~~ The Halsted Herald~~: Gobble Gobble, Giggle Giggle

While Dan was “deployed” for a month, I decided to pack up the kids and head to Little Rock for a few weeks. Having Dan gone in the desert was horrible, but being with my parents was just the medicine the kids and I needed. I’m so lucky and blessed to have such a wonderful support system!

For the big drive I channeled Martha Stewart, or maybe someone more like the founder of Craft World, because I spent a few days making custom trays, little race car/train track/dinosaur jungle scenes and magnetizing all sorts of awesome things (that stuck to the tray) to keep Grayson and Delaney occupied. Everything turned out spectacular and the 13 hour drive ended up being really fun! The kids were nothing short of completely fantastic! We did start the day off with a full belly of yummy Cracker Barrel pancakes though, so that might have set the precedence.

Our visit to Little Rock was extra special because not only did we spend Thanksgiving as a full family but Great Grandpa celebrated his 90^th birthday too! That’s right, 90^th. Woo hoo! I only hope I’m doing as well as he is at 90.

We really packed the trip with so much fun; lots of park time, jogging outings, a trip to the kids’ discovery museum (which we will DEFINITELY go back to explore further!), yummy Thanksgiving dinner at the country club, 90^th bday festivities, daily visits to check on GG and Grandpa’s new house progress, a couple movies on Grandpa’s 3-D tv (uh, this thing is incredible! The kids LOVED it!) and once Daddy flew into town we made sure to get our serving(s) of BBQ and even a visit to the Herky.

Awe, the Herky. I sure miss all the noise, commotion, and let’s face it, the sheer magnificence. It’s so cool to see it in “student training” action. They even let us walk out close to the flight line after Dan asked special permission. I’m convinced he showed them some special handshake or something. ;0)

I honestly didn’t think we could get that close as simple spectators, but it was really neat to see not only Daddy watch in merriment, but also the kids. Such good times.

We hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving as much as we did!!

Loads of pictures are below, the rest are HERE. Enjoy!

1 small area of traffic (there was an accident) so Momma texts Aunt Karley a pic of how the kids are doing...only the traffic started moving before I could capture Laneybug!