Greenville Wrap up!

I'm so behind, so here's the final photo dump of our trip to Greenville. So many great memories!



Eating at Cracker Barrell!



Reedy River Falls Park

 



more backyard fun!





boys will be boys



MEL with Uncle Scott

Greenville Zoo

Keaton's favorite!

Kid Planet - one of our favorite parks!



Riding George the Train!

We are so thankful for family that loves each other and genuines loves being together! What a great week we had!

Matthew and Keaton

Keaton and my nephew Matthew are 8 months apart, and they were inseperable for the whole week we spent in Greenville. They are both so funny in their own way, and I love listening to their little conversations! Even though they only get to see each other once a year or so, they always pick right up like old friends.

Fun in Papa's garden

Papa has a beautiful garden in the backyard, and the kids loved helping him pick vegetables!

All four of the boy cousins!

Anderson Family Pics

It had been far too long since all of the Anderson clan were together! We had such a wonderful week together. Of course, I took an ungodly amount of pictures, and I frankly have no idea where to start documenting our week, so I guess I'll just start by sharing some family pictures. On our first Saturday there, we all went out for pizza together in downtown Greer (in our coordinating outfits, no less) then headed over to the park for some picture taking. Collective sigh, groan. Remember last year? It was suprisingly painless this year! We used Mary's fancy Nikon and tripod. I think they turned out pretty well considering we had 16 people to photograph including 2 babies.

From the left: Me, Scott, Mark, Keaton, Ray, Nanny, Grandma, Laura (yes, my little 4 year old flower girl is now 13, taller than me, and wears shoes 2 sizes bigger than me!), Rob, Lisa, Douglas (9), Uncle Jerry, Matt, Matthew (almost 5), Jenny, Mary Elizabeth (14 mos), and Caroline (8).

Funny story: while we were taking the first photo, this lady comes running up to us - clearly she could not contain herself any longer. She said she's a phototographer and she would help arrange us better for the family photo. It was really quite amusing to watch her take charge and order us into shape. I think our smiles are much more genuine in the second photo because we were trying not to laugh.  

All the cousins!

Can you tell I'm going through a black and white phase?

More Greenvile pics soon...

to I-40 and beyond

On the Tuesday after Memorial Day, we borrowed my mom's car and left the windy plains of Oklahoma and headed east on I-40 on another adventure.

Yes, after a 12 hour plane trip from Hawaii, we voluntarily subjected ourselves to a 16 hour car trip with two children. The youngest of which - his only frame of reference for "road trip" involves an island that is 30 miles across.

Thankfully, my mom's Acadia has a DVD player complete with front/rear auxilary, so the boys could watch their shows and Dada and I could catch up on our This American Life podcasts.

Our little tree hugger at a random rest stop in Arkansas.

Boy, were we glad to see this sign! Can we all agree that the only good thing about Arkansas is that it gets you from Oklahoma to Tennessee? Holla.

 We made it to Nashville and were able to stay two nights with our dear friends, the Dennys. They also have 2 boys. Keaton and Noah had great fun together as babies back in the th'day even though they don't remember...

They picked up right where they left off 2 years ago.

It was so fun to watch them play like they were old friends!

We were also able to make a quick stop by our house in Nashville to meet our renters and see our new roof that we put on a month ago. So strange that Keaton remembers nothing of this house!

 In our short 36 hour stay in Nashville, we caught up with lots of friends. Somehow, I managed to take no pictures of any adults! I did however get a pic of the chips that my friend Lisa and I enjoyed on our lunch date to Amigos.

OK?

Thursday morning, we were off again through the Smoky Mountains. Next stop - South Carolina! 

Memorial Day

Every year for Memorial Day, my parents host a reunion for the Archambo side of the family. We've had to miss the past two summers! I was so happy we could be there this year! It is so fun to see all of my cousins, catch up with everyone, and see how everyone's families have grown. I'm so thankful for such great family that genuninely loves being together. The reunion gets bigger every year. This year we had 65 people! 

There's always plenty of food!

Elise made graduation cupcakes for the three graduating cousins we had this year: Jacob, Hunter, and Hannah.

Alexis and Mia. Yes, Alexis has black hair now. LONG STORY!

The annual cousins basketball game. Good thing none of those Archambo boys are competitive - HA!

Chanse, Candous, Kayla, Carson, and Hannah

I can tell from the color of his mouth that this is not his first popcicle. Brumbra!!!!

My two favorite ladies.

Dad and Uncle Ed

My cousin Paula and her sweet Brock

"Where'd y'all get y'all's dranks?"

Kiddie Park 2012

 

The first of what I'm certain will be several trips to Kiddie Park on this trip.

I'm amazed that the same rides that I loved as a child my own children now love!  

 

My sis-in-law Nicole with nephew Easton

Anyone seen "The Muppets Movie?" This is like the "Moopets" version of Elmo. No one was fooling Marky. :-)