Thanksgiving in Arkansas

We had great time with family in Arkansas over Thanksgiving. The weather is usually pretty good this time of year, allowing us to get out and about. It was a bit colder than normal the first few days, but warmed up nicely after that. It was a shorter visit with more time spent at home. Very relaxing and gave Daniel more time with his Granny, Grandpa, Aunts, and Uncles.

On the drive out we stopped in Gallup for lunch with a stretch break.

Stayed a night in Yukon, OK and upgraded to a suite. It was an accessible suite and had this jacuzzi tub in the "living room" part. Richard and Daniel enjoyed that instead of the pool!

Granny got to read Daniel his bedtime or nap time book several times during our visit.

The front yard is always so much fun to play in! The leaves are crazy big, so some raking into piles was necessary. Daniel "helped" until he figured out he could jump into the pile!

Fixing things is one of Daniel's favorite things to do. Grandpa found some tools and Aunt Linda made him a tool box. So he fixed his car and fixed the gate with Uncle Julian. Then Aunt Linda got him a whole new tool kit with a tool belt. He fixed everything in the house!

Since Uncle Julian has lots and lots of tools (though most are very sharp!), we visited his workshop. He and Daniel built a bird feeder from scratch - no Home Depot pre-made kit here! We brought it home and will be hanging it up on the front porch. A masterpiece.

Safety first!

Julian brought the finished feeder over later.  Daniel loved the earplugs!

It was warm enough one day that while at a small park with this stream running through, we let Daniel take his shoes off and get his feet wet. He loves throwing rocks as much as he loves fixing things, and it was much more fun to be IN the water to get rocks and throw them!

On the way home, we stopped at Fort Smith National Historic Site where Richard and Daniel did some re-enacting. Daniel loves guns almost as much as he loves tools and throwing rocks. Boys will be boys!

We were racing a storm on the way out of Arkansas, trying to avoid the ice in the midwest and the snow in New Mexico. We timed it perfectly, though ended up with a marathon 12 hour day from Hot Springs to Amarillo, TX. Temperatures dropped, but the snow held off and we got safely to Santa Rosa, NM at mid-day after only a few hours on the road. We hung out and went to the indoor pool several times that day, including a trip to the outdoor hot tub. It was 19F with a below zero windchill and snow flurries, but the boys braved it, though not for very long. We made it safely home on a frigid, though snow free day.