Busy Baker's Creek

Why is every weekend so busy? When my kiddos were small we were always trying to keep the weekends busy so that they would be entertained and exhausted and we could get them to nap and sleep through the night. Rural life is very different for us. We are overwhelmed with an endless to do list of things that need done for planting, harvesting and taking care of growing livestock. Often when opportunities present themselves for us to visit with our families it is bittersweet knowing that if we enjoy ourselves for the day more things are piling up back home. Not this past weekend.

Sunday after church we loaded up the kiddos and headed out of town. Guilt-free road trip! We have planting to do for the garden so off we go to Mansfield to a well known hide away called Bakers Creek. A wonderful little old time village with the focus being an heirloom seed store. We wanted to be there to take in all the sights and sounds of the Spring Planting Festival and to really enjoy the occasion we were able to meet up with my parents there and have a little Nana and Pawpaw time!

As soon as we walked in the entrance gates we were tempted by the luscious smells of food carts and flowers mingled together. There were booths filled with colorful handmade and home grown offerings of vendors from all over the country who came to gather in this small field. My favorite site of the day was seeing a clothes line strung up on the porch of the Mercantile building flap in the breeze sending the attached sun bonnets dancing. My mom caught me watching them and shared a sweet memory with me of when I was her little girl running around all summer with a bonnet in my hair. True to her nature she still has my pink gingham bonnet that her Jenny Lynn wore.

This little hideaway in the Ozarks was bursting with a record number of visitors this year so it was slow going around the village but what better way to enjoy all the sights and sounds of some wonderful bluegrass and gospel music on a beautiful spring day. Nana and Pawpaw made sure to keep the snacks coming for the kiddos and much of the day was spent splitting up to spend some sweet one on one time with a kiddo that wants to do this or look at that.

So what seeds did we get? What a question! The seed store itself was packed to the brim and Hairy Man (my dear hubby) had a list of things a mile long. He is an impatient one so when I met up with him he had not purchased a thing. Could not handle the line he said, could not move he said, didn't have time he said. This impatient man left with a huge smile on his face because we have the seeds of the memory of a guilt free family outing and valuable time spent as a family on a busy weekend.

Oh and a new Dutch bunny was purchased too!