Around AR

With summer finally here, we packed up the car and headed to visit some of our family! It's been awhile since we've been in Little Rock to see my parents. With Matt teaching Bible class each Sunday we actually haven't been there since Thanksgiving! Yikes! It's amazing how time flies. :)

Matt's been doing some workshops this summer and was able to cut out early after one of them & we headed off to see Mimi & Grandad! To say the kids were excited would be quite an understatement! We'd hoped Charlotte would nap in the car, but no such luck with that; thankfully, she was happy until about the last 30 minutes though. Most of our time in Little Rock was spend hanging around Mimi & Grandad's house with the kids happily playing. Charlotte quickly discovered they have stairs -- her new most favorite thing -- and spend most of her time plotting how to get around the gate and climb them!

One day while we were there, Matt was able to play golf with a friend and my mom & I took the kids to The Tubes to play. This is always a must-do when in LR for us! This time even Charlotte got in on the action in the toddler area. She was determined to get up the little stairs to the slide and slide down by herself.

This time Madeleine surprised me with her confidence and before I knew it she was all the way up to the top and all over the place! Here she is in the top tube before heading down the 2-story slide!

Seriously, this is TALL! Once Madeleine had made it up to the top, Harrison wasn't far behind in trying it! She took him and showed him the way up there and they went up and down up and down forever. By the time we left, both of them were sweating and ready for some lunch. :)

One of the other things we've been dying to do is go and visit Ryan and Jamie in Newport. We wanted to go see their new house and, most importantly, meet our new nephew Baby Garner! We had such a fun time catching up with them -- and I'm still thinking about what may be my new favorite kind of pizza!!

Madeleine, Harrison & Emery played together so so well -- they didn't want to leave to come home. I didn't get too many pictures of them since they were busy having fun and making a mess. :) Harrison & Emery weren't really into having pictures made that day, too. They actually told me NOT to take their pictures! But, this girl was happy to let me snap one.

One of the *best* parts was getting to meet and love on Garner! He is the sweetest baby! I could have held him for hours he's so cuddly. :) Uncle Matt got in some lovin' time too.

We've had a great time using some of our down time this summer visiting our families! I'm always reminded of how blessed we are with such great families and how much we need to try and get on the road to see them more often.