Thanksgiving in Arkansas/Missouri!

Most people think Chad and I are c-r-a-z-y for making a 15 hour trek to Arkansas with all three kids a couple times per year. Honestly, there were a few moments on this particular trip that I would've agreed! In fact, I think I may have muttered under my breath on the trip back to Florida that we would NEVER do this again.

But, we make the trip for this...

...and as crazy as it may seem, the smiles in that picture make it all worth it!

We also went for this!....

...and this!


My mom and Mike have begun a tradition of travelling to Missouri every other year for Thanksgiving. We stay at the Big Cedar Lodge which over-looks Table Rock Lake. It's gorgeous and something special to look forward to throughout the year!

And despite some of the worst luck I've ever experienced (our family came down with a stomach virus the night after we arrived which lasted the ENTIRE trip), we still managed to make some good memories. :-)

We played at the park (before "Virus Round 1" began) on Friday morning...

They rode motorcycles at my dad's...

They rode horses (after "Virus Round 1" had hit and before "Virus Round 2 began")...

...they swam a few hours...(after "Virus Round 2" ended)...


AND, they got to see snow on Thanksgiving day! It was Rauly's first time to EVER see snow, so despite the fact that she was sick just minutes before the snow began, she still perked up considerably when we told her she could go run through the snow flurries!

It was an exhausting, somewhat frustrating trip, and we cut it short because Lillie was beginning to get sick (for the THIRD time). But as you can see - we still managed to enjoy ourselves. Here's a few more pictures from our time in Arkansas....hopefully next time we're there, we'll get to see more friends and family!