Down on the Farm (Part 1)

 On Thursday, Chad's brother and sister-in-law and their kids flew in from Connecticut for a family visit in eastern Arkansas.  We drove in on Wednesday night so we could be there when they arrived.  We decided to all stay at my parent's farm house.  It was the perfect setting for a relaxing "getaway"!  It's in the middle of nowhere, barely any cell phone service and with plenty of room for the kids to run wild and act.... well, like kids!  The kids are at such a fun age right now... Grant (4), Eli (3 1/2) and Lily (just about to turn 3).  They have such a good time together and play so well together.

Of course July in Arkansas is miserably hot and humid.  But that didn't stop us from having fun and playing outside.  We took advantage of water balloons, sprinklers and slip n slides.

Eli discovered a hole in his water balloon.

We couldn't get them filled fast enough.

It took us 30 seconds to make one balloon and half a second for them to pop!

Grant waiting patiently on his water balloon. 

 

There were sunflower fields all around the house.  They were almost all gone but I found this one last one standing!  I just love sunflowers.  They are so happy :)

Eli, Lily and Grant riding their bikes in the house.

 Eli riding his bike outside

We spent lots of time on the "golf course".  They kids had a great time!

These boys are going to be best buds for a LONG time!  They have such a fun time together!

Brian, Sasha, and Chad

Brotherly love

All the Evans (Chad's parents) grandkids.

Left to right: Grant, Eli, Gracie, Lily, and Emmie

Actually I'm not sure which one is Gracie and which one is Emmie.  I can never tell them apart!  Ha!

This was the first time they were all together!

I have lots of pictures coming so stayed tuned for more!

A Weekend Full of Water

Friday Eli and I headed up to Bentonville to play at the splash park and eat crepes.

We had a great mother/son day!

 

 I wish everyone had the pleasure of eating the crepes at Crepes Paulette!

Eli loves the nutella and fresh strawberry crepe.  Although I think I ate more of it than he did!

I just can't get enough of them!

They are quite messy, see picture below!

On Saturday we went to Branson to spend the day with my step-mom, step-sister, sister and brother-in-law and neice and nephews.

Guess where we went...

White water!

And I have no pictures from there!  Boo!

But I do have this picture of Eli after we left.  I couldn't believe he stayed awake long enough to make it to the car.  Chad carried him out of the park and he laid his head on his shoulder.  He was worn out after 6 hours of fun in the sun and water.

We went to eat dinner at Ruby Tuesday.  Eli always loves spending time with his cousins, although he's quite younger than the rest of them.

Eli wanted to take pictures of everyone while we waited for our table.

Thanks to Eli I have pictures of everyone!

 

 My step-mom, Sheila

 My sister and brother-in-law, Robyn (aka Bobby... this is what Eli calls her) and Wayne

Today we went back up to Bentonville so Eli could play in the splash park again and we could eat crepes.  

Don't judge.  

Yes, I ate crepes twice in three days.  

So what?

And this is the famous Crepes Paulette.

Bentonville's best kept secret.  Although it's not really much of a secret anymore.  It's run by a french couple who know how to make the best crepes you will ever put in your mouth!

Waiting on our crepes.  Eli was in the middle of saying "mommy, stop taking my picture".

 

 Bentonville splash park

Eli thinks it's hilarious to step on the water spouts

After lunch and the splash park we drove around like a little old couple sight-seeing

 One of my favorite things to do on Sundays!

We saw this little deer in one of the neighborhoods we were driving through.

Tonight we are cooking steaks and potatoes!

I love weekends!

 

Grass in Your Hair

... is the sign of a good time!

At least in our backyard that is what it means!

 Have I told you recently how much I LOVE this little boy????

He loves to do flips on the swing set.

Maybe I should enroll him in gymnastics?

But why would I do that when he has his very own teacher for a Dad?

They are two peas in a pod!

A Perfect Day

 Today was the perfect day in my book.

We had a lazy morning while drinking coffee and reading the paper.

 Then we went swimming with our friends, Kristin, Lee, Tyler and Parker.

We had a relaxing time hanging out and swimming.

We came home and Eli napped while Chad and I watched TV and enjoyed the rain.

Yes, it rained!  Not very much but at least it was something!  It's just been ridiculously hot and dry this summer.

We went out for dinner at a new place in Bentonville I had been wanting to try, Flying Fish.  It's the same as the one in Little Rock we used to go to when we lived there.

 Playing the good old game of "which hand" while waiting on dinner

Next we went bowling!  This was Eli's first time bowling!

He loved it!

 We ended the night by getting frozen yogurt!

Birthday cake yogurt with sprinkles, gummy bears and marshmallows for Eli.

It was a great day!

I love and cherish our family time!

 

We Have a Swimmer

 Eli and I had a fun day today!  We spent the morning running errands and had a lunch date at Chick-Fil-A.  It is scorching hot outside so Eli didn't get to play on the playground for long.

  After Eli's nap we went swimming with my friend, Kristin, and her son, Tyler.

Eli started out wearing his puddle jumper.  That didn't last long!  I had high hopes this would be the summer Eli learned to swim.  He's doing so good and I'm so proud of him!  I don't think Eli will ever want to wear the puddle jumper again!  He did so good without it!

 

Taking time out for a treat!

 

This is after we got home.  Eli's eyes were red from all the swimming and he complained they were hurting.  He told me he just wanted to lay down and watch TV.  This doesn't happen often!

 

And to top the day off...

Another Pinterest recipe that passed!  Ice cream sandwich cake.

Need I say more?  YUM!!!

 

 

 Here's a video of Eli swimming today.

Today was the first time Eli swam without his puddle jumper!

Way to go, Eli!

 

Happy 4th of July

We have no plans for this 4th of July.  Just hanging at the house, cooking (I don't know even know what yet) and going to watch a fireworks display.  Our county (and most of the state) is under a burn ban so we aren't allowed to shoot off fireworks of our own.  I'm not really sad about the lack of fireworks as long as we can go watch the big displays.  Remember how terrified Eli was of the fireworks last year?  It lasted for at least 2-3 months.  He was afraid to go to sleep at night because he would hear the surrounding fireworks outside.  It was terrible.

Last weekend Chad and I got a night out with friends.  We had the best time!  I wish we could do it more often!

On Saturday we went to the water park in Branson.  Surprise, surprise, huh?

Of course we had a great time!

This is Eli's "happy face".

We finished up the weekend with a cookout at our house with friends.  Unfortunately I don't have pictures from the cookout.  But we had a great time again and enjoyed being with our friends this weekend!