Thursday, January 19, 2012

Trip to Bentonville - adventures with ABCDE, November 11-13, 2011

Reason number 1,285 that we love living in Little Rock = we live closer to ABCDE. We hate not being close to our Texas family, but at least we still have family to visit on a weekend! Nathan has never EVER visited his brother’s home (I’ve been there several times), so we were due to for a trip to Bentonville to visit Andrea, Brandon, Caden, Dru and Eston (ABCDE). We loaded up the kids after work on Friday and had a good and easy drive. We were so excited to get away for the weekend and Alex was over the moon about getting to hang with her cousins.
As we hoped and expected, it was fantastic time! The kids were in heaven playing together. It was really nice for us because the kids were amazing with Carson and we didn’t have to step in much. Caden, Dru and Eston are unreal with Carson – they are the experts! A few highlights from the weekend:
1. Nathan finally “experienced” ABCDE’s home (it’s beyond incredible – wow!)
2. Darby cousins played outside for hours.
3. All the kids are gluten free so the cooking was easy.
4. Andrea and I were able to sneak away for a girl’s night out – dinner at PF Changs and shopping. We shut down the restaurant catching up!
5. The guys were able to watch the Razorback football game in B’s media room.
6. We got to visit their church – Fellowship in Bentonville. The sermon was on “healing.” I was a mess because it hit home with Carson but was very encouraging – loved it!
7. We got to experience “Mellow Mushroom” – auhhhmazing food!
8. We were even able to squeeze in a surprise photo shoot of the kids. Andrea is such a talented photog – score! We kept this a secret in hopes of surprising the Grandparents with pics.

The pictures can tell the rest of the story. I am so blessed to have such a fun and loving sister (Aunt Onnie to my kids) and Nathan loved hanging with his brother. The kids weren’t ready to leave…in fact the oldest Darby kiddo, Caden, said, “This was one of the best weekends I’ve had in a really long time.” That speaks volumes b/c the kids are all younger, yet he still had a blast. I love these boys with all my heart. Okay, okay I’ll stop – here are the pics from our weekend!

 

Happy, happy boy!
Did I mention he is always happy?
Dru - the Carson whisperer
Nathan is having a blast with our "twins"
Sweet Carson gives us a cute face
Our kids loved the backyard and played so well together
Funny, funny brothers made fun of our excessive picture taking...here are a few examples :)
Example :)
Um yep, example :)
Okay, I *think* maybe they are trying to behave and take a real pic
Ummm nope, absolutely not!  Really boys?!?
Okay, thank you for finally cooperating!
Eston, Dru & Caden (gorgeous, amazing, men of Christ...yes, they are little men!)
Alex & Onnie hammed it up for a few pics
Sweet lovin'
These have to be my favorite - love it!!
Goofy girls
I think this is a magical pic...because Onnie & Carson have magic together...and you can tell.
More magic
Aunt Missy even gets a few pics in with her stud nephews
These boys fill my tank!!
Onnie has a blast with my kids on the playground
Okay, so perhaps I spoke to soon...this one is my favorite.  GORGEOUS!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Saving the best for last - here are the photoshoot pics at the deserted railroad/factory:




If Gymboree is looking for a few models, I might know where to find them!









Aren't the kids precious?  I can't stand it - ridiculously blessed!




My sweet girl is growing up - she looks sooo big here!

Thank you, ABCDE for an awesome weekend!  Can we come back now?