Christmas Time Hornucopia - Part 2

The next phase began with the arrival of the Penna Clan. The first order of business was Mexican food.

John likes tacos.

Christopher likes tacos and beans.

Next morning, we had a leaf gathering activity.

Sometimes, it is hard to get the wagon up the hill.

Leaf pile!!!

Buried in leaves.

Pa brings more leaves!

Nothing visible but feet!

Uncle Mark is really good at dog impersonations.

Ada's Christmas Eve present - some assembly required.

John.

Christopher.

Uncle Mark and Ada went out for a walk.

Christmas Time Hornucopia - Part 1

It all began with the arrival of the England Family, one of whom was very tired from entertaining a Boeing 767 full of new acquaintances for 10 hours - nonstop.

Later, though, she perked up enough to have a famous "Mimi's Sink Bath" before bedtime.

Next day, some of us walked to a nearby park for some outdoorsiness. The rest of us went shopping. A lot.

Next, we journeyed over to have lunch with Great Grandad Martin. The Fun Factor grew as Jenny, Naomi and Danielle joined us.

Smiles for Mimi.

Danielle really enjoyed getting to be with Baby Ada, at last.

Danielle decided to wash Mimi and Pa's dirty minivan. She is very methodical and thorough. She is the best 3 year-old car washer in the World!

A lot of time was spent eating, and watching videos.

Three Girl Cousins.

There is more to come.

Our Tree Is Decorated

Our friends Mike and Sandra and their son Aaron came over today, so Aaron could help decorate our tree since they will be travelling and decided not to put up their own.
They did a nice job!

Easiest tree we've ever done...

Three Girls A-Skyping

Danielle and Naomi came over for a visit. Since we were all up pretty early in the morning (so it wasn't too late in England), we had a Skype session with Ada and Aunt Jessica.

 Danielle really likes 'baby Ada'.

Birthday Visit

We had a nice visit from Danielle and Jenny today. Danielle picked some Nandina berries.

She got a nice collection.

Four-Wheelie Mimi

Mimi spent the weekend with her friends Candice and Terri. Terri has a pair of ATV's. Mimi drove one.

Go, Mimi!

Foundation Fix

Our foundation needed some help in the form of leveling and stabilizing. So some guys came out and dug some big holes.

A bunch of big holes.

Then they put some concrete piling pieces under the foundation wall...

...and smooshed them down into the ground as far as they would go, using a hydraulic jack.

Then they used a bunch of hydraulic jacks to raise the foundation up, and propped it on some blocks and more piling pieces.

Here's the back door - before. The top corner was dragging on the frame.

Here is is after - hard to see, but it was almost perfectly aligned. No more dragging.

Remember - keep the soil next to your foundation moist (we didn't enough!)

Grandcamp Treasure Hunt

As usual, this Grandcamp started off with a "Mimi's Treasure Hunt" - always challenging and exciting.

Some of the hiding places have been used before...

... so they are pretty familiar...

...and pretty easy to find.

Later, we had 'dancing to the video tape'. This involves some falling down and crashing, of course.

Then, to wrap off the evening, there was a little exercise trampoline bouncing...

...and hanging.

As usual, we all had a great time!

Boys and Swings

After trying to crash into each other for a while, they came up with this.

Fun In Clemson

Mimi flew over first. Jenny met us on her way to work and drove Mimi to the airport.

A few days later, Pa rode over. Food stop.

There is a lovely Arkansas Visitor Center at Lake Village. It sits on the edge of the largest oxbow lake in the US.

Christopher tries out the newly arrived play house handed down from Miss Kerri.

John and Christopher rediscovered their swings which hang from the edge of the deck. They had the most fun crashing into each other.

A lot of time is spent practicing martial arts moves. What appears to be a broom is actually a sword, or some other kind of sharp weapon.

All ages participate!