Tom on a tractor

Today we headed out to my dad and Sharon's second property out in the unincorporated town of Acorn.  Acorn is about six miles north of Mena and it was very beautiful there.  The property is very large, but doesn't have anything on it right now except an old tractor (approximately 40 years old).  The tractor needs to be driven regularly to keep it in working order, so we headed out there to fire up the tractor.  

Leo was worried about the noise from the tractor so he borrowed some ear muffs from my dad.  

 Tom gave the tractor a squirt of starter fluid while Sharon flipped the switch.

 After a brief tutorial over the loud tractor noise, Tom took it out for a spin.

Here's a video.

 My dad and Max watched.  It was a pretty big deal that Ito came along.

 The rest of us walked down to see the creek.

 Once the tractor was off and quiet, Leo was willing to get on for a picture.

Here's a bonus picture of Ito in a turkey hat.

Happy Thanksgiving from hillbilly paradise

What could be better than an Arkansas Thanksgiving?  Exactly...nothing.  So we made our way to the Natural State on Tuesday.  Tom had already spent a few days in Oklahoma with his family but our travel overlapped in Dallas and we were booked on the same flight from Dallas to Little Rock.  I was stressed out about the holiday travel and the tight connection we had, but the kids were well behaved and everything worked out fine.  That is, until we got on the road for the drive to my dad's house.  A trip that should have taken no more than three hours took over five.  We got stuck in a dead stop on a two-lane highway in the middle of nowhere because of a big wreck that took a long time to clear.  We sat almost motionless for over an hour and a half.  It wasn't easy.  When we finally got moving, poor Leo got carsick and threw up all over himself.  He was so upset, but Tom and I leap into action and we got everything dealt with as quickly as possible.  Also not an easy task on the side of a dark, rural highway.  Leo was embarrassed about what happened and didn't want me to tell his Grandma Sharon what happened.  

Yesterday we all woke up refreshed and feeling glad to be in Arkansas.  I got to take a trip to Walmart and the kids were reunited with their favorite dogs. 

 

Tom received a little golf instruction from my dad and went out to swing the club.  

 This is how my dad dresses to go outside.  He calls it his "hillbilly uniform".

 We also did some prep work for the big meal.  Sharon made a lovely apple pie.

 Today the kids headed out to the creek to collect Ito's golf balls.

 On the hunt with Grandma Sharon.

 Pretty creek on my dad's property.

 Serafina and Sharon check on the bird.

 Leo checks out the sweet potatoes.  Part of it had nuts for the grown-ups and the rest had marshmallows for the kids.

 Tom picked out a nice Chainti at a sketchy liquor store in Little Rock.

 No one told Ito that he is supposed to nap after the meal, not before.

 The spread

 Ready to dig in.

 Serafina likes the leg.

 Turkey hats from Nana.

To try to prevent a post-food coma, we went on a walk down to the park.

On the way, we found a neighborhood chicken that had gotten loose and we talked Tom into trying to catch it.

 The walk got us ready for dessert.

 Here's what I made.  It's a pumpkin cake with a cream cheese filling and a chocolate ganache on top.

 Ending the day with some cuddling on the couch.

Preparing for Turkey Day

We are headed out tomorrow morning for an Arkansas Thanksgiving.  Serafina will be missing the "friendship feast" at school so her teacher let her bring her turkey hat home today.