EUREKA!

Last Sunday, my friend Jazmin and I were sitting at lunch after church. During the conversation we were asking what the other was doing for the rest of the day...neither had any plans that were too exciting. SO, we decided to hit the road...didn't really have a plan, just loaded up and started driving...should we go hiking? Eureka Springs? Branson Outlet Malls? Oh the options were endless. As we were sorting through the pros and cons, we decided to go to Eureka Springs as she had never been there before. So, off to Eureka Springs we went. We drove an hour literally over the river, through the woods, and around the mountains. It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon! Here are a few pics of the day...

Christ of the Ozarks. It was hand carved by the same architect that carved Mt Rushmore. This statue is on the grounds of the Great Passion Play and overlooks the city of Eureka Springs.

This is Jazmin. She just bought a "fancy' camera (the same one as I have) and she was practicing. She took a good shot and was celebrating a little here...

One of the streets in downtown Eureka Springs (also known as little Switzerland)

This is the window display of a shop downtown...notice that it was a Christian clothing store! Check out "Jesus is my BFF"

The BEST place in Eureka to practice taking pictures is The Crescent Hotel. It is has beautiful grounds and a very full, colorful history. Check it out here.

Jazmin and her husband, Eric, adopted a little boy in 2007. We took Tommy along with us for this trip and we enjoyed him so much! He turned out to be a good subject for photographing...you can tell he's very camera shy...lol!

These are some of my favorite stills...

Last week was one for the books. You've heard of the "raging hormonal witch"? Imagine that x100 and you get the idea...by Friday, I was at the very end of my rope. There wasn't anything that I could do to pull me out of my bad attitude(!)...until Jaz called. She was pulling together a few friends to head to the lake. I told her I couldn't go because of my workload that needed to be finished, but she reminded me that there was a reason that I get off work at noon on Friday's in the summer..."it would be alright" to take a few hours off and go to the lake. And how right she was! The lake was just the attitude adjustment I needed....here are a few action shots...

Eric pulling the Melissa on the tube with the other girls along for the ride

"Spotter" Will

Francene and her twin girls, Emily and Elizabeth

The girls patiently waiting on the tube for their turn in the water (didn't want the boys to get to the tube before them!)

Eric having "Eric time" after the kids were completely worn out!

YouTube

Here are some videos that you absolutely have to watch if you have not already...

Celine and Elvis

Wedding

Nail Salon

June Birthdays

June is the birthday month that never ends...There are 3 of us that celebrated birthdays in June, but we were all so busy traveling with vacations (and work...) that we've not had a chance to celebrate! We haven't seen each other since Memorial Day! Since celebrations were LONG overdue, we decided to "do it up right" and went to a very nice dinner at River Grill and then Aloft for a nightcap. Little did we know that we were crashing a Bentonville HS Alumni Reunion! The big woofers on the patio should have been our first clue that we were entering a private party, but we ignored them and kept walking in...we were offered nametags as we entered (we declined them) and did our best to blend right in. After many "people watching" laughs we decided that we should get out of there while we could and decided to end the night at JJ's...a very cool spot with live music and a fun atmosphere!

The girls at dinner (yes the guys came, but we didn't a group shot of them...ha!)

L-R: Julie (June 26), Jazmin (June 24), Me (June 10), Courtney, Kelly

Kara (and Jim) met up with us later at Aloft.

The Fourth of July

My Papaw, Verne Sullivan, was born, raised, and lived his whole life in the white farm house on the Homochitto River in Meadville, MS. There are many acres of farmland along the Homochitto in which his children learned to hunt, fish, farm, and "play." Family was important to my Papaw and he did his best to instill that value in his own children and grandchildren.

As the Sullivan family grew, two holidays became of utmost importance: Christmas and the Fourth of July. On Christmas night, all Sullivan's all gather in the little white farmhouse on the River. On July 4th, everyone gathers at the River underneath a pavillion that my Papaw ensured was complete before his death in August 1992. The first July 4th that we enjoyed the Pavillion was his last holiday with us.

