the Paladinos

Memorial Day

Tuesday, May 26, 2015 by Leslie Paladino

We decided to spend the last day of our long weekend hiking to a few waterfalls.  Along the way we went past Terra Studios, home of the Bluebird of Happiness, and had to stop.  It’s definitely an interesting place with little gnomes or dragons, etc popping out of random little places.  We got to see one of the artists making bluebirds and of course the kids had to each bring one home. 

To get to the waterfalls we were following directions from a Tim Ernst book.  We were planning on hitting a few “easy” ones along the road and started with the Kings River Falls outside of Boston, AR.  Our first clue that something might be off about this spot should have been all the cars.  But it was 4 miles down a dirt road so we figured the falls really must have been worth seeing if that many cars were there.  The trail was pretty water logged after all the rain we’ve had but we finally made our way down the river after about an hour of walking.  And we found…lots of drunk college kids complete with a pile of jello shot cups and empty beer bottles.  Not quite what we expected but we hung out for a while then walked back.  By the time we made it back out we were hot, grumpy and Peter went home pantless after walking back straight through the puddles and finally falling in one.  So no more waterfalls for us.  But still a memorable day!   Smile

DSC_7324DSC_7326DSC_7330DSC_7331DSC_7339DSC_7341DSC_7336DSC_7338DSC_7343
DSC_7346
Making their way through the Labyrinth.
DSC_7347DSC_7351
First one out of the maze complete with a winners pose. 

DSC_7358
Daddy “got lost” in the maze and had to be led out. 

IMG_8601
Love this little man and his smile!

IMG_8608IMG_8611IMG_8614
Kings River Falls and our new friends.

IMG_8622
This kid was in his happy place with unlimited rocks to throw in the water. 

Prairie Grove Battlefield

Saturday, May 23, 2015 by Leslie Paladino

I won’t even mention how long its been since my last blog post.  Smile  This week Gabby was assigned an Arkansas diorama project.  She decided to go with one of our local battlefields and we settled on Prairie Grove.  It’s beautiful and one of the most intact Civil War battlefields in the nation.  You can do some walk through and some drive through with a narrative cd.  The grounds are so beautiful and well maintained.  We need to plan on going back in the fall when the apple orchard is open (which is original to the site) and you can pick apples.   

After our tour we made a stop at The Briar Rose in Farmington.  It was the cutest bakery/café with a Sleeping Beauty theme.  Wood fire pizzas, sandwiches, espresso and amazing baked goodies.  That’s my kinda place!! 

DSC_7239
The ridge where most of the battle was fought. 

DSC_7242
The house in the background is right behind the ridge with the apple orchard right behind it.  Both are original to the site.

DSC_7245
DSC_7251
DSC_7264
DSC_7265
Looking for a geo cache that we never found.

DSC_7267DSC_7283
DSC_7288
DSC_7297.2
My loves!

IMG_8589
Briar Rose in Farmington
IMG_8586
Complete with working mini cottage door.