After an unexpected delay and flight cancelled in Chicago (requiring a hotel stay), the girls and I finally made it to Arkansas at the end of June. Our stop-over in Chicago actually helped with the jet lag, so we hit the ground running pretty well. We spent the first day or so at Gammy and Poppy's house. I went through the many boxes of shoes and clothes that I ordered for the kids for new school year.
Jane really wanted to go fishing with Poppy so they got up early one day to hit the lake before it got too hot. Jane really loves spending time with Poppy and has the patience and focus for fishing so they had a great morning.
Not far from Gammy and Poppy's house is Petit Jean Mountain. We lived there when I was a kid, spent lots of time there growing up and it's where Jake and I were married. So a special place for our family with lots of fond memories over many years. Part of the motivation of heading up to Petit Jean was the pool so we could beat the heat a bit and also to get access to a bit of nature. We don't get much nature in Abu Dhabi (except for the beach and sand dunes) so it's nice to go somewhere and let the kids run around a bit. We also had extended family (Uncle Bob, Aunt Mary Ann, Grandma, Carole Lynn & Bill) come up for dinner and to all gather one night.
We also made it to the petting zoo to see the pigs, bunnies, chickens, goats, donkeys, etc. It's always fun to see the animals - last time they had baby lambs we could feed with a bottle but no baby lambs this visit. One morning we all headed out for a trail ride on the horses (riding horses was on Regan's "wish list" for the summer).
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The girls loved getting to climb around on the giant rocks. Note the
leaves and how brown they are. It's so dry it looks like autumn. |
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| Jane on the lake fishing with Poppy |
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| The catch! We had these for lunch - yum. |
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| On top of Petit Jean with Uncle Tim and Aunt Vanessa |
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| Hanging out in the cabin |
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| A beautiful view during breakfast |
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| Always love a porch swing |
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| Bunnies at the petting zoo! |
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Meredith had her own horse at first but did NOT
like it. She jumped on with Poppy and tolerated
the horse ride but I don't think she ever really
enjoyed it. |
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| The whole horse-riding gang |
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Anna also tolerated this - she didn't love it like Regan and Jane
but wasn't quite as scared as Meredith. |
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| Meredith (oddly) *loves* pigs and wanted her picture with this one |
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Look at the delight on her face when the pigs got
out of their pen and she could pet them. |
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My city girls are totally freaked out by bugs and did
*not* like that this big one took up residence on our door. |
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| Yikes, it's hot here - are we in Abu Dhabi or Arkansas?? |
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| Beating the heat in the pool |
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