Surprisingly, every Sullivan faithfully continues with the tradition of Christmas and July 4th. This past July 4th was the best in years. The day was very hot, but underneath the Pavillion a cool breeze flowed making the outdoors not only bearable, but enjoyable. Below are a few candids that I hope you enjoy as much as we did making them...

Kale and Callie looking festive in their patriotic headwear and leis. (Callie was giving hers the taste test...ha!)

Kamryn and Kelsey immediately headed to the riverfront to check upon arrival

Skye and Erin (Summer's good friend from Jxn) indulged in yummy rice crispy treats

Dad provided entertainment for all the babies...seemed to be well received by all within earshot

Callie loves hats...

Kayla flashing a big smile as she is headed to the river

Cooper (Tara's younger son) striking a muscle pose

Kolemyn Grace (Kayla's daughter)

Kale

Sawyer (Tasha's baby boy)

Cool Man, Grant

Mamaw Sullivan with Isabella Ann (youngest triplet)

The COOKS grilling the traditional chickens with the infamous Garlic/butter sauce

Sadye (Tasha's middle child)

Uncle Bill and Isaac William (Triplet #1)

Josh Iles and Isabella

Ian Knight (Triplet #2) sleeping away in the middle of all the action

Bill, Elizabeth and Issac

look-a-like cousins: Judy and Patti (Perrott)

Callie

(she loves eating ice and bananas in her nifty little net pouch)

Kale had just enjoyed his first chocolate cupcake

What July 4th is complete without a stolen watermelon??

Dad and Grandaddy Joseph raided the watermelon patch in a secret location on the River

Gotta make sure that they picked a good one :)

New York/New Jersey/Philadelphia

Gosh! How many states can a girl visit in one week??? In my last post, I had been in Mississippi for my niece's (and 2 cousins) baby baptisms. I flew from Mississippi to New Jersey for a work trip. Our mission was to see as much Snapple product in the states of New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania as possible. We not only saw a TON of Snapple, but also New York City! We had a lot of early mornings so that we could get to the city as soon as possible at night. We saw a lot of NYC in a very short amount of time! There is no way to share all of the pics with you, but trust me when I tell you that there was very little that we didn't view, experience, or drive by (ha!). We were only in NJ/NY for 3 nights...

Day 1: Times Square and Roof Top Bar
Tuesday was travel day. The 4 of us arrived at Newark, NJ by 3:00 and headed to the hotel to literally drop luggage and head to the city as quickly as possible. We were sitting on the Roof Top Bar at 230 Fifth in record time taking in the sights. Here is the view....


As we were walking back to the car, we passed a church that had a black iron gate around it. Tied on the iron were yellow ribbons...breathtaking. Each ribbon had 2-3 laminated cards with the name of a person serving overseas. Speechless.

As we were making our way to Times Square, we passed the Macy's Flagship store....it was like the Heaven's opened up and a light was beaconing us....too bad I was with 3 men who would not let me stop :(

Day 2: Ground Zero - The Freedom Towers

When we were talking about this trip, we all unanimously voiced that we could not leave NYC without visiting Ground Zero. We walked all around it for about 2.5 hours.

First sighting of Ground Zero...We were walking up to the area, but the barricades and fencing prohibited our view.

We found a raised crosswalk where we could peer down on where the action was happening...the area was HUGE! There really aren't any words to describe the emotions and realizations that we all experienced at this sight. I cannot imagine what it was like before construction started. I tried to imagine standing on a nearby sidewalk when the towers fell...there just are not words. We all were silent for most of the "tour" around the area. I believe that it is about 3 city blocks square (?)
We finally found the Fire Department across from Ground Zero. It has been nicely renovated and a bronze memorial on one full side of the building.

Here is a peep into the firehouse where the trucks are parked.

Part of the memorial along the side of the Firehouse

The other part of the memorial

Not exactly sure where this cross was located in relation to Ground Zero, but it did face the area on the side of the Federal Building. This gave me chills as it still had part of the debris on one side of the cross.

