We went up to Mountain View, AR for Thanksgiving. Mike's sister, Sara, and her family joined us. We arrived around 4pm on Wednesday and immediately began preparing for Thursday's meal:
We enjoyed the traditional BBQ sandwiches and chips Thanksgiving meal.
And I'd say that's not so bad when you're relying on a crock pot and one burner to cook with and your counter space is actually a dresser in your hotel room. :)
And dinner was really great. We had BBQ that Sara had made in advance, baked beans that I made in advance, store bought coleslaw, potato salad, and fruit platter, and a bag of chips. Not too bad. Then Sara whipped out some veggies that she brought from home that she had leftover and didn't want them to go to waste. Kira tore into the baked butternut squash. Definitely something I'm going to have to start cooking for her.
We stayed in little hotel-ish cabins at the Ozark Folk Center. It's a cute little place with lots of old timey crafts and trades that are showcased in a little village. Most of the shop owners were vacant this time of year, but we were able to see quite a few. We ooh and aah over pottery, aprons, hand woven rugs, musical instruments, and more. One shop that was closed that made me really sad was the furniture shop. I thought maybe they'd be open on Saturday, so I went up all prepared to buy a wooden spoon (you should have seen them hanging in the window! so pretty!), but he wasn't there. I was pretty bummed. But I consoled myself with a pretty pottery spoon rest.
(If I can't have a spoon... at least I can have a spoon rest, right? Huh?)
The spoon rest is very pretty. And it's nice to have met the people who actually made it. It has a fern pattern on it and the guy told about how he and his wife pick fern leaves while hiking, dry them in old college textbooks, and use them to make the prints on their pottery. I like knowing that about my spoon rest. :)
And someday it'll have a spoon resting on it whose history and maker I know just as well. Until then, it will just have to wait longingly for it's soul mate.
Who knew spoons could cause such trouble!
On Friday, we went to a local cavern with the intention of taking the tour, but I guess that's what everyone else within a 100 miles thought they'd do, too, because there was a two hour wait for a tour and the guy said no guarantee that they had any left (it would have been the last tour of the day). We opted to not wait for the tour and went instead to a place where the water comes out of the cave. Pretty cool. There were lots of rocks to climb around on and after a few minutes, all six kids (my four and Sara's two) were missing. We found them climbing the side of the mountain! We hurried after them as fast as our 30 something bodies would allow. :) It was steep! Sara's youngest, Annika, is 4, so it was probably a bit worrying for Sara and Trevor to know that she was climbing up that steep slope. Reid was right behind her helping her. It was cute even if it's wasn't the best decision either of them have ever made. But all was well and we eventually came down and took a longer hike (more horizontal this time) over to the dam where there was a really nice waterfall.
Friday was a nice day.
Saturday was gorgeous. The high was 68! I wasn't expecting that in northern Arkansas at the end of November! We went to a local park and grilled hamburgers and hot dogs. The kids played baseball, played on the playground and just had a good time. We celebrated Sara's birthday with a yummy cheesecake that Trevor got from Walmart and some tricky candles that are supposed to not be able to be blown out, but that would hardly light thanks to all the wind!
Saturday was also a nice day.
Then Sunday came around all too soon and we parted ways. Our trip home was a good one except for some construction traffic around the AR/TX border and then more traffic in Greenville. I ended up exiting a couple of exits early so that I could try to avoid some of the interstate traffic and managed to get into a really long line of cars trying to turn left. The left turn was easy enough, but it was just a REALLY long line of cars. But, I was being patient and we eventually got up about four cars away when a car came up on the wrong side of the street to pass all of us (it was a two lane road). The car that was up at the stop sign stuck their hand out the window to tell them to stop or go back or something. The wrong lane car tried turning left, but the car at the front of the line whipped out in front of them and steered them in a different direction. They both sped up, were dangerously close to each other, and the car that was in the right lane to begin with apparently was quite mad and was chasing them. I was freaking out a bit, so I just stopped looking in the direction they were going. I don't know what ended up happening, but I figure it's better that I don't know. Scary stuff.
It took us 9 hours to get home. Not the best, but actually better than I thought it would be with all the traffic. Mike was a super trooper and got the car completely unpacked right away. I followed his lead and made sure everything got put away right away.
Sunday had it's ups and downs.
Today I'm doing laundry. Lots of laundry. And I'm typing this post with a big cat on my lap who I think missed his humans while we were away. And one little human was particularly excited to see her tee-tat when she got home. She was soooo cute laughing and giggling when she saw him.
We really, really like Sara and her family. We've all decided that we'll go back next summer and stay at a local campground together. It's in the same area as the caverns, so we'll hopefully get to go on that tour.
And I can get my spoon.
This is bread for 20 sandwiches. Two sandwiches a day for each kid. Now... this doesn't include the PB&J that I send with Reid every day... I don't make those ahead of time.
The meat... one slice of ham, one slice of turkey. And the cheese... provolone or muenster. We spoil our kids...
Here they are all wrapped up ready for the freezer. The ones at the upper left are the ones for that day. I just pull a bag out each morning for the rest of the week. Not too bad.
