Arkansas May '11

We just got home from a whirlwind trip up to the Ozarks for my cousin's wedding. Three out of my four Arkansas-Davis cousins got married this year and we made it up for two of the weddings. Michael was able to come this time and we were so glad he could see it.
Everything is so green there! They have had a ton of rain and it was gorgeous. The White River was very full and everything was wet and squishy and lush. My Uncle's ranch is called The Rafter D and it is gorgeous. It's a horse ranch with barn and camping sites and lots of great trails.
We had a bit of hard time getting there. As we drove into Batesville, which is only about 15 minutes south of the ranch, we stopped at a great little restaurant called Josie's which has a great deck overlooking the white river, a playground and you can buy a $5 membership so you can drink wine even though it's a dry county. We were thrilled to find it and had a lovely dinner. As we were paying the bill though, Davis came running from the playground covered in blood. He had hit his head falling off the slide and I could see bone through the broken skin on his skull. Mom and Dad took Sam and his booster seat and went on to the ranch and Michael and I took Davis to the ER. We waited a couple of hours and finally got to see a doctor who told us to clean it out and put Neosporin on it. Because we declined a C/T scan he made us sign on a contract promising to bring him back if he lost conciousness, complained of headache or started vomiting.
By this point we were exhausted because we had gotten up at 4:30AM to fly there and had spent the whole day traveling. We met mom and Dad at our bed and breakfast and put both boys down and eventually we all fell asleep around 9:30. At 4AM Davis woke up and started vomiting. I threw on some clothes, grabbed the bathroom trashcan for Davis to use as a bucket and drove him 30 miles back to the ER. When we got there they told us he most likely had picked up a stomach virus the night before and to go home and let him rest.
Mom and Dad watched him that morning while Michael and I ran out to the ranch and then I spent the rest of the day in the bed and breakfast with my sick boy while everyone else played at the ranch. By evening, Davis said he felt better so we all showered and changed and headed back out to the ranch for the wedding. By the time we got there, Davis had spiked a fever. He laid down in Grandma's trailer and Michael stayed with him in there while I got to attend the wedding. We stayed for a few minutes of the reception, got to eat and then took our boys back to the B&B and put them to bed.
Sunday Davis woke recovered and we finally got to have some fun! We went out to the ranch in time to enjoy "Cowboy Church" led by my uncle Mike. I love listening to him play his guitar and sing and I enjoyed the 30 minute service very much. After church we just hung out with the cousins, watched the kids play, sipped cocktails and enjoyed the weather and the company. I got to spend time with my sister of my heart/cousin Marcie and snuggle her new little girl. The five boy cousins between the ages of 4 and 8 made fast friends and even put on a play. We made s'mores and ate wedding left-overs twice. Michael and I got a tour of the ranch from Uncle Mike and I got some quality time with my two new cousins-in-law as well. It was just an awesome, fun day.
The next morning, we drove back out to the ranch and got a tour of my cousin Lane's new house. The boys rode bikes and played baseball. We took some more pictures and then got back in our rental car to drive the 2.5 hours into Little Rock in order to catch our plane. We were all really sad to leave. I think I've convinced everyone to come here for Christmas and Michael and I would love to go back with our own RV or trailer some day and camp for longer. When we got on the plane, the flight attendant offered to let the boys go in the cockpit and meet the pilots! They loved it.
Now we have two days to clean up, catch up, and pack for a quick beach getaway! I love summer!