On our way home, we had to drive through the Financial District and see "The Bull." You'll notice that it seems to be "daylight." It was actually about 11:30 at night and the park right behind The Bull was host to a movie scene (The Scorcer, I think...) Really cool to see a 1920's Roadster parked nearby with all the movie equipment...

Day 3:

The last night of our NYC visit, we ate dinner at The Carnegie Deli. Afterward, we wanted to see our favorite TV networks since most all of them have street views into the studios. One wanted to see Fox, another wanted to see ESPN Sports News, and I wanted to see the Today Show. We had a great time trying to find all of the studios and really got to see a good piece of Manhattan on foot...ha!

PHILADELPHIA: Kenny Chesney Concert

Friday:

We worked our way down from New Jersey/New York to Philadelphia, PA. The reason for our trip was to go to the Kenny Chesney Stadium Concert. Can't really go into the Hows and Whys, but it was a work trip....I promise :)

On the recommendation of my good friend and neighbor, we had dinner on Sixth Street in downtown Philly. It is a very different sort of street. Kind of like Bourbon in NOLA, kind of grungy like Seattle, all sorts of cultures collide on this street. It goes without saying that we were a little surprised that Philly would have such a cross-cultural scene in it's downtown area...but we walked and walked taking it all in. We finally found our restaurant on the other end of the street (thank goodness!) and had a great experience! I am drawing a blank on the name of the restaurant, but it was some of the best Italian I've had in a while. It's in an old historic building and has a dinner theater in the basement. Very cool place...definitely not like the other end of Sixth...

Saturday:

If you have never been to a KC Stadium Concert, it is an experience that is unforgettable! People start showing up in the parking lot by early morning. They haul in sand, tiki torches, tents, more sand, grills, baby pools, and anything else that is not nailed or glued down! There is a competition for the best tailgate party as the winner wins front row tickets. For a lot of people, that is motivation enough to work very hard to create unique and interesting tailgate parties! I had NO idea that the state of PA had so much sand....ha!

There were people from everywhere! I even ran into some guys from MISSISSIPPI! They had driven up from Meridian and donned Mississippi State gear! (don't have a picture, though). They had a great tailgate...Mississippi style, of course. They had filled the bed of the truck with water and then spread sand all around the back and into their tent. They brought their own stereo equipment and had a DJ! They really went all out...

Here are a few pics that I can share from the concert:

An early shot of the stadium parking lot.

After we made the parking lot round and checked on a few things, we decided to go sight-seeing in the historical part of Philly (downtown). First thing on the agenda? You guessed it...the Rocky Steps. These are the steps leading up to the Philadelphia Art Museum. Sylvester Stallone made them famous in his training scenes in the Rocky movies.

The State House. Did any of you watch the John Adams Series on HBO? Well, if you did, this building should look familiar. Continental Congress met here (and a whole bunch of other historical stuff that I cannot seem to remember right now). There are 3 buildings on this site, but I couldn't fit them into one frame.

LUNCH!! Pat's Philly Cheese Steak. The best in town! In case you ever need to know, here's how you order...(cheese wit)

The Concert:

The order of the concert was Lady Antebellum, Miranda Lambert, Montgomery Gentry, Sugarland, and Kenny Chesney. Because we were doing other things, I did not get to see Lady A or Montgomery Gentry, but I could hear them. I did get to see Sugarland, Miranda Lambert, and Kenny. All were terrific. The energy in the stadium was electric...have not seen anytihng quite like it. Great fun!

Christian Bush from Sugarland. He's good at interacting with the crowd while he's performing.

Miranda Lambert. A really good pre-concert show!

In between performers, I found my friend, Megan! I directed her wedding reception last June! Small world! She lives in Baltimore and had come up with some girlfriends for the concert. They had sandbar tickets....lucky girls!

And last, but not least...the reason we all trekked to Philly....

As I look back over this post, I realize that there is a lot of "white space". I saw and did so many things that there is no way to document it all without it taking days to write. Hopefully these highlights help paint the picture that I had a blast and loved every minute of the trip! Each day was packed and I had very little sleep (early mornings...and very late nights). What an incredible experience and I cannot wait to go back to NYC!