Arkansas Trip

We had a wonderful weekend visiting all of Brandon's family in Hot Springs, Arkansas and attending his Grandpa's funeral. It was a very bittersweet time. We turned Cora's carseat around for the trip, so that I could sit in the front and not be squished entertaining the kids. It was wonderful! Sixteen total hours of driving and NO crying or whining from either kid. They read books, played with toys, ate snacks, and watched a few videos. What an incredibly beautiful drive through the Ouachita Mountains! We enjoyed every second of it! The kids loved seeing the family and playing with their cousin. Brandon's Grandma and Aunt Carol live on Hamilton Lake, so we enjoyed spending time outside. On our walk, we saw a tarantula and Eli came home sporting a few nasty fire ant bites (if you've never seen one they get pustules on them...disgusting). Eli's favorite part of the trip was playing in Mimi's house in the "secret door". He is still talking about it! He loved a laundry shoot door that he could go through from a bathroom into the laundry room. When Brandon was a kid he would spend time with his brother doing the exact thing! I wasn't sure how Eli would handle Paw Paw being gone. Before we left, we were sure to explain to him why we were going to Arkansas and that Paw Paw was in heaven now. Eli would say, "Paw Paw's in Heaven because he was old and sick. He's not sick anymore in Heaven!" While we were there he said, "When Paw Paw comes back to Arkansas are we going to come back and visit?" So I had to explain that he wasn't coming back, but that we were going to see him someday in Heaven. We can't wait to see all of our family again someday!