Oklahoma & Arkansas

I am so far behind on blogging, so here's my attempt to catch up...

We drove up to Oklahoma last Wednesday night to visit my side of the family before heading on to Arkansas to visit the Ham side.  At "Nanna & Pock's" house (that's what Austin calls my parents), Kaylee got to play the piano that I grew up playing...

Both kids got to spend some quality time with both Nanna...

...and play some great music with Pock.  (Austin is on the kazoo!)

Kaylee got to play with (or should I say ON) the doll baby bed that was mine when I was a kid.

Thursday night, we went up to my Mama Bea's house for a HUGE dinner she had cooked for us, along with my Aunt Brenda & cousin Brittani.  For some reason, I didn't get any pictures taken, so I'm pretty bummed that I don't have any to post right here...  Needless to say, the dinner was delicious!  They had made all of Austin's favorites -- fried okra, mac & cheese, homemade rolls.  We had ribs to go with it all & then the most heavenly dessert, which I have since made since getting back home to Texas!!  :)

On Friday, we headed out to Lake Eufaula for a cookout.  We got there right after a storm had blown through & it was COLD!  Thankfully for Aunt Rachel, she popped her trunk & we found a blanket for Austin, and sweatshirts for all of us "girls" so we could all stay warm!

This photo of my Dad & Austin cracks me up.  My Dad's apron says "Ken Kan Kook" (inspired by the "Yan Can Cook" TV show many years ago); he used to wear it when he'd be cooking for huge crowds with his job with Farmland before he retired.  He at least pulled the apron out of retirement for our special cookout!

Austin's "Aunt Rachel" is really special to him.  He loves playing with her & we love her too!  She is awesome with the kids...and with my brother!  (I love it because she can beat Brian up, just like he beat me up for all of those years!!)

My brother, Brian, had been working at his 4-H camp the entire time we'd been visiting, but he got away on Friday to come meet us at the park for the cookout & play time.  Austin LOVES his Uncle Brian (or "Uncle Stinkypants" as he usually calls him), and had a lot of fun playing together once it warmed up a bit.

After Brian & Rachel both had to leave, Justin, the kids & I all put our swimsuits in & went for a dip in the lake.  Well...Justin went for a dip while Austin floated around in his floaty, all while Kaylee & I hung out closer to the bank.  :)

Once we got back to my parents' house, it was a frantic rush to get our stuff packed back up & loaded up to head to Arkansas that night.  While we were busy running around, I snapped this cute picture of Kaylee with her Nanna.

And, of course, we had to go say goodbye to Brian & Rachel's baby puppies that were born a couple of months ago.  They have 6 rat terrier/blue heeler mixed puppies & they are ADORABLE!  Kaylee LOVES animals, but never wanted to touch one once they got close to her; Austin, on the other hand, wanted to hold each one of them individually & he did a great job holding onto them!

We left Oklahoma around 7pm & headed to Rudy, where I was raised.  My Aunt Leon still lives across the road from the house I was raised in; she is 95 years old now & still lives by herself!  She is doing wonderfully well & has graduated from her wheelchair back to her walker -- she honestly just amazes me!  (For those of you who don't know, my Aunt Leon was our babysitter growing up.  She was 65 when my brother was born & 67 when I came along, so she's honestly been another grandmother in our lives, and we're so blessed to have her!)

We got to Berryville (Arkansas) around 11pm on Friday night & put the kids straight to bed.  The next morning, Justin's grandparents, Keith & June Ham, came over for breakfast & to see the kids.  I got this great picture of them, Justin & Kaylee all together, but Austin was busy helping his Pawpaw drive the lawnmower (below...)

Kaylee has been going through some major separation anxiety lately, but she parted ways with it long enough to let her Mimi hold her for this great picture.  

Saturday afternoon was Justin's family "cousin day" (reunion).  We met at Justin's Aunt's house in Huntsville, and all of Justin's Mom's side of the family was there to celebrate.  There were lots of kids & LOTS of good food to chow down on!  This picture below is of Kaylee with her 3rd cousin from Las Vegas, Peyton.

Before we left, we had family pictures taken on the front steps of the house.  I love how great this one turned out...

This pic is of Justin's sister, Shelcey, with Kaylee.  Her baby girl, Emilee (who has pics below as well), was born the day before Kaylee!  How crazy is that?!

On Sunday, we battled rain chances & gray skies to finally pull the boat out around 2pm & head to Table Rock Lake just north of Berryville in Missouri.  Mimi had bought Austin a new pair of sunglasses to take to the lake...as you can see below...

Shelcey & Emilee (on the left below) drove to Berryville to go with us to the lake, and we all had a great time!!

Of course, Kaylee had to try on Austin's glasses too -- amazingly enough, she would leave them on for really long stretches!  Nothing like what Austin used to do -- pull them off immediately!

The highlights of Austin's long weekend to Arkansas?  Getting to see this turtle on the side of the road (the first he's ever seen in the "wild"), getting to drive the Rhino, golf cart, tractor & lawnmower all over Pawpaw's fields in Berryville, and also seeing a skunk while we were checking the cows at dusk one night.

We had a wonderful trip back home, but are always so glad to get back to our real home here in Texas to our own beds & own routines again.  Kaylee is not a good traveler at this age, so that made the trip even longer.  We had weaned her off of her pacifier about 2 weeks ago, but had to reintroduce it on the trip home from Arkansas on Monday; she was screaming & crying for about a full hour before she wore herself down the first leg of the trip, so at the first gas station stop, I dug through her bag & found a paci.  It brought much relief on our 11 hour trip back home to Texas!!  Ugh.....