Life at a "Swell's" pace

Road Trip: Arkansas (Crater of Diamonds and Birthplace of William Jefferson Clinton)

May 12-We visited the Crater of Diamonds State Park and the birthplace home of former President William Jefferson while in Arkansas on our visit. My sister had her third grade class out at the diamond pit and we were able to spend some time with her while we were there. We didn't find any diamonds, but we did get a lot of great stones to take back to Oregon. The Bean found himself a large agate, too. We had a great time spending the day with my brother while everyone else was at work. He took us to see a lot of great places and we couldn't have asked for better weather to get out and about.

We ended up gathering up some much-needed supplies to do some heavy duty digging in the diamond crater.

The original mine still sits on the property.

We broke apart rocks and stones hunting for even a small piece of a diamond...

The signs of past finds are around the crater area pushing you along to keep looking.

Still looking...

We ended up finding a lot of great stones, agates, and some lamproite, but no diamonds.

The Bean found a big agate and was pretty stoked about it.

We cleaned off our shoes and decided to call it a day.

Our finds were interesting and we brought them back to Oregon with us. We ended up digging up Jasper (smooth stones), Sandstone (gritty stones), Volcanic Tuft (green stones), Lamporite (black speckled stones), Jasper infused with iron (conglomerate stones). Special thanks to Tera Teague for helping us sort out what stones we found.

The Crater of Diamonds State Park is a fun spot to spend the day. It's located in Murfreesboro, Arkansas, and offers a great experience in the way mining was done in Arkansas.

After the Crater of Diamonds we headed to the birthplace of former President William Jefferson Clinton in Hope, Arkansas.

We loved visiting the birthplace of Bill Clinton because we finally got to stamp off one of our National Park visits in our passport book.

Great visit to the Crater of Diamonds and to Hope, Arkansas, to see the birthplace of Bill Clinton. Arkansas has a lot to offer and these two places are definitely worth the visit.

Road Trip: Arkansas (Lake Fort Smith and Train Ride)

Road Trip: Arkansas (Fort Smith and Trolley Museum)

Road Trip: Arkansas (Out and about in Little Rock)
Road Trip: Arkansas (Mother's Day and Vista Trail)
Road Trip: Arkansas (Birthday Surprise)

What happened this time last year?

June Unboxings

For the month of June I received the Yogi Surprise box and a few other good things to talk about. I joined the Seventh Generation community and have a lot to share in regards to what I received this past June. Here are June's un-boxings....

This post contains affiliate links and/or sponsored by the brand[s] pictured. Thank you so much for supporting these brands, which also supports this blog and our family.

1. Yogi Surprise Lifestyle Box

Theme for June was "Solstice Celebration"

The Items:

Cuccio Somtology Yoga Essentials Kit
Califia Farms Vanilla Almond Milk
GoMacro Organic Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Bar
Andalou Naturals Instant Pure Pore Hydro Serum Facial Mask
Kate's Magik Moon Goddess Anointing Oil
Topricin Homeopathic Pain Relief and Healing Cream
Anima Mundi Apothecary Palo Santo Mist (Bad Vibe Killer)
The Better Chip Spinach & Kale
Earth Friendly Products Parsley Plus All Surface Cleaner (sample)
Yogi Surprise Yoga Sequence Series Card (Sun Salutation)

Favorite Item:

It's a toss up between the Earth Friendly Products Parsley Plus All Surface Cleaner (sample) and the GoMacro Organic Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Bar -Both are great items. Everything in this box is amazing, but those two were my favorite. I used the two coupons for the GoMacro bars at my local co-op to get two more of them to enjoy, too!

Grab the Yogi Surprise Box here!

2. Walmart Beauty Box (Classic Box)

Walmart Summer Beauty Box Theme was "Beauty from Within"

The Items:

Nivea In Shower Body Lotion Cocoa Butter
Vaseline Intensive Care Advanced Repair Lotion (Unscented)
Goody Slide-proof Spiky Soft Touch Hair Elastics in black, teal, maroon, and beige
Aveeno Skin Relief Gentle Scent Lotion
L’Oreal Paris Advanced Hair care Smooth Intense Ultimate Straight Straightening Shampoo
L’Oreal Paris Advanced Hair care Smooth Intense Ultimate Straight Straight Boosting Pre-Conditioner
L’Oreal Paris Advanced Hair care Smooth Intense Ultimate Straight Straightening Conditioner
Degree Motion-sense Sexy Intrigue Antiperspirant & Deodorant
Caress Fine Fragrance Mystique Forever

Favorite Item:

Goody Slide-proof Spiky Soft Touch Hair Elastics in black, teal, maroon, and beige

Grab the Walmart Beauty Box here!

3. Might Fix from Mighty Nest

Might Fix for June was 100% organic, hand-felted, wool dryer balls. I've been on a mission to down-size our laundry routine and get rid of dryer sheets altogether. These make that mission possible and one step closer to a zero waste household.

I was pretty excited when these balls arrives and I loved even more the laundry detergent and stain remover recipe on the card reverse.

Before I took this photo one of the balls had gone through the dryer about six times already. They hold up pretty well and I can't wait to replace my dryer sheet routine with these.

Get your Mighty Fix here! And use promo code INVITE7 to get $7 off your Mighty Fix.

Check out May's Unboxings here!

What happened this time last year?

Friday things

It's the weekend here and summer, supposedly. You couldn't tell it was summertime by the weather here in the Valley, though. We've been having 60-70 degree weather and it has been nice, but we are ready for some hotter temperatures. The Bean is anxious each day for hot weather so he can cannonball into his pool, but with lower temperatures the pool water hasn't been that warm. My flowers are thriving, so that's a positive. Some of the plants in our garden are taking off, but our tomatoes are desperate for some hot sun to hit their leaves. The Bean and I read a book recently, World Without Sun. Hardcover-by Jacques Yves. Cousteau. The book was about a world that never saw the sun and the world was different than out own because it was underwater. Jacques Cousteau was the first person to reach a deep-depth in the ocean and live to tell about it. Although the ocean is a different place than actually being on land, but it gave us an idea of what it would be like as a human living without the sun. Of course, we are wanting the heat now, but in other places the sun is beating down on them and they wish they were here. I'm a sun worshiper, so I will always love the sun, and the hard winter we had here this last season, we are so ready for some summer sun. Hopefully over the next few weeks I will be able to share some sun with you on the blog. In the meantime, here are the things that made this week great!

1. These Golf Clubs

The Mr. found these at a rummage sale and thought they were a great find until he looked at that club head. We are definitely not a political family, but seeing "Trump" and "professional" on the same club, we couldn't help but laugh. We didn't buy them, but if you're in the market for some "Trump" clubs, there's a lot for sale.

2. This Hamburger

Believe it or not, this hamburger was ordered and completely eaten by The Bean. All. Of. It.

3. This Geocache and Little Free Library

We were hunting for Little Free Libraries to place some books from the classroom in and came across this one. It's a combined error of the Little Free Library and Geocache in one and I fell in love with the idea. We have a Geocache sitting in front of our house and we've always wanted a Little Free Library and I think this gave us a plan.

4. This Moment

Shredding some major concrete at the skate park tonight. #skateboarding #landsurfing

A photo posted by Shelly HW ॐ (@southnorthsouth) on Jun 12, 2016 at 8:42pm PDT