This is our fourth summer to do an extended trip to Arkansas to see my family. I think I'm getting better at this (and the kids are getting older which makes things easier). Overall this was such a great visit!
We spent the night in Chicago on our way into the country. It's my latest jetlag busting strategy (with the bonus of seeing some good friend!) and I give it a giant thumbs up. We land in Chicago late afternoon and hit the hotel in time for me to throw the kids into the pool (to wake them up since it's the middle of the night UAE time) before dinner. We eat an early dinner and get in bed by 7 or so. We all slept until 5 a.m. which is a huge success! Early breakfast and back to the airport for the Chicago-Little Rock leg.
We arrived on July 6th in time to see some of the extended family (on Poppy's side) that often tries to gather over the 4th. We snuck a nap in for some of us at Tim and Vanessa's and then hit a pool party (again, great strategy to wake us up!). It's always great seeing family I only get to see once a year.
Gammy and Poppy also bought a new house on top of Petit Jean Mountain. We love the view and although they had only recently closed on the house and hadn't moved in yet, they did a great job of getting enough bare necessities up there so that we could "camp out" there for our stay. We love Petit Jean Mountain and look forward to many more years of exploring up there with the kids. It's not far from the Petit Jean State Park so lots to see and do there. The park has recently added a nice bike path through the park so hopefully we can explore that next year if we can round up some bicycles.
We also always spend some time in the Northwest part of the state where Uncle John lives. It's the time for the extended family on my mom's side to gather as several family members live up there (as does Meme, our Scroggin family matriarch).
Regan and Jane hit Kamp Kanakuk (Missouri Ozarks) again for a week and while they were gone, Meredith and I hit the Big City for a few days (see other posts). After camp pick-up, we spent a few days at Big Cedar Lodge and had a wonderful time on the lake before a stomach bug hit a few...
Back to Arkansas for a few more days, packing and then good-bye for our next leg of our summer. Another wonderful few weeks in the state of my youth and with my family who we miss a lot while we live so far away. Thanks, everyone, for a great summer!
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Our good friends from Abu Dhabi who moved back to
the Chicago area met us at the hotel for a swim and dinner.
They brought my girls the latest rage (which we had never
heard of) - Rainbow Looms! You can see Regan liked
making them - this was done during the 2 hours we
were waiting at the Chicago airport for our flight to Little Rock |
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Uncle Bob, Anna and Laura - at the semi-annual Pleasant Valley
McKuin family pool party. |
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| Happy Birthday, Aunt Mary Ann! |
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| Our body clocks think it is 2 a.m. but who could tell? |
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| Reunion time for cousins - Susan, Andrew and Laura |
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| Cousin Joel with little Maxson |
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| Anna makes biscuits with Aunt Vanessa |
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| Passin' it on to another generation |
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Flower arranging for the big family gathering at the new house. Thanks
to a massive team effort by Gammy, Poppy, Uncle John and *mainly*
Aunt Vanessa and Uncle Tim, a big family gathering was hosted
at the new Petit Jean house. I think something like all but one
of the dishes came locally from Arkansas. Fun evening! |
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| The flower arrangers |
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Jack dog gets a lot of love from the girls.
I think he likes it! |
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| Lots of yummy local foods with a view and good company. |
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| Cousin Sena gets in on the art action |
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A big benefit of a little jet lag at the Petit Jean house -
getting to watch a beautiful sunrise with my cup of coffee |
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New glasses have been selected (after trying on every
single pair in the store!) |
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| It won't be long before Regan catches up with Grandma! |
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| Grandma (95) with four of her great-grands! |
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| Anna likes Poppy |
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| and enjoying the view with him |
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| Checking out animals at the Petit Jean State Park |
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| Trying to enjoy the view... but only seeing sky! |
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| Mather Lodge - Petit Jean State Park |
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| Still looking at the sky - it's hard being little |
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| Gammy and her big girls |
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| Craft time! |
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Helping Gammy make her most famous and most delicious
pound cake. It's her daughter's favorite. |
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| I think Meredith likes the dough |
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| Love this shot of Jane and Anna enjoying the view |
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| Another pretty day on Petit Jean |
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Now we're off to Fayetteville in NW Arkansas to see Uncle John
and the extended Scroggin clan. |
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Poppy, Gammy, the girls and me and Uncle John
at Blessings - his beautiful golf course |
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Claire & Jeff, Kathryn & Chance, Aunt Kem and Uncle JJ
with little Owen who made his first trip to Arkansas |
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| Reunited with Jack Dog. Jane is in heaven |
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At Crystal Bridges Museum of Art - Alice Walton's
beautiful museum with a world class American
art collection. Cousins Alexa, Elie and Abram came
from Nashville for the family gathering, too. |
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| Off to see Meme |
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Refilling the bird feeder to that Meme can
enjoy the birds from her room |
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| Dessert and lemonade party at Meme's |
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| Petting Zoo on Petit Jean |
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This giant peacock was either trying to scare off a chicken
or woo it! |
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| Only Meredith was brave enough to pet the big donkey |
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Not quite ready to live in Africa and fetch water
from the lake miles and miles away |
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| Pretty special letter from Anna (age 4 1/2) |
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| Horseshoe time |
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| Special Grandma hug! |
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