Arkalalah!!!

WHAT A MAGNIFICENT WEEKEND!!! I have so much I could report on, so I'll try not to get too long winded here. We had a long, extended weekend in my hometown of Arkansas City, Kansas.

It started off great because we were planning on going to AC on Thursday night after Trey got home from work. He called on Wednesday and said his big Thurs. meeting got moved, so we took off with the girls a day early. YEA! I was really ready for a break from the apartment and all the building-a-house stuff we've been dealing with over the past few weeks. The first wonderful surprise when we got home was that my parent's latest remodel project is completed on the inside and will be finished off with landscaping on the outside real soon. It looks marvellous. They now have a master bedroom downstairs with a great big new bathroom and walk-in closets, plus there's a new half bath, exercise/safe room, and a roomy garage. This addition is so nice for them because they don't have to use stairs anymore and it's also nice for the kids and grandkids because we now have an extra bedroom and bathroom upstairs! Here's a pic of the outside of the house.

Now, onto the reason we went home. In my hometown, the last full weekend of October is called Arkalalah. I believe if you look it up in a dictionary, Arkalalah is defined as "the most fun weekend one can have in a small town." It's the annual fall festival and it's filled with events (including the crowning of Queen Alalah), competitions, games, a carnival, parades and a multitude of food booths....I believe the Arkalalah food officially kicks off the start of the holiday eating season.....aka get ready to gain weight season. Plus, we got to hang out with oodles of family which is always great since my brothers and I not only grew up with our parents, but with grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins.

On Friday, the grandkids got dressed up in their Halloween costumes for the Kiddie Parade. Here they are pre-parade and during. Introducing Cinderella, her pumpkin, a witch, Sharpay (from High School Musical), and a skeleton....well, a cute little boy who will be a skeleton on Halloween.

By the way, the big green gloves on Reese were an impulse buy made by PaPa (my dad). The kids (and let's not lie...my dad) took turns chasing each other around the house with talking, Incredible Hulk gloves. It is official....my dad will never grow up. He knows toys, even at 61.

On Saturday, we ate lots of food. Reese had her first porkburger and you can see Connor, Abby and Keely splitting homemade chicken and noodles and a funnel cake. What you can't see is the consumed jeffy pups, pretzels, cinnamon rolls, sausages on a stick, indian tacos, GrinderMan sandwiches and cookies and hot chocolate.

There are also Street Games on Saturday morning. One of the games is the Egg Toss. Check out how many people participate in it. I think that the line of participants stretches almost one city block. Trey took a pic right before our first toss.

And I don't want to brag or anything, BUT, Trey and I MAY have just picked up our THIRD egg toss title in THREE years. Apparently, we have mastered having girls and being able to catch unhatched poultry. Our reward....free carnival tickets! Let me also say, that my Uncle David is one of the MC's of the street games. So, during the competition, not only were we trying to out toss all of the other competitors, but we had to listen to comments over a loud microphone like, "I don't know that Katie is actually pregnant....I think she's just put on a lot of weight this year." Thanks, appreciate that :).

The kids favorite part....the carnival! Hailey