Wyldwood, Searcy, and House Progress

A few months ago when we were at the LTC conference in Dallas, Aaron and his friend Garrett Brooks saw a brochure for Camp Wyldwood and decided right then that they wanted to go together this year. For the past few years, they have been going to Mountain Fork together, but this year Garrett was old enough to be moved into the older camp and Aaron wasn't, so when they saw that they could both go to Wyldwood at the same time, they jumped at the chance.


I had never been to Wyldwood, but I've heard good things about it. And it is in a town that I rarely get to go to, but I will always love. It's in Searcy Arkansas, which is where Robbie and I went to college, met each other, and lived our first year and a half of marriage. Almost everything in that town has some kind of memory for me, so this week I got to take a stroll down memory lane while taking Aaron to camp and picking him up.

Camp Wyldwood was only about a mile from the first house Rob and I lived in when we first got married. That house also served as a hangout for our friends that were still living the dorm life and needed a get-a-away. We had my HUF (Harding University in Florence) group over weekly for devos, food, and games (specifically Nerts and Spoons). LOTS of good memories in that house. Wyldwood is also very close to the rock quarry where one of my slumber parties ended up with my friend, Erin, having an unfortunate incident that landed our entire slumber party in the ER.


Good times.

While in Searcy this week, I went by my old dorms that I lived in my first few years of college. It has changed so much up there and had a LOT of growth since we left, but a lot is still the same. I was sad to see that they took out the steps going into Stephens dorm, because that's where Robbie first kissed me when he was walking me in from a date one night. I went into the Student Center, and even though it has changed dramatically (umm, HELLO! Who needs a coffee shop and a Taco Bell when you can have a bowling alley?), it still had the same smell that brought me right back to the days of being in Delta Gamma Rho and it made me miss all of my friends that I was so close to then. I saw the lawn where Heather (my roommate) and I ran barefoot in the pouring rain just because we could. That was also the lawn that Robbie and I used to sit on a blanket and read the Bible together very early in our relationship, so that was probably also the place that I realized (even though I didn't admit to it until MUCH later) that I was going to marry him someday. Not that it's rare to see a couple reading the Bible together at a Christian college, but it was a first for me.

Ok, I could really go on for DAYS about my Harding memories, but I guess I'll get back to now.


Even though memory lane can be a pretty nice place to visit sometimes.


So, where was I? Robbie, Terri (Garrett's mom), Garrett, Aaron, Austin, and I all loaded up Sunday this week to take the boys to camp. They had originally not put the boys in the same cabin, but after I did a little convincing to the camp director that Aaron was mature for his age and could handle being moved up to an 'older kids' cabin, we were set. Of course, my thought was, 'please don't let him be crying to come home after I've talked about how mature he is and make me eat my words'.

The boys decided that they wanted to do the 4 night session this year just to see if they like it, and then they can move up to the 7 or 11 day session next year. My mom, Austin, and I went up to Searcy Wednesday night and went to the devo they had at the camp, and then just spent the night in a hotel that night. We picked the boys up Thursday morning and they both really enjoyed their week. They got to do several things there that they don't get to do at Mountain Fork, such as night swimming and horseback riding. I'm so glad they had a good time.

Buddies

Austin has missed Aaron so much. He just needed to chase him.

When we went into their cabin to get their stuff, the boys had made a cross out of shoes with an open Bible on the floor for the cabin checker to see. I thought it was very creative for a cabin full of 12 year old boys.

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This was the boys bed. Aaron had the bottom bunk.

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Cabin B5 - Apparently Austin's head makes a good armrest

Garrett lost a tooth in the 4 days they were there, and Aaron had one that was very loose. Aaron told me when I saw him Wednesday night that he couldn't wait to get home so he could pull his tooth and not have to worry about losing it. Well, we were home 15 minutes and.....

he pulled it right outta there! He really was waiting to get home for that! It's good to have him home. I feel like I haven't seen the boy all summer.


I haven't posted house pics in a few weeks, so here's a quick update on that.


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This is our fireplace with a built-in place for our TV above it. VERY excited about that!!

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They are storing our windows, doors, and siding in our garage until they can get to them.

This is a side view. Siding is going up!

Rob is getting all of the lights put in around the porch.

Boys bathtubs are in.

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Austin is already wearing out these stairs.



Our framer apologizes to me daily for not being further along than they are. These guys have been working in 110 + degree weather in the direct sunlight trying to get this house up. I don't know how they do it really, but they do keep having to stop for breaks more often with it being so hot, which is slowing their process down. I haven't complained once though, because I don't even like to be outside for more than 5 minutes under these conditions. I don't know how they do what they do. I'm just thankful for any time they can put into it right now.