November 2022

 Here are a few things that happened in November.

Megan took a cookie decorating class. Here are a few of her creations.

Scarecrow and candy corn

Owl and apple

Polar bear

U, Me and Sarah went to the Anasazi gala.

Fancy salad

Very chocolatey dessert

Playing a game for Family Activity Night.

U and Sarah headed down to Georgia for Sarah to get treatment.

On the SkyTrax. This was around 4 am!

Waiting for the plane in Phoenix.

Sarah riding in the car in Georgia. Look at all that cotton!

The Lake House

We enjoyed visiting with Aunt Kathlene ("the other parent"), Grant ("the boy") and, when he got home from Scout camp, Uncle Mike ("the dad"). (Alternate names are what Megan called them.) They have a beautiful home that has a dock on a huge lake. The house even has an elevator!  They also have a dog, Jules, that the kids love as well. It was cool to hear the frogs croaking at night and the birds chirping during the day.

Riding around in the golf cart.

Sarah was excited she could drive the golf cart!

Megan loved playing with Jules. She even smelled like dog when we tucked her in for the night.

Playing games.

Aunt Kathlene had pulled out old LEGO sets for the kids to build.  Matthew was particularly excited.

Kathlene also helped assemble the Playmobil toys to play with.

With the finished plane from Indiana Jones.  Note the Pikachu hat; Matthew loved wearing it.

When Uncle Mike got home, he took us out on the lake. The kids rode on their big tube.

U also rode with the girls.

The girls loved riding the bumps.

We also swam in one of the inlets.  Megan tried to catch some ducks.

Matthew was less thrilled.

He got a little chilly.

Mike took us to a beach that is normally underwater.  The kids enjoyed exploring and seeing the shells, rocks and waves.

They even built a sand castle.

Erosion is slowly pulling the islands down into the lake.

Mike was kind enough to give the younger kids driving lessons in the boat.

Megan loved this hammock back at the dock.

 

"Mom, can I take you for a drive?"

 

After the lake, what could be more refreshing than a dip in the pool?

Matthew was excited to play video games with Grant.

All the excitement wore Matthew out.

We left a lot of art on Kathlene's blackboard to remind them of us.

Jules was getting a lot of love before we left.

We had a great time with the Holmans!

Don't forget Jules!

Sick Kid, Crater of Diamonds, more travel

Monday morning, Matthew again had a fever and he'd been coughing all night so after breakfast, we took him to urgent care. The diagnosis? Pneumonia. Poor kid! They put him on an antibiotic and a cough/decongestant medicine. He has been doing much better since (acting normal with no fever, just some coughing).

Playing with toys in his room.

Getting xrays. The gown was a bit large!

We then headed out of Texarkana to Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas. U has wanted to go to the park ever since he read about it as a kid. The roads we traveled were narrow, back roads with occasional small towns (population 68 in one of them). We enjoyed digging through the dirt. No diamonds were found, although we did find some cool rocks.

Drive into the park.

Lots of time in the car.

Looking and digging.

Megan searching for treasures. We got a shovel for each of the kids to use. Megan lost hers. Twice. The second time was permanent.

Sarah sifting the dirt. She'd really been looking forward to visiting the park and thought she'd make her fortune. She discovered it was hard work and not so easy to find diamonds. She still enjoyed looking.

Matthew, Me and Megan.

Sarah and Megan doing some wet sifting.

Matthew was feeling a bit tired (remember he has pneumonia) so he and I watched for a bit. We decided to head for the car when we were caught in a torrential downpour. Everyone got soaked and muddy!

Megan, Matthew and U as we were leaving.

Matthew, Megan and Me.

Sarah.

We have discovered why it is so green out east: It rains. A lot. It rained the entire drive from Crater of Diamonds to Memphis and most of the way from Memphis to Atlanta. Thankfully, none was as hard as the rain Saturday evening or Sunday afternoon.

Crossing into Tennessee.

Heading into Mississippi. We were on surface streets, so this is the only sign.

"Sweet Home Alabama."

Georgia.

The Olympic torch in Atlanta.

Greenville, we will see you soon!

We went to the monthly Lego build where the kids built dragonflies.

Some were more thrilled with the activity than others....

We then went to U's Aunt Kathlene and Uncle Mike's home in Buford, Georgia. They have a beautiful home on a lake and everyone was looking forward to spending a bit of time out of the car.