Cousin Chase & AR trip - part 1

Sorry that I haven’t been posting. We were gone for a week to visit my parents, Bibi and Grandad, in Arkansas. Right before the trip, we had a visit from Cati and Gus’s cousin, Chase. The visit was enjoyed by all, especially Catalina who adores Chase and can’t stand to be more than 3 feet away from him when he’s here.

A couple of pics from our visit with Chase:





On July 2nd, which was also our third wedding anniversary, we left for Arkansas. It has been a year since we have visited my parents at their house, so the visit was long overdue. It was such an incredibly fun week. We loved every minute of it. The kids got to do such fun things, while Louie and I got to lounge around, eat good food, and catch up on our sleep. It really felt like a vacation and we were so thankful for that.

Honestly, there is no way that I can share all the cute pictures and all the fun activities from our trip in just one blog posting. I will have to do it in parts, starting here:

The first day, the travel day, was really so much better than we anticipated. Cati and Gus were well-behaved and patient the entire time. The only problem, a small one, was that Gus didn’t really want to keep his seatbelt on.



Smiling while trying to escape (notice his busted-up lip, which happened on Sunday, so it was healing nicely by our trip on Wednesday):



Once we got to Bibi and Grandad’s, we spent the rest of the afternoon napping and then picking vegetables and berries in the garden. Bibi cooked from the garden the entire time we were there and every meal was delicious.

Walking to the garden with Grandad:



Picking corn:





Pretty girl with pretty blackberries:



That night, Cati and Grandad and Louie tried to catch lightening bugs. There are so many in my parents’ backyard that they looked like Christmas lights. I’ve never seen that many in one place before. Louie caught a few using a butterfly net, but Catalina wound up letting them “go back to their families.”



On our second day, we lazed around during the morning, then we went to visit an old friend, Jenny, and her kids, who were visiting from Dallas. I grew up with Jenny and her sister and I love their parents. It’s always a treat to see them. Catalina and Gus especially loved the visit because Jenny and Kara’s dad has a veritable treasure chest of the very coolest outdoor toys, like these little four-wheelers.



Jenny’s son, Matthew, having fun on another of his grandfather’s toys:



After visiting the Mills family, we went to the Arkadelphia water park. Now, Louie and I had our doubts beforehand (Louie asked, “What’s the Arkadelphia water park…a swimming pool and a slip-n-slide?”), but it really was a great little pool and park. The kids had fun until Cati scraped her knee. An Icee cheered her right up, though.





After the water park, more garden and outdoor fun.



Gus kept eating every blueberry that he picked!







He loved all the wide open spaces and just kept running back and forth from the house to the garden:



Here, the kids are getting a close-up view of an earthworm.





I caught a cricket that lived in Cati’s little cage until the day we left, when she set it free outside and told me that she hoped that he could find his way back to his family.





Okay, I am sure that I have overwhelmed you with information and photos. More of our wonderful trip coming soon. Check back when you can. Also, Cati’s birthday party was yesterday, so I’ve got lots of pictures to share.