Arkansas Trip (Part 3)

One of the things I forgot to mention from our time with Tammy was Abby's BIG accomplishment! One night while we were playing cards I looked down and Abby was holding her foot! She had found it and was just hanging on to it and wiggling! So I had to take a picture. It was so cute. Isn't she brilliant?! I mean you think, you hope, your kids are smart, but then way day you are just like, . . . wow! You Are Brilliant! Doesn't she look so cute holding that fat little foot! Well, the last day of our trip was spent in Little Rock. Our flight left pretty early, so instead of driving the 2 1/2 - 3 hours from Tammy's house, we decided to get a hotel. And without that extra driving it still made for a 14 hour traveling day. The last hour before we got home was not fun. Anna and Abby both cried from Old Station to Shasta View. Then the last 10 minutes before we got home, they both fell asleep! Perfect!

Anyway, back to Little Rock. I really thought it sounded like fun to go to the Zoo in Little Rock. So after we checked into our hotel, we piled back in the car again and drove over. It was really annoying, though, because there was construction all around our hotel. We asked the clerk how to get to the Zoo and she printed out a map, which sent us directly into the construction zone. Then we had to detour through the airport! Which spit us out the back into some seriously forsaken community. There was house after house of vacant nothingness. Just house and emptiness. I seriously thought, "I wonder if this is what it will feel like after the rapture?" There was no one nothing around. Not even a cat? Some of the houses had been burned and most were missing the glass from the windows, but it was just the eeriest feeling. Neil and I could not believe how many houses we vacant, and we couldn't really see a reason why they would be. Needless to say, it took us a long time to find the Zoo. We finally got there at like 3:00 and the Zoo closed at 5:00. So we made a pretty quick loop. I think it was feeding time too, because a lot of the animals were all sitting by their doors just waiting for something to happen. Anna loves to watch the birds. She thought they were pretty fun and she also liked the spider monkeys. Probably because they were so active. It was REALLY warm while we were there so most of the animals we all hidden in the shade.Doesn't pour little Abby look so hot in this picture? She was such a little trooper. So was Anna. Anna walked most of the time we were there. I think she need to burn of some being cooped up in the car for so long. One of the things I read on line was about the carrousel that the Zoo in Little Rock has. I guess it is a pretty one of a kind carrousel in that the ponies are not on poles that go up and down, but rather on a track that goes around. And while that track is going around it goes up and down "hills". So it is called an "Over the Hill" Carrousel. It was pretty neat to see. We didn't get to ride it like I wanted, just because I didn't know how Anna would like it, and I didn't want to pay to hear her cry! :) Over all, I really did like the Zoo. I thought it was really cute and set up well, with a lot of different kinds of animals. Anna really seemed to enjoy looking around at them and trying to find them in their pins.

Here are a few pictures from the airport before out flight home. Man was that a long day. It will be a while before I want to fly with the girls again, but it was totally worth it. We had a great time and were so happy to get to see so much of Neil's family. Thanks for having us!

Arkansas Trip (Part 2)

The second half of our trip was spent with Neil's sister Tammy and her family. Her oldest boy, Curtiss was chosen to play on an All-Star Baseball team, so we only got to see him for one day. (His team won though, so I hope he had a great time.) I made sure to take some pictures with the girls and their cousins before Curtiss left. Curtiss and Craig have gotten some new pets since the last time we saw them. Their names are Darla and Slinky. They are ferrets. Anna loved watching them run around and chase each other. It was so cute to hear her yell "Darla" whenever they would disappear.

Anna with her Uncle Scott. He could sure get her laughing.

Anna had a blast following Craig around. I think Craig didn't enjoy it nearly has much as Anna did! :) We got to see some very clever things that Craig has been making. Curtiss and Craig are some VERY clever boys. Craig is making a bow just the way the Indians used to. He is also chipping his own arrowheads. It always cracks me up the things those boys can come up with. I was NEVER that creative when I was a kid. I'm not even that creative now!!!

Craig is also in a golfing class, so he really wanted to take his Uncle Neil out on the course. It was so fun. I had actually never been to a golf course before. Tammy, the girls and I wanted to go too, so we got three golf carts for three golfers. Tammy and I sat in the shade of our golf cart and chatted, while Anna went from cart to cart to Daddy. Anna got a new friend from her Aunt Tammy. He is just as soft as her favorite friend, Puppy. So he is making a great cuddlier.

My favorite thing that we got to do is go to a junk yard. It had the coolest name, "The Junk Yard Dog". I have been trying to collect license plates from every state for several years now. I got 6 new states while at the junkyard. A few I already had, but I didn't have that style. I now have 26 states, so I am just over half way there. It is so silly, you're are not allowed to get license plates from junk yards in California, so I only get the chance to look when I go out of state. I love going to the different places and looking at all the cars they have there. It is like a treasure hunt for me.
There were some many good pictures I wanted to share, but this post is already packed pretty full. Thank You Tammy and Scott for spoiling us while we were there. We haven't eaten that yummy in a very long time. I loved that white browine, strawberry, chocolate thing. I was very sad when I forgot to eat a second piece. And that was the best carrot cake I have ever had!! No wonder it is Scott's favorite!

