend for the annual River Arts Fest. A half mile of Main Street was shut down and booths full of art (real art NOT crafts) were lined up on both sides of the street. We really enjoyed admiring everything. There are some talented people out there.

There were also 4 stages with live music. Music is such a big part of Memphis. Since we've moved here there have literally been festivals or fairs every weekend featuring local musicians. We stopped to listen for a bit at one of the stages. Willa was as happy as a clam dancing in our arms and listening to the music.

We parked right next to the motel where Martin Luther King was shot so we had to stop for a photo op. There's so much

history in Memphis.

pumpkins, pumpkins everywhere

We enjoyed a visit from my parents this past weekend. We spent our 3 (way too short) days soaking up the gorgeous fall weather.

We went to the farmer's market downtown and my dad bought me these big, cool gourds. They were dried and then stained with leather stain. I love them.

We also hit up the pumpkin patch for a little fall photo shoot.

We ate lunch at Rendezvous for some famous Memphis BBQ. My dad gave Willa her first rib. As you can see, she loved it. She just sucked on it since she's still basically eating stage 2 baby food.

Matt was busy hunting and working while my parents were here which is why he's not in any of the photos. We also ate out a couple other times, went to the park, visited Matt on the gorgeous piece of land he's hunting on, and went to Willa's 9 month pediatrician check up. Willa weighs 17 pounds, 3 ounces (25%) and is 27 3/4 inches tall (75%). We had a good weekend.

Happy Fall and Happy early Halloween. Thanks for coming JoJo/Mom and Grandpa/Dad!

2 new willa bean clips

Standing and growling!?! So scary.
(You can stop the music on the player at the bottom of the page)



A little crawling, a little sitting, and a little da-da-daing.

Arkansas, Check. Mississippi, Check.

We are two states closer to achieving our goal of visiting all 50 states together. We recently went camping in St. Francis National Forest in Arkansas. Apparently, it's cotton pickin' season because we passed over 50 cotton fields on the way that looked pretty ripe. They were gorgeous. It was so neat. The cotton plants were covered in big, fluffy white cotton balls. I didn't realize cotton grew like that. I loved it. It totally made my day to see the cotton up close.

Here's Willa examining the cotton ball we picked for her. Of course, she tried to eat it so we had to take it away.

We camped on Bear Creek Lake in the National Forest. Before we found our campsite, we stopped for a little picnic lunch. The lake was really pretty and peaceful.

After lunch, we drove around the lake and found a lovely camping spot. It had a view of the lake, and there was a nice spot to tie up our canoe just down a little hill.

The evening was wonderful. We took Willa on her first canoe ride (which she hated because of the bulky life jacket). We cooked dinner on the fire and enjoyed s'mores.

We went to bed early and planned to spend the next day canoeing and exploring. Unfortunately our trip took a turn for the worse after we crawled into our sleeping bags. We had to listen to noisy campers a few sites over into the wee hours of the night, Willa woke up and had trouble falling back asleep because of the blaring music, and then instead of waking up to sunny skies like the forecast predicted, we woke up to pouring rain. How can weather forecasts be SOOO off sometimes?

We packed up camp in the pouring rain and headed home instead of spending the day on the lake. We took the long way through the forest and across the Mississippi River into Mississippi. It actually turned out to be a fun drive. We drove along Crowley's Ridge on dirt roads. We came across a bunch of bamboo plants, and we stopped so Matt could cut down a souvenir.

We checked out Helena, Arkansas. (Matt grew up in Helena, Montana). And of course, we paused to pose by the Mighty Mississippi in Mississippi.

hello fall

It has been beautiful here lately. I love that it has cooled off a bit, but I REALLY LOVE that it isn't cold yet.