Off to see some Fall color!

We decided to take a mini vacation and drive to Arkansas and rent a cabin for an extended weekend!  This has always been a dream of mine (to rent a cabin) somewhere in the mountains.  I know, this is not a big dream. But I've wanted to do it for years!  So when our anniversary (17 yrs!) came around this year in September I requested a family vacation to see some Fall colors.  It's been a hot summer and we didn't take a vacation because of my pregnancy.  After having Micah, I feel energetic and ready to do things with my children that I haven't had the motivation to do!  I guess when your pregnant sometimes you just live in survival mode.  

So we found a great deal and took off Friday afternoon and drove half way to our destination to Texarkana and got a room at a hotel.  At breakfast the next morning, I was sitting with my husband with a full tummy, a cup of tea and a sleeping baby in my arms!  Could life get any better? Maybe only in heaven.  It was a wonderful moment. 

 We headed off to Mena, Arkansas, a nice two hour drive north of Texarkana to West Arkansas along the Oklahoma border.  I was hoping to see some colors but there wasn't much color to see! I found out later that it's been dry in Arkansas and not very cold yet so the trees are late in turning.  I guess I've been spoiled living in California and Colorado.

  I had to adjust my attitude, which is no easy task.  Instead I focused on the beauty of being with my family.  I had the attention of my husband all weekend!  We have a precious new baby that did absolutely wonderfully traveling and our older 4 children got along great in the car and we all enjoyed each other. We didn't watch T.V. even though we had one, no computer and we didn't have any cell phone access! We just had each other! Now really, what is there to grumble about!  We did get to see SOME Fall colors. We took pictures every time we did because it was so rare that we would run across a red tree or see some yellow in the middle of brown or green.

Here are some of the million pictures that we took of our trip.  Enjoy!

Isn't this a cute little country cabin!  It came fully furnished with a loft, full bath, and equipped kitchen.  They even provided firewood and a gas grill!  

It was decorated so cozy and warm that it had a very relaxing feel.  A step up from tent camping, that's for sure!

 

This was a steep ladder!  On the last day Reece heard a mouse or rat chewing near his bed!  He came down that ladder very fast!  Then giggling he encouraged his sister to go first back up in the loft to try and get it.  He was rooting his brother and sister on as he sat back half way down the ladder.  We all laughed till our sides ached!

 

When we first unpacked our things, the boys went outside to target shoot with their air-soft guns and the girls decided to play cards.

 

We got in on the annual Mena air show.  It was a beautiful day to walk around and look at airplanes.  The kids got to go inside this vintage airplane and actually sit in the cockpit!  My Dad would have loved this place!

 

 

These are for you, Dad!  They were giving rides if you wanted to pay!  The kids loved being this close to these little airplanes watching them take off and land!

 

The next day we went to visit the Cassotot River.  We hiked down to the falls.  This was just one of the pretty sights we took from the bridge.

 

There was a great big divot in this rock!  Perfect to sit in.  These were taken before they all conveniently fell in the river by accident, of course!

 

I cannot get my girls to wear pants for things like this!  I'm not complaining.  They are not comfortable in pants and insist on wearing their dresses, even when playing like this.  They look very feminine but are actually very daring at heart!

 

Micah was such a little trooper the whole time.  He was in the car seat a lot or in a backpack.  This was one of the times he got to stretch out and enjoy the sun.  He is so snuggly at this age!  I love this picture with the river behind us!

 

One of the few trees we saw changing colors!  The red was striking when we actually got a glimpse!

 
 

Micah at 9 weeks old!

 

These smooth rocks went right up the rivers edge.  They felt great on bare feet.  The only problem is that they were very slippery when under the water.  Reece went running to put his feet in and they slipped right out from under him and he went down and hit his head on the rocks!  Thankfully God watched over him and he wasn't hurt.  While I was comforting Reece, Julia did exactly the same thing!  But she came up laughing instead of crying.  They all knew to be very careful from that point on!  

 

Can you see the tongue?

 

A.J. loved the adventure of climbing from rock to rock and floating down stream a little.  This kind of fun was exactly what he was hoping for.  He wants to go back so badly!  

 

Yes, the hair is still sticking straight up!  I love this picture too!

 

Drying off in the sun after swimming fully clothed! Doesn't this look like sand?  It's really smooth rock!

 

We had fun trying to cook in the kitchen.  Olivia wasn't that excited to cook or do dishes because she wasn't familiar with where everything was.  Guess she likes her own kitchen better.  We had some great meals.  It's so much easier with a stove and oven than a camp stove and no sink like when we tent camp!

 

Can you figure out what this is?  It's a stick bug!  It looks just like a stick and is really hard to spot.  The bug is the horizontal stick in the middle of this picture.  It's legs are wrapped around the leaf stem above it.  See it?

Rich took this picture and it turned out really great!  He likes to have fun with the camera on scenic shots.

Reece is holding a mushroom he pulled up from the ground by our cabin!  We were packing up the car and he came running up with big eyes, so proud of his find.  He wanted to bring it home!  Not!

 

I loved these trees with the little red berries! They reminded me of a Thanksgiving

 center piece or even Christmas.  Wish I could have taken a tree home with me!

 

One of the first pictures with all 7 of us together since Micah's birth!  We set the camera up and then Rich had to run to get into the picture which is why he is leaning.

Thanks for taking the time to go on vacation with us!