Sunday, November 24, 2013

Camping at Beaver Dam

The day after trick-or-treating, we packed up the suv and headed to Beaver Dam with the Post's. They invited us to their campsite for two evenings of fun. 

These boys are spoiled rotten. They had a blast camping.

There was a nice play area for the kids.

The campground provided a hayride, costume contest and trick-or-treating one evening. 
It was too cold to dress the boys up in their costumes, but we took advantage of it all.

This little man keeps us warm all the time. 

Some pics of Cameron and Jude by the fire at night.

Roasting some food.

The mama's taught these boys how to be pros at air hockey. 

Montage of Jude. We recreated a pic from 2011 in his Carhart hat. He's still as precious.

The wonderful colors of autumn at Eureka Springs. 

Thanks so much for a really fun weekend Dustin, Ashley and Cameron!!!





October in NWA

We've had such a wonderful autumn that it's hard to believe it is almost over. The weather was beautiful and the Ozark colors did not disappoint. Here are a few things we did in October, besides the wonderful Covered Bridge Festival...which deserves it's own post next month!

These two pictures - best friends and family...nothing better!

Jude did a little pumpkin carving with Cameron and Gavin .

We finally tried Fast Lanes in Rogers. It was so much fun!! John's company had their Halloween party there, so we got to enjoy Jude's first bowling experience (he LOVED it) along with arcade games. 

John and I took a trip to Missouri to visit Right Choices Pumpkin Patch. Well worth the trip! This will be our go to annual pumpkin patch. Obviously we picked pumpkins and ran through a huge corn maze.

John the scarecrow and Jude the sunflower.

Enjoying his favorite snack - pickles!
All three of us on the cow train. By far the cutest little train for kids to visit the corn field.


This was the best. It was called the Corn Jump and it felt like we jumped for hours.

Hayride through the woods, a corn bin where Jude got a little rowdy and a really fun slide.


Haystacks everywhere, a little pumpkin basketball and a duck pump. Don't ask...it was awesome.

We highly recommend this place!!!

Oh, and of course - Halloween! A little vampire princess and 50 Shades of Grey for a party.

And the main event - Jude the Scarecrow. It rained a lot, but we got enough candy to 
last until next year...when Jude will probably be another Wizard of Oz character. 



Sunday, October 20, 2013

6 Year Anniversary Trip

It's been a blissful 6 years of marriage and it just keeps getting better. So this year John surprised me with an anniversary trip to Charleston, South Carolina. We love historic cities, cobblestone and palm trees. What better place than there? All I can say is that we had so much fun together exploring a brand new place. Cheers to another 6 years John Bennet!

We stayed at this amazing Bed and Breakfast called the Elliott House Inn in the Sweetgrass Room. 
Both of us agreed that we would absolutely return to this place.
After we checked in we ate lunch at Poogan's Porch, named after a dog. He was actually buried right at my feet as I ate, but didn't take away from the amazing pimento balls. WOW. We frequented this place a lot since it was right next door to our B&B. Plus it was said to be haunted, so I had to check it out.
This was a fantastic market with the entrance under the Confederate Museum. 
More sightseeing! Fort Sumter from across the bay.
The waterfront park was beautiful. We even got to rock on a swing while taking in the breeze.
So Charlestonian of us.
Did we mention we found a CHICAGO bar? Even far away, we won't miss a Bears game. 
We even packed the jerseys and met amazing people during the home opener. 
 Just some hot pics of us. The bar was known to have the best view of the city. We agree.
The Blind Tiger was a cool place to have a snack. 
And sometimes a person's side yard is the perfect place for a picture.
Cobblestone! And Rainbow Row. The houses were beyond amazing in the Historic District.
Tourism at night. Church Street is downright haunted but beautiful. Okay every street is scary at night!
Unless you 1) are hungry 2) were given bicycles as part of your room package 3) are not afraid of midnight ghosts on the way to get pizza on your bicycles 4) eat said pizza and can find your way back.
One of the many delicious breakfasts we had during our weekend getaway. Eli's Cafe.
 Beautiful parks!
The oldest liquor store in the south called the Tavern. We heard great stories about Charleston from the owner while stopping in. And my favorite place, the Old Slave Mart. It is one of the only still standing and they made it into a museum. I had goosebumps and learned so much in such a short time.
Mansions and green gardens lined the streets. We visited quite a few.
And a picture of our last night with friends. We saw dolphins at our feet, had some beach cocktails and danced all night long. We barely scratched the surface of Charleston. 
That means one thing, we'll be back!