Sister loves to pretend to "get you" any chance she can get. The thrill of making someone laugh is one of her favorite things. And who wouldn't laugh at this cute little thing...she is amazing in every way!
Last Friday night Cole had Ben B. come over to spend the night. This was Cole's first sleepover at our house and he was very excited! Ben came over shortly after nap time and the 3 kiddos (Lily was never far behind those boys) immediately headed out to play. Cole was so happy to share in our "routines" with Ben. I let Cole decide what we would have for dinner and he chose baby back ribs, mashed potatoes, green beans, deviled eggs and rolls. Um...I thought he would choose pizza but such is life! The kids ate well, played forever in the bath and then headed up to the playroom where Rhonald had set up a tent for a real camping experience. Rhonald was so excited about this sleepover that he went all out...spider man flashlights, glow sticks, s'mores cookies, a Bernstein Bears camp out book! The boys loved it all and were so excited to sleep in the tent! When we got down to our room we heard this conversation on the monitor: Cole "Goodnight Ben." Ben "Goodnight Cole. I love you." Cole "I love you too, Ben." Ugh! Melt our hearts!!!! And then quiet...until about 30 minutes later when we heard them talking about being scared in the tent because of all of the shadows and noises. Poor boys. I went up and laid with them for a bit, went back down and then we heard the same conversation again. So....the tent sleepover turned into a sleepover in mom and dad's bed. They jumped at that chance and were both asleep within 5 minutes! Love them! The next day was so fun and filled with lots of play time. I remember taking Cole to visit Ben in the hospital the day after he was born....how is it possible they are having sleepovers already?!
A couple of weeks ago our sweet babysitter, Sara, invited us to spend a day on her family's farm. It was probably one of our most favorite family days to date. Rhonald was off on the day we planned to go and I was so glad because then we all got to enjoy the day. Sara and her family really feel more like family to us than anything and getting to see where they live was priceless. Cole was in total heaven the whole day! He loved chasing the chickens and riding the horses. He was able to bottle feed a baby goat and thought that was so funny! Lily Kate on the other hand took forever to warm up to farm life. She was not very impressed with any of the animals but she finally came around when Sara's mom gave her a Popsicle. Lily Kate also loved the bumpy ride on the four wheeler and the creek. She totally came to life walking around in the water. Sara and her siblings (there are 8 total) had a lot of fun teaching Cole and Lily (and Rhonald and I for that matter) about country life. And we loved learning about it! In fact we all hated to leave at the end of the day. It was so peaceful and beautiful and relaxing. I hope so much we get to go back soon!
Several weeks ago Rhonald's mom and dad made a trip up to our house to see Cole play soccer. He loved having him at his game and showing off in front of a new audience. After soccer we decided to show them around Crystal Bridges. Cole was an expert tour guide and made sure they saw all of his favorite areas. Once we had walked our hearts out we made our way over to The Flying Fish for dinner. Yum! Normally when they are here we stick fairly close to home so it was nice to take them out and show them some of our favorite places in Northwest Arkansas!
Nothing says Arkansas like stripping down to your undies and playing in the sprinkler on a hot Spring day! There was a time, a long time ago, when I was not a permanent resident of Arkansas. I had this idea that being "Southern" was silly. I will be the first to admit that those feelings did not last long and I absolutely love living here. I love raising our family here. So....turn up the country music, pass me a glass of sweet tea and turn on the sprinkler because this Southern family is having some fun!