Arkansas Trip (Part 1)

Neil and I have been Arkansas for the past week. It was a packed week full of family. Of course I took too many pictures to fit into one post so this is the first half of our trip. We flew out of Reno on Monday (the 13th) at 2:30pm and landed in Little Rock at 10:40pm. Then we rented a car and drove to Uncle Charles and Aunt Martha's house. We arrived at their home at 1:00am. The first thing Anna said to Aunt Martha when she opened the door of the van was "Cookie". And of course Aunt Martha had the cookie jar full. So Anna had her cookie at 1:00 in the morning. Silly girl! But hey, she's on vacation!

When we got to the car rental place at the airport, the guy behind the counter said they didn't have anymore cars the size we reserved, so we got a free upgrade, to a Mini Van! Neil was NOT very excited about that! He said he felt like a dork! But it was actually REALLY nice. It had the automatic doors and a DVD player and it was really quick.

The flights went pretty well. Neil and I both had our own row each flight on the way there. Anna had two seats to herself and she could never decide where to sit, so she was constantly moving the whole flight! Abby pretty much just sat and watched and slept! When we walked out of the airport in Little Rock my eye glasses fogged up. It was 11:00 at night and humid!!!

It was so fun to get to sit and visit with Neil's uncle, aunt and grandmother. We sat around and shelled peas one morning. Then Aunt Martha cooked them and we ate them for lunch. We even had turnip greens one day. Neil's dad loves turnip greens. Neil and I, not so much! :)

They have a really big piece of land that is pretty fun to hunt on. So we went for a walk one day and Neil scoped it out. Aunt Martha even has some tree stands set up to hunt deer out of. Uncle Charles has a plane that Anna got to climb around in.

Anna had a lot of fun playing on the piano. She was so cute sitting there wiggling her little head around while she was singing "LaLa" and banging on the keys. I took a little video of her that I will post later.
This is Abby with her name sake. We named Abby after Neil's G.G. They have the same middle name. Louise. It was so fun to watch them play together. I think they both got a kick out of each other. I am so glad that we got to go and that G.G. got to meet Abby!!!

It was a blast to finally get to see the farm. Thank you so much Aunt Martha, Uncle Charles, G.G. and Leann for having us and taking such good care of us.

(Check back for part 2)

Happy 4th of July!

Neil and I had an amazing time with the girls in Crescent City over the 4th. The town does a parade every year in the morning and Neil and I went to that. A lot of the floats through out candy and prizes to the kids. Most kids were ready with buckets in hand to take home their loot! It was so cute! Anna waved her little hand and yelled "Happy 4" as cars went by. There was a group of veterans driving go carts up and down the street, racing one another. That was really fun to watch! Anna scored a beach ball, some pretty necklaces, and pockets full of candy.
After the parade we drove around and went sight seeing. We found a Whale watching platform and took a family picture. We had such a nice relaxing time. And I think it helped me with my packing for next weeks trip! I don't NEED to take everything, even though I WANT to!!!! And it's not like they don't have stores in Arkansas. I hear they even have a Wal.Mart!! :)

Fair 2009

I just laughed out loud when I read this sign! I had to share it!

I love the fair, but I especially love going with my dad. It is fun to be spoiled and to spend time with him that is just for hanging out. Brenda couldn't go this year, so I thought Anna might have a good time going with us. My Dad and I just like to walk around and look at all the exibits and eat a lot of health food (as my dad would call it). Anna loved trying the food. And she loved all the things to look at. She is such an observer, maybe she gets that from my dad.

There was one vendor that was selling a ton of hats and I found the cutest little cowgirl hat for Anna. She looked so cute. We didn't get it though because she doesn't keep hats on very well. Here are a few pictures from our evening. We had a GREAT time! Thanks Dad!

Park It!

On Saturday Brenda, Zachary, Emily, Neil, the girls and I drove up to Dunsmir on Sunday to have a picnic at the City Park. It was beautiful. And the weather was nice and breezy. It was so fun to watch the girls run around and squeal with each other. Anna LOVED the swings! Emily had a great time on the slide . . . going UP them! I just love this little family!

Talk to me!

Anna is always wanting to play with my cellphone (like every little kid and big kid wants!) But I'm not really cool with the random long distance call thing . . . so I dug out my old cell phone a few weeks ago and gave it to Anna. She calls it her "hello" or her "comb".
My dad took her for a walk and I gave him a whole bag of goodies for Anna, which he gave to her when they started the walk. He said that one by one everything was handed back to him, blankie, snack, drink cup, puppy (which is really a lamb), and second blankie. When all she had left was the phone, she opened it up and said, "hello daddy!" She loves to call her daddy. That is almost the only person she wants to talk to. When they got back my dad said I was in trouble, because she talked on it almost the whole hour.
Here are a few pics of Anna and Abby enjoying the "hello".

Anna talking . . .

Abby has something to say! . . .

Okay Abby your turn . . .

Now back to my conversation!
Which by the looks of things it was pretty important!

My Girls.

Abby is getting so big. She weighs 13 1/2 lbs and is 24 inches long! She LOVES to watch Anna run around. When Abby is in her swing Anna will come over and talk to her and try and put her pacifier in her mouth. Abby just thinks it is the funniest thing. She gives Anna the biggest smiles.
Abby is talking and cooing all the time. I guess she already has some very important things to say! And I just love to listen to her.

A day at the Park

The girls and I got to go watch Tessa play her last soccer game of the season on Saturday at the Soccer Park at Big League Dreams. It is real cute watching all the little tikes run around. It was way HOT! And you know how when it's hot outside and you take your shoes and socks off and walk around in the cool grass . . . ? Yeah you can't do that there, because fake grass is HOT too! I bet it is nice to not have to mow it, but it does not feel good on the toes.