WOW! I am amazed at how much activity we can pack in 9 days. We have eaten a giant square out of the middle of the United States over the last nine days. The boys and I flew into Dallas last Saturday to find an eager Meme and Pops at the airport to pick us up. We were hurried to the Great Wolf Lodge in Grapevine, Texas just minutes from the airport for a night of wild, waterpark activities. The lodge was great for kids with at least 10 really wet waterslides, a wave pool and lazy river. Two of the slides were family attractions that the kids told me I must try. I have to admit they were a blast but the Howling Tornado reminded me of my age almost immediately. I was scared out of my mind and screamed like I was being dangled from a rooftop by my legs. Well, that is not far from what was actually happening. After I recovered from my near death experience and the blood flow returned to all of my extremities we headed off to the video game parlor, and air brush tatoo station. Jaxon has a harley davidson etched on his back even today. I hope they were telling the truth when they said "temporary" tatoo. The boys also activated a $20 magic wand for a MagiQuest adventure through the hotel which was a mystical scavenger hunt that took them roaming all over the hotel. This is every kids dream. A real excuse to roam the halls. Once leaving the Dallas area we headed off to T-town for three nights at Meme and Pops house. Mom made a great Thanksgiving feast pretty much all by herself. All I did was spread pimento on celery. I did help clean up which is more than I can say for my sister. That is OK though she had her hands full with my precious nephew Luke. We were so glad to love him up for a few days. I love that he calls me Mamy. It does my heart good to hear that. My mom, sister and I were able to squeeze in a little Christmas shopping and a quick visit with Mike Huckabee as he stopped at the Books A Million for his book tour promoting Do The Right Thing. There were so many people there that we almost didnt stay but we ran into so many of our old friends that we were able to get a quick hug and visit with Mike. I am so amazed that after all of these years Mike identified the Ingram girls without hesitation as if no time had passed at all. He is amazing and I am still convinced he is our man in 2012!! But that is another blog entirely at another time. Our time in T-town ended quickly as our travels took us to visit Brians family at Peppers Lake. This is the lake their family converges upon during the hunting and holiday season every year. They have cabins for every family located on a lake and lots of acerage near Stuttgart, Arkansas. The kids love it there to visit all of their cousins and enjoy nature in true male fashion for a few days. This experience would not be complete without wearing the same clothes for several days in a row and refraining from teeth brushing for as long as possible. They hunt, roast marshmallows around the campfire, build forts in the woods, and bring skulls of dead animals back from adventures through the wilderness. It is definitely a time for boys to be boys probably as God intended. The day after Thanksgiving all of the girls load up and head back to Little Rock for Black Friday. We get to the first store by 4 am. We have a seek and destroy system now that has proven to be a bountiful hunt of the female kind. We must have had at least 50 bags in the back of the expedition. Far more birds than I ever saw those men bring home. Friday night exhaustion set in so we hit the sack early to prepare for our 17 hour drive back to Rapid City on Saturday. We made it to Council Bluffs, Iowa that night and stayed there for a good nights rest before completing the trip today, Sunday. We traveled through wind, sleet, snow, rain and finally sunshine before reaching Home Sweet Home! We had a wonderful trip and are ever mindful of all we have to give Thanks for on this season of Thanksgiving. We are so blessed!
