Fall Update

We were so happy to see our friends in Northwest Arkansas a few weeks ago. We lived there between 2006-2010 and I count them as the greatest four years of my life. No wonder Rogers, Arkansas is consistently touted as one of the best places to live in the U.S. The people there are the friendly, the landscape and weather beautiful, and the amenities as family friendly as I've ever seen. Though you can never really go home again, it was great to catch up with everybody. We crammed a lot into two days.

First, we met Anna, Aura, and Lavender Thomas at AQ Chicken on our way through Fayetteville. AQ is the boy's favorite F'ville restaurant because of the chicken, mac 'n cheese, and especially because of the toy chest near the front door. Aura and Rich became good friends through various homeschool groups and eventually through speed skating together. Aura is the perfect "third man" for Rich and Brennan's comedy act - it's like watching a Looney Tunes episode when the three of them are together, and they spend more time laughing at each other than anything else.

Aura, Rich, Brennan

Anna and Lavender

Anna is a bit like my sister from another mother. She's the hippy, earth-mother pagan your parents warned you not to hang out with. Tons of fun, full of spirit, and always uplifting to everyone she's around. Aura is the same way for the boys. Little Lavender barely had any hair when we moved and now - BOOM! We ate then headed over to Wilson Park so the kids could play on the castle. Anna's husband, Eugene, actually designed some of the pieces around the castle pond.

Eugene designed this bridge that crosses the pond

Anna, Rich, Brennan

Next, we visited Rich's dentist who informed us that his braces can come out in another 6 weeks (3 weeks now!). Then on to Aly's house in Rogers.

Sasha and Brennan. Brennan got tired of
us taking pictures because the camera
wouldn't focus. 

Sasha and Brennan

Malia, Rich, Sasha, Brennan

Anna, Sasha, Brennan

Aly's a great friend who has been a huge encouragement to me in our homeschooling efforts. We met at the Treehouse co-op in Springdale during our first semester of homeschooling. Our kids hit it off immediately and so did we. Her three girls are awesome and we've spent many hours playing hookey at Chik-fil-A and Cambridge Park, but I honestly don't think I would have survived the first year of homeschooling if she hadn't kept me sane. Sasha is Brennan's first real friend that was his own age and enjoyed being around him just as much as he liked playing with her. I thought I took more pictures of Malia, Rich, and Anna but they're usually so busy running around it's hard to catch them.

The next day we headed for Siloam Springs, about 45 minutes west of Fayetteville. The last year we lived in NW Arkansas we were involved in a small co-op there called Imagination Village. It was headed up by our two favorite Treehouse teachers, Bay Greenhill and Joanna Reid. We have such great memories of just hanging out while the kids played. One of those rare situations where ALL the kids get along, and the parents enjoy hanging out too. We were able to make it to the monthly gathering for a picnic.

Aura was also in Imagination Village for awhile, so they
joined us for the picnic.

Silvie and Brennan

Brennan and Silvie. Silvie is Brennan's Village bud. They
go everywhere together, holding hands. They started out
at Treehouse when he was 4 and she was 3 and no matter
how long they are apart, they always manage to get back into their
own little world when they meet again. 

Mosely Greenhill, Brennan, Stella Greenhill, Rich in the awesome
treehouse their dad built. 

It was comforting to see the group together again and for the boys
to be able to jump right back in like no time had passed.

The last day was Saturday, so the boys went to play at Aly's while Christie and I did some work in our storage units nearby, trying to prepare them for the inevitable move to New England. It was a really fun trip all in all, and I feel so fortunate for all the families we got to know during our time in NW Arkansas. Truly good people who inspired us to be better parents, teachers, and examples to our boys. Our lives, and especially Rich and Brennan's lives, are richer for having them in it, though our time together seems so short now as we look back.

Hopefully we'll see everyone again soon, or as soon as we can. If anyone's headed up north soon, give us a call.