Arkansas Trip

My Kappa college girlfriends: Emily, Erika, Ashley, Haley, Leslie, and me. Thanks to Leslie's 5 year old, Garrett for taking this picture!Cam's family who graciously watched Carter & Mason while I was with my friends... Chris, Doc, Nonnie, Carter, Mason, Amber, and Thad:

Finger painting:

Meeting the boys' new cousin, Lainey Virginia Smith: 4 weeks old

Chad and Becca with Lainey. Pap with the boys:
Celebrating Pap's 60th birthday at Market Place:


I made my maiden voyage to Arkansas with the boys by myself in April. I'm certainly glad I waited until Carter and Mason were 3. They did VERY well in the car for the long trips! We were thankful for no rain on the way there b/c there were very severe storms all over TX, OK, and AR. The first night in Little Rock there were storms with unreal rain and many tornados. In fact 3 of our nights in AR were like that in our week there. Crazy! Carter was a bit unsettled about the lightening, thunder, and tornado sirens. Most nights the boys ended up in the bed with me. That's not our norm, but we made it through the week. :)

My time with my college friends was great. It was really fun to catch up with my sweet friends. We did a lot of talking and not much sleeping. That's what I went there to do! Thanks for organizing things for us Haley! Cam's parents, Doc & Nonnie, kept the boys for us in LR. Carter and Mason had such a blast playing and riding their bikes all over town. When we were leaving LR we drove over the AR River and the boys said, "Mommy, that's where we ride bikes with Doc & Nonnie." I was very impressed with their memory! Thanks Charlie and Connie for all of your help and for loving on the boys all weekend.

Then we went to Springdale to see my parents, aka Pap & Gran. My brother's family also came up to visit us. We got to meet my new neice, Lainey, who was 4 weeks old at the time. We think Lainey looks like a mix of Hudson and Laurel. The boys had so much fun playing with their cousins for a couple of days. It was a little wild entertaining them inside since the weather was bad, but we still had fun. Carter was particularly sweet with Lainey. He kept wanting to look at her, check on her, put her paci back in, etc. So cute. Congrats to Chad & Becca on their new house in Springdale. Happy moving!

Finally, we got to celebrate my dad's 60th birthday with the fam. It was a yummy treat to go to Market Place. :) Happy Birthday dad!