Arkansas

Oh the beloved land of Arkansas. Honestly, there is no place like it. I know every time I get a chance to go there I get all sentimental and talk way too much about it being the land of many of my fondest memories, but it really is a special place and it is crushing to know I may not be back for a very long time. When my sweet grandma passed away last summer all my extended family made a pact to reunite this summer. It was a great week despite sweltering heat and a frequently tantruming tolder. The boys and I left on Monday morning and joined Maren's family in San Diego and then my parents and Christian and Kim in Phoenix before heading out to Little Rock. One of the first surprises of the trip was Graham's very intense fear of flying. The kid was fine 6 months ago but this trip he was terrified. Every take off and landing the poor kid would scream at the top of his lungs "I'm scared!" "Hold me mom!" It was so sad and so loud! The heat pockets didn't help either. Finally, we landed in Little Rock where everyone on the entire plane was glad to be on solid ground! From Little Rock it is about a 3 1/2 hr drive. Thankfully my children travel very well in the car. In all, from the time we left our house that morning the boys and I traveled just over 12 hours. It was a long day but arriving at my grandma's house was a great reminder that the trip is definitely worth it.  This picture cracks me up because it shows my mother's grandma skills in action. She is awesome... and has big muscles! :)

 The next day we stayed close to home and spent the day on the lake. Pure bliss for this boy!

 I love this picture of my dad. He looks so good in baby blue and whipping the boys around on the tube.

 Graham was not so found of the lake the first day. He always got scared for the person who fell off the tube or skies. In fact, I am surprised I caught a picture of him smiling at all!

This is a more accurate portrayal of him that day. Stone face 

This picture is hilarious!Wednesday morning we got up and drove out to the caverns at Blanchard Springs. After a tour of one of the caves we had a picnic lunch down by the stream and spent the afternoon playing.

 By this day many of my cousins were in town and it was fun to have be all together. The cave was a big hit with the kids.

 Cute little love birds

 Jumping off the small bluffs

 I gladly took a turn on Drew duty while Cam gave me some much needed relief from Graham duty!

 Sadly my Drew duty didn't last too long. Cute picture though

The best part of the day was Matt got in that night! Many more pics to come.