Our visit to Little Rock!

We had a great weekend trip to Little Rock in mid-June. It was so great to be able to see my Grandma again and have her see the kids. We stopped at Grandma's place on our way into town on Friday afternoon for a short visit before heading to my Aunt Brenda's house. Nolan was a bit shy at first, but not Maya! She was excited to see her Grandma-Great and ran up to her immediately!

Brenda was so kind to let us stay at her house during our visit. That allowed us to have more family time while the kids slept. Here is our family picture of the 4 of us with Grandma-Great!

At Aunt Brenda's house, Nolan loved playing Peek-a-boo with Grandma-Great! He would say, "Peek-a-boo, I see you!" over and over!

Here Maya and Nolan are showing Grandma-Great some new toys.

Later that afternoon, my cousin Erin came over with her husband Corey and their daughter Genevieve! Genevieve has to be the happiest baby I have ever seen! She rarely cried and instead laughed and smiled at EVERYTHING! What a sweetie she is.

Maya was SO EXCITED to meet baby Genevieve! They just giggled over and over at each other!

Here is Grandma-Great holding her 5th great-grandchild.

Grandma-Great got some books for Maya and Nolan and Aunt Brenda bought some bubbles! It was fun to be outside playing with the bubbles (Nolan especially loved them!) on Saturday morning. Here Maya and Nolan are chasing them down!

Bubbles!!

We all then went as a group to the Nature Center and Farmers Market in Little Rock. There was this huge rabbit statue that the kids sat on and took turns "riding" on.

The Schmankes!

Here is Brenda, Corey, and Erin holding giddy Genevieve!

The nature center was pretty fun...lots of animals and nature at eye level for the kids. This fish tank was especially interesting for everyone. Very tempting to stick little hands in the water though!

After the nature center, we had some lunch and then we all had a rest time. That evening, Grandma, Erin, Corey and Genevieve came over again and we had a wonderful family evening. My uncle Michael, who passed away this past February, made the best hamburgers in the world. Better than any restaurant, better than any other homemade burger. So Brenda and the gang decided to make "Michael's burgers" for dinner that night. They were really fabulous...a very special way for Michael to be with us during our visit.

Later that evening we all sat down for a fun game of Scattergories. I just love to hang out with my family!

The next morning it was time for us to say goodbye. We stopped by Grandma-Great's place 1 more time before leaving town.

Grandma-Great has a little panda bear that the kids loved. They were shy with Grandma-Great, but were willing to give her panda a hug goodbye.

And the kids enjoyed riding on Grandma's special chairs. :)

Looking forward to our next visit Brenda, Erin, Corey, Genevieve and Grandma-Great! See you all next year!!