Summer Trip to Arkansas 2015

 

First view of Arkansas!  The kids with Grandpa. Even with a broken ankle, the kids still couldn’t get enough of him.

Parker and Eric are such cute cousins and just love playing with each other and of course I had to get them matching pajamas. Lizzy was feeling left out.

Meme got a fun car for the kids to drive around and Lizzy loved feeling so big in it and pool time is a must!

One night we went to see the sunset and the kids loves taking a little hike and exploring.

Elizabeth and Ellie played really well together this trip. I keep forgetting they are only about a year apart. On their way to a great friendship…although Lizzy did enjoy taking things from Ellie and having her chase her around the house for them.

We went to Lake Catherine one afternoon with all the DeVauxs. The kids always have a great time. Lizzy loved helping the babies in her own ways.

A visit to Dee-dah’s wouldn’t be complete without play-do and of course a meal or 2 outside.

Parker especially  loved seeing all these cute babies around. Little Sariah was just so cute it was hard not to adore her! Cousin meal time at Aunt Marji’s.

This trip was so nice because Lizzy really liked all the Aunts and Uncles, which was awesome for me! Parker, Olivia and Maggie.

Another meal time picture at Aunt Pam’s and swimming at the pool. Lizzy especially became a huge fan of the water and by the end of the day had no fear, which is always a scary thing!!

Tackling Dee-dah and Olivia and Maggie bonding with kindles.

Ellie and Lizzy playing Play-doh together. David, Madison, Lizzy, Parker, Livy, Maggie and Ellie posing before we head back to Utah. The kids in the mess of our van on our way back to Utah.

Lizzy looked so cute passed out with her arms folded.

 

I didn’t know if I would be able to make it to Arkansas this summer after the move and I was about 5 months pregnant at the time, but I just couldn’t pass up the opportunity and not be able to go until the next summer. The kids just love seeing all the family and going from house to house for  so many sleepovers, so I decided to go for it. We packed up and headed out after the kids last day of school. David couldn’t come. He had been so busy with all the moving stuff and had gotten pretty behind at work and it is nothing new for me to make this 22 hour drive by myself. The kids are all at such a good age right now too that it makes it that much easier. So we headed out about 10:30 after the kids awards ceremony at school and about 14 hours. I am a huge believer in getting the bigger bulk done the first day.  We stayed at a nice hotel and got rejuvenated for the next  day. Then we made it to Dardanelle at David’s parent’s house just in time for dinner. The kids were so excited to get to Meme and Papa’s!  There was lots of Ipad, wrestling, tickling, and swimming.  We all had such a great time. We stayed with the Torgersons until Wednesday and then headed to my family in Bryant.  That is the hardest part about the families being about an hour and a half apart from each other…the waiting to see everyone! We like to split up the time so that we are not driving back and forth as much. My family was dying to see all the kids and so those 4 days were torture for the cousins! But we made it and filled our time with lots of swimming, mexican food, laughing at the kids, and by my request…doing absolutely nothing!!! For a couple of reasons I was not really motivated to go anywhere. One, I was 5 months pregnant. Two, since we had just moved into our house a month before, I was constantly doing something around the house to make it more comfy for our family. I was planning on staying for 2 weeks and heading back to Utah on a Saturday, but after a week and a half of house jumping I was exhausted and there was a really bad storm coming that they were predicting would flood some areas that I would have to drive through on Friday and Saturday, so I decided to leave Wednesday and go to visit Gabe and Molly in Fayetteville. They were excited for the company and I was excited to knock off 2 hours of my trip home! We went to Red Robin and then Molly gave me a nice massage and then we spent the rest of the time making fun of Gabe!  The next morning we packed up and headed out about 7:00.  We drove for 16 hours!!! I just kept saying a little further, a little further. I was so anxious to get home.  The only bad thing is that the place I stopped was not the highest quality. All the hotels were completely booked that night and way over priced. So the only option was not my first…second, third or any choice, but I was so tired and ready to get out of the car. So we got checked in and the first room the guy put us in was only a king bed, which would not work for all of us and it was so gross looking. I went and asked him for the 2 queens I had requested, so he gave me the keys to the other room. It was a small step up, but still one of those places you just feel dirty sleeping in.  The next morning we headed out pretty early. I didn’t sleep well and was anxious to get out of there. Luckily we only had about 5 hours to go. So we made it back to the house and were so happy to be home! The good news is that David really missed us and noticed that we were gone this time. He usually misses us, but was ready for the break and in our old house even with no one else there, it still felt cramped and like you were not ever alone!!! So he was actually excited we headed home early and said it felt way to lonely in this big house of ours and it was way too quiet.  So it was nice for him to miss us so much!   We’ll see if I make the trip by myself again next summer with 5 kids including a baby. David might actually have to take a vacation with me next year!