Fairfield Bay, Arkansas

OK, so I've sat down to work on this post like three times now, and something always seems to come up. So I'm just going to bite the bullet here and get as much as I can done, and we'll see what we end up with. Hopefully it won't turn out to be a crazy mess. Keep your fingers crossed...

Last week, the family and I headed to the Arkansas mountains for a much needed vacation. In all honesty, I had no idea what to expect. I mean, come on,... we were going to the mountains of Arkansas. Between you and me, I may have had a scene or two from the movie Deliverance playing in my sub-conscience on our way there.

These two were SO excited to go on vacation:

It took us a bit longer than we had anticipated to get there.  

(Darn MapQuest!) 

But alas, we made it. 

I was so relieved to walk into our condo and see that is was WAY more updated than the photos we had seen revealed. And the kids immediately found their room and did the first thing you always do when you arrive at your vacation destination...

Jump on the beds, of course!

Although we managed to do a whole lot during the week we were there, we also managed to rest quite a bit and sleep in and take glorious naps. We only had one scheduled event during our stay, so other than that, we pretty much let the chips fall where they may. Which was such a nice departure from the jam packed vacations we've taken in the past.

Anyway, here are some snapshots from our week in Fairfield Bay, Arkansas:

We hiked the Indian Rock Cave Trail, 

which lead us to some amazing Indian caves the kids LOVED exploring.

It's hard to really show the size of this one specific cave. 

As you can see Scott looks tiny!

It was absolutely fantastic!

Scott said this was his favorite vacation adventure!

We played mini golf:

And what I remember most is laughing.

Hard!

Oh yeah, and sweating. 

A lot.

It was a scorcher of a day.

And this was our one scheduled event of the week.

And it was totally worth waking up early for.

We rented a pontoon boat for 4 hours and enjoyed every single second of it.

Isabella shocked us a number of times during the week.

Especially with her love for tubing and swimming in the lake.

I would have NEVER expected that from her.

But we're so glad she was open to experiencing new things.

Sam, on the other hand, was leery of it all.

He enjoyed the boat ride, the music, the dancing, the napping, the eating and the drinking.

But he definitely preferred to stay out of the water.

He did, however, say that this was his favorite vacation adventure. 

Like I mentioned earlier, Isabella was full of surprises this week.

One of the local country clubs hosted a kids' karaoke night.

Straight out of left field, Isabella decided she was going to sing.

She stood by her brother and her Daddy, in front of everyone, 

and sang Jesus Loves Me!

It was ADORABLE! 

And then she walked up to a teenager and asked if she would like to sing with her.

Huh?

 Who is this adventurous girl?

Together they sang You Belong With Me by Taylor Swift.

SO cute!

One day we decided to make the hour trip to go see the 

Blanchard Springs Caverns in Mountain View, Arkansas.

It was stunning!

It reminded me so much of our caves back home in Puerto Rico.

This was definitely my favorite vacation adventure.

And then we swung by the Blanchard Springs 

and enjoyed dipping our feet into the nice 58°F water.

The views were unbelievably beautiful.

There's something so peaceful about being surrounded by nature.

Well, except maybe when you come face to face with this:

Yes dear friends, that is a snake.

EEEKKK!

We also enjoyed a puppet show, grilling out and making smores.

And let's not forget the swimming pool.

We spent a whole lot of time playing at the pool.

So, there you have it, our vacation in a nutshell.

☺

By the end of the week, we'd had no Deliverance-related issues.

We loved every minute of it.

And we can't wait to go back!

Oh, and as for what Isabella's favorite vacation adventure was...

When asked, she smiles really big and says: 

EVERYTHING!

Hold all my calls...

because for the next few days, my family and I will be enjoying some much needed R&R time, away from the hustle and bustle of the big city,... or our mid-size city,... or the suburbs of the city,... or,...well, you know what I mean!

Anyway, we're going to the lake and the mountains, 

where we'll be doing a whole lot of relaxing 

and swimming 

and boating 

and reading 

and hiking 

and sleeping 

and playing 

and exploring
and vegging

and celebrating
and grilling

and eating 

and pretty much doing (or not doing) anything else that tickles our fancy.

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And the best part is, we'll be doing all of this without the pressures of a schedule.

I won't lie to you, in my book, this is pure 

BLISS!!!

So, see you soon with lots of pictures and lots of LAZY stories!

Ten on Thursday ~ Vegas Edition

OK, so I realize I usually do a Ten on Tuesday, but I'm so behind on well, everything, that I figured this would have to do. Today's Ten on Thursday is ALL about Vegas.

For those of you who haven't heard, Scott surprised me with a weekend getaway to Las Vegas for our anniversary. This is HUGE, people! Scott's not one to normally do things like this. This is SO out of his comfort zone. But he planned everything. Down to the last detail. And it was AMAZING!

1. I am SO grateful to my parents, who were more than happy to keep the kids for the weekend, making sure they were where they needed to be at all times. Without them, this trip could not have happened.

2. This was our first getaway, just the two of us, since Isabella was born. Let me save you the trouble of doing the math ~  that is 5 1/2 years! Yep, other than the random night here and there the kids spend at my parents', this was the first time we were away from them. It was scary and exciting all at the same time! But mostly, we were excited.... as you can see here:

3. After begging and begging, Scott finally let me in on our destination about a week before our trip, but he made sure to keep everything else from me. Sneaky little one! Our flight was a smooth one. I finished reading Left Neglected and started These Things Hidden. We had a couple beverages and some complementary dog biscuits cookies. But my favorite part of the flight was the stunning view from my window:

4. So, even though I already knew where we were headed,

I had no idea where we were staying, until we got there... He booked us a suite at The Venetian Hotel! I've got three words for you: Oh! My! Goodness!

 

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This place is luxurious and beautiful and glamorous and a bit of a dream come true.

In all honesty, I think Scott tried to kill two birds with one stone. He knows I dream of the day we travel through Italy and drink lots and lots wine in the Tuscan countryside. So maybe this was his way of giving me not only a weekend getaway, but also an exotic Venetian experience. Good try, Butler!

5. All of their rooms are beautiful suites. We stayed here:

 

 

6. After checking in, we decided it was time to go explore. These mega-hotels in Vegas are unbelievable. They make it so that you don't have to leave the hotel. Ever! The variety and number of restaurants and attractions and shops and shows. It was SO much fun!

7. Scott had given me the hotel's spa menu of services and told me to pick whatever I wanted. I picked an hour long deep tissue massage. I wish I could tell you it was the cat's meow, but unfortunately, I can't. It was actually torture. Apparently I live in a perpetual state of tension, and after over three years without a massage, it was evident I should have eased my way back in the massage world. Deep tissue was NOT the way to go. Deep tissue=PAIN! After a few days, I am now finally not hurting from that session.

8. We enjoyed a couple of these and they were DIVINE!

 

Yeah, that's all I have to say about that!

9. We went to see this show:

 

and really enjoyed it. I think I might have LOVED it had it not been the 10:00pm show. I was exhausted, and in pain (see #7).

10. Coming home and seeing the kids, now that was magical. They loved all the little Las Vegas souvenirs we brought back and can't wait for us to go on our next trip so they can stay and Grandma and Grandpa's place again. Huh?

Our Summer's Last Hurrah

A few weeks ago, while at a play date, my friend Danyelle and I started "talking" about maybe going away to the beach for a few days. You know, since with the oil spill Gulf Shores is like a ghost town and all. And since her mother in law's condo was available and all. And since the kids would all be starting school in a few weeks and all. And since all of our kids have been begging to go to the beach and all. And since both of our husbands work such long hours and all.

So we looked at our calendars, agreed on some dates, called our husbands, and booked it. SOLD! So off to Gulf Shores we embarked, her and I and our four children. This could have gone either way: either a very, very fun trip or a very, very bad disaster. Lucky for us (and the children), it was the former. We had a great time! Isabella and Hudson had a ball spending SO much time together and Sam took to Addisyn like fish takes to water. Addy is one of his most favorite people in the whole world.

Here are a few of my favorite pictures:

We tried going to the beach. But it wasn't long before Danyelle and I decided to cut our losses and hit the condo's pool instead. You could see the oil in the water and the smell was pretty bad. So so sad! We did however capture a few shots of the kids while we were there:

 

Luckily, the kids didn't necessarily want to play in the water, they mostly wanted to play with sand. So we took care of that not once, but twice, by visiting some fun local family restaurants:

 

Call me crazy, but I think she likes him. Maybe,.. just a little?

Is there a better combination than sand AND suds?

They think not!

We also went to Lulu's, which is Jimmy Buffet's sister's restaurant...

where Sam was once again able to fulfill his sand+water obsession.

Putting this one in the car was a fun challenge!

Every morning the boys woke up looking like this:

 

Ha Ha! Look at those handsome boys and their crazy hair!

We went out for ice cream:

We visited the shark store and got some fun souvenirs:

We even went to the outlet mall, where I spent entirely too much money on Crocs for the kids.

But I especially would like to thank Danyelle, who apparently taught the kids how to make silly faces for the camera while I was at the store, for these here gems. This is what I got whenever I asked Sam to look at the camera:

 Yeah,... Every. Single. Time!

Nice!

Thanks, Danyelle for inviting us on such an awesome adventure. I had a great time and I know the kids LOVED it. You guys are great travel buddies and I hope we can do it again!

And remember, we'll always have New Orleans ;)