Arkanscott.
Meet Us.
Jennifer.
Mama. I have a problem with shopping. Night crier. Home decorating. Nacho cheese takes everything up a notch. Not afraid to love Britney Spears. Trying to own all the paper products in the world.
Nathan.
Wild man. Runs on tip toes. Into choo choos and trash trucks. Might miss something when he's asleep. Thomas is everything. Enjoys long walks. Are fruit snacks in the food pyramid? There is no one cuter.
Brian.
Daddy. Cleans his cleaning products. Works for the red roof. Should be in a rock band. Solves all family problems. Drinks way more creamer than coffee. Will be playing Xbox when he's 80.
Archives.
Monday, June 30, 2014, 11:36 AM
I have now made Rogers, Arkansas the premier destination for your summer needs.
Sister Steph and her man hunk, Michael came to visit us this weekend. Since Steph was basically in the womb when I was in high school, getting married, making mortgage payments, it was nice to spend some time together and catch up after all these years.
First things first, we took them to Bentonville Square and we dined like Kings at Table Mesa, which Michael promptly informed us meant, TABLE TABLE. It was excellent, I had the margarita that dreams are made of, and the only way that we could keep Nathan in his child seat was by playing the mysterious game of "Finger In the Table Hole."
Then, through Nathan's growing communication skills, we learned that he thought there was a little boy trapped under the table and that was the little boy's finger he kept seeing, so we had to stop that game and cover the hole up with a cup of water.
After our din din, we crossed the street to be one with the soda shop again. After a Thanksgiving Mexican meal, we were all stuffed to the max. Brian ordered a single scoop, I ordered a small milk shake, so did Steph, Nathan got a cookie and Michael softly ordered the MOON-PIE-A-PALOOZA.
Then, when we got home and were getting out of the car, he whispered to me that he was lactose intolerant.
Oh, we also walked through the Wal-Mart museum. Or should I say, tip-toed.
Literally, all-day long this is how he walks. It better pay off and make him a rich Olympic sprinter who loves and cares for his mother financially.
Saturday morning, we woke up early and headed back to the wildlife safari/zoo/is this legal. This time, it wasn't straight down pouring. We did the walking part first, where Brian had some long talks with a lama and I pulled out my "Tina! Come get some HAM!" joke a few too many times. This time, we were invited into a cage by a young, shirtless teenage worker to play with the monkeys who were ready to chew our faces off. I couldn't believe this was allowed, so we enjoyed the monkeys close up, but behind a protective layer of fence. And we still have our original faces.
Then, we did the rest of the driving part, where Michael took pictures like this:
And I took pictures like this:
It just doesn't seem safe that you can get that close to wildlife. But I love it.
After all of that excitement, we took them to this new restaurant called Chipotle, where everyone ate without me as I waited for a family of 12 to use the one-person women's restroom because I wanted to wash my hands.
Later, we had the brilliant idea of driving to Chrystal Bridges, where Steph said she would photograph my model-like family. We got all dressed up, I straightened my hair, Brian wore shoes other than ones he mows the lawn in, and then it started monsooning right as we got into the entrance way. So, we made the best of it and actually looked at the art. Funny, I found one that accurately portrays what I think about at all times:
That evening, we grilled up steaks, twice bakes and fancy asparagus with sea salt. We also dominated on some Kinnect Fruit Ninja. Fun fact: Michael slices fruit palms up. I slice fruit and fart at the same time.
Sunday morning, Steph wasn't one of those guests that needed to leave at 5:30am, so we ventured out to the Ozark Botanical Garden to experience a feeling where I wanted to spend our life savings and retirement on flowering plants and also my body will expload if I don't get in some air conditioning.
Look, a giant cage made out of hair! I don't even care if it's weird, I want one.
I also had time to do some light reading with friends.
This picture was taken right before I asked the group if they wanted to walk the outer trail around the grounds and Michael screamed, "NO!"
I love my family so much and this was just another great visit. After the two love birds hit the road, we prepped for the final weekend activity: Nathan's first firework show. It was done by the world's gigantic church, I popped some popcorn, we laid on a blanket by the highway and he absolutely loved it. They were also performing live baptisms during the show.
