A rock solid reunion

So onto last weekend, which involved a trip back to NWA to hang out with our good friends, the Cheshiers. Jacob, Kelly, and their brood of little ones (3 and one on the way) were in AR from TN to visit friends and family and made a stop in NWA for a few nights. Tim, Jacob, and Seth grew up together in Eldo and now live in 3 different states, so we always look forward to a chance to get everyone back together.

We left TX Friday evening, spent the night in a hotel (because, let's just say, adding two adults, one child, and one dog to the four adults, five and a half kids, and one dog that were already crashing at the Primms house equals...well...I'm bad at math, but the total is probably more than is legal in the state of Arkansas), and met up with the gang in the morning. (The gang, just to clarify, consisted of: Seth, Joy, Oliver (3), and Sullivan (10 months) Primm; Jacob, Kelly, Ethan (3), Sadie (2), Ruthie (1), and Camden (due Sept. 4) Cheshier; and us.)

It was warm and the older kids wanted to get in Oliver's pool, so we got their suits on and let them go at it. Now, I've yet to blog about the fact that A is not what one might describe as, "a good swimmer", or, "an 'ok' swimmer", or even "someone who likes the water". I think he'd best be described as "a big sissy" when it comes to swimming pools and the like, which is sort of annoying since I got a membership to a local pool club this summer thinking that A would love it. More on that whole thing in another post. For now, suffice it to say that Alex really isn't really a fan of getting water in his nose or his mouth...or his eyes...or his ears...and while he'll suck it up enough to splash around for a while with the other kids, he'd rather be the on the sidelines with the hose in hand. I suppose you could say he prefers to be the "splasher" as opposed to the "splashee".

Thankfully, Jacob and (a very pregnant) Kelly were around and willing to risk soakage to lead the kids through the sprinkler...repeatedly. Even Murph got in on the action, and when he wasn't picking a fight with the much larger dog next door, he was picking a fight with the sprinkler. The sprinkler totally won.

After everyone had dried off, the kids went inside and played. And I must say, they did a great job sharing, considering their ages and the fact that there were only about 600 toys for them to choose from. Funny how they are only interested in a toy when someone else decides to play with it...

We decided it would be fun to pack a lunch and take the kids to the park for a picnic. Sure, it was about a hundred degrees in the shade, but we didn't let that stop us.

After an eventful dinner at Marketplace Grill, the Cheshiers left to visit family elsewhere in AR. We stayed at the Primms that night, and I got some "face time" with Sullivan, hence the ten zillion pictures of the adorably photogenic baby.

As luck had it, my good friend Katie was having her birthday party in Fayetteville that night, so I got to go and visit with her for a while and left Timothy to fend for himself when it was time to put Alex to bed. I had a heck of a time getting him to take nap earlier that day, but of course, he was perfectly willing to go right to sleep for his dad. When I got back from my party, this is what I found:

I'm not sure who convinced whom to go through with this little project, but the outcome was fabulous. I wish Joy lived closer for many reasons, and now, being able to give Tim great haircuts is just one more thing to add to that list.

And one more thing - the delicious fruit and yogurt parfaits she made us for breakfast. Alex loves the ones from McDonalds, and Joy's were even better. Plus, I think he enjoyed having an eating buddy (other than his mama, of course).

And a dancing buddy and a singing buddy and a goofing-off-in-general buddy.

Before we left, I got some more Sullivan pics. Can't help it. I'd like to take credit for good pictures, but he's really just a good subject.

Our last stop before we left NWA was to visit our good friends, the Reeves(es), who just had their second baby last week. Hudson (the other boy in the park pictures) is three, and he now has a beautiful baby brother named Bennett.

And while I tried to get Alex excited about seeing the baby, the only thing he cared about was Hudson's electric train set. Let's just say that trains trump just about anything else these days. Okay, maybe not ice cream...although I'm not sure about that.

We made a quick stop back at the Primms and then headed home to Dallas. It was a short, but fun-filled trip, as is evidenced by the fun-filled pictures. And if you didn't get enough fun-filled pictures above, click here or see the "Cheshier Reunion" slideshow below.