Talking about Arkansas

Yesterday morning, Kelsey showed her toes to Jim and said, "Look, Daddy - Poppa was right, the red still isn't washing off my toes! That's why he calls me Twinkle Toes." It was so cute to see that after two weeks of being home she's still thinking about the good times we had on our trip to Arkansas!

Then today she got out of the shower and said, "When are we going back to Arkansas?"

Jim said, "You want to go back to Arkansas already? Why?"

Kelsey said, "Because it's my favorite - I want to go there everyday!"

All I could do was smile - hearing her say that just melted my heart!!!

Tea Party

One of my fondest memories about trips to Arkansas as a child is having Tea Parties with Grandma and Poppa. We would make sandwiches and cut them up really small, serve Kool-Aid from the little tea pot and eat with little bitty silverware and plates from the tea set too.

Well, we had to host one of these parties for Kelsey too while we were down there - it just wouldn't be an official trip to Grandma and Poppa's without one!

Kelsey absolutely loved it - and so did the adults. It brought back such sweet memories for me, and I'm so glad to be sharing the tradition with Kelsey now!

Easter Sunday

Okay, I know this is REALLY late, but things have been crazy-busy, as you'll see once I get all of the posts I'm behind on posted!

Saturday night we colored Easter Eggs at Grandma and Poppa's house. It was a lot of fun! Here are some pictures:

Sunday morning Uncle Scott, Jim, Kelsey and I got up early to go to a sunrise service on the river. It was really cold, especially for Arkansas - only 27 degrees that morning! So we bundled up and even put jeans on Kelsey UNDER her pretty Easter dress. She may have looked funny to some, but she was warm and that was the whole point!

Several people gathered at the river and we waited and waited and waited for the preacher to come. FINALLY, someone came by in a car and told all of us that the service had been moved indoors due to the weather. So we all packed up into our vehicles and headed to the church - we got there just in time for the last hymn and the final prayer. At least we had the right INTENTION - being from out of town, we weren't on the "phone fan" the previous night. LOL. Oh well, we got some really great pictures on the river bank and had some time to talk to Kelsey about the real meaning of Easter. The Bible says, "where two or more gather in My name, there is worship" - so we just had our own worship service.

Here are some of the pictures of this:

After the service attempt, we had breakfast with Uncle Scott and then headed back home to take a nap before our family festivities. Kelsey hunted for Easter Eggs and we all had a blast with that! Every time she found a plastic one with money in it, she would hunker down over it to hide it as the looked inside and then she would QUICKLY put it in her bucket. She acted like she was afraid we would take her money or something, silly kiddo! Here are some pictures of the hunt:

Poppa, Uncle Scott, and Jason were working on brush-hogging the field. Poppa came in by the house on the tractor and Kelsey was just amazed by it. I told her about how he used to take Jason and me for rides on it - the next thing I knew, she was on his lap riding away, in her Easter dress and all. They were both tickled pink!!

When we came back inside, it was time to look at what the Easter Bunny had brought for us. We ALL got spoiled by that nice Bunny :-) Kelsey had two baskets and a tub full of stuff - she was really excited! Here are some pictures of this part of our day:

Of course, after this we were all getting hungry, so we finished cooking dinner and then we sat down to eat. We had ham, Swiss steak ( my FAVORITE), mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, green beans, salad - I'm sure there was even more on the table, but you get the drift. It was a WONDERFUL meal! Thanks, Grandma, for all your hard work in the kitchen - and for teaching me the recipe for the Swiss Steak, I need to try making it soon. It was so nice having everyone gathered around for dinner. The guest list was as follows: Grandma, Poppa, Mom, Jay, Uncle Scott, Jason, Jim, Kelsey, and me.

Let me just note that my Grandma is VERY particular about her table settings - they're always immaculate, and she has different dishes for ever occasion imaginable too. Well, for Easter, she even had bunny shaped salt and pepper shakers - that's how detailed she is. We had Oreo pie for dessert, and someone made a comment about the bunny shakers and what would she do if they left droppings behind (yeah, we're a crazy bunch). SOOOOO....then some Oreo crumbs were strategically placed around the back side of the shakers - it was so funny (even though it's gross), that I had to take a picture:

After dinner, Jim, Mom and I did the dishes. We all visited a little more after that, but it was early to bed in the long run - it was a big day for everyone. A big wonderful day!!

Heading to Arkansas

Okay, the following entry was WRITTEN on our way to Arkansas Friday, April 6, 2007 - but I didn't get a chance to play online while we were there. We're actually on our way home now, stopped over at a hotel before we visit Mammoth Cave National Park in the morning. I have a lot more to post, but the entry I wrote on the way down south is all that's ready right now. Enjoy!

Well, we’re almost to our destination in Arkansas! We’re headed down to visit my mom, grandparents and uncle for Easter. It’s been 2 years since I’ve seen my grandparents, and I haven’t seen my mom or my uncle since my wedding back in September. Kelsey has never even met my grandparents. So, as I’m sure you can imagine, we’re very excited to be making this trip! My brother is even with us - it’s going to be great to have the whole family together for the holiday!!!

Kelsey has been so good on the trip. When we first got on the road she played with her LeapPad contentedly until she fell asleep. Then she slept until we stopped for gas. After we got gas, she played with her LeapPad some more - she went through all 5 of her books and started to go through them again. We had forgotten her colored pencils, so I was afraid she was going to get burnt out on the whole LeapPad thing.

As much as I’ve always been against DVD players for kids on trips, I gave in to Jim’s idea and we brought the laptop and several DVDs, so I put a movie in for her. She loved it, and it wasn’t a bad thing - I’m not even really sure why I’ve always been against the idea actually...I suppose we’re just creatures of habit. When I was growing up, we made this 16-18 hour drive on a regular basis. Of course, there weren’t even DVDs back then, let alone portable DVD players or laptop computers. So my brother and I would color, read, play little travel board games (like Trouble and Connect Four) as well as the verbal travel games (like the ABC game, the License Plate game, I Spy, etc). When we weren’t doing one of those things, we slept. I suppose I just always figured that if we could occupy ourselves on a trip like this, my children could too. But oh well, times have changed and we have to adapt.

Anyway, it’s almost 3am Michigan time and I’m exhausted. I’m going to stop writing, and I’ll post this as soon as I find a wi-fi hotspot. I can’t believe how many we’ve come across at travel stops on this trip! (I fell asleep before I got a chance to follow through with that...)

Once we get there, I’ll try to post special stories and pictures as the week goes by. But just in case we stay too busy, I want to wish you all a very Happy Easter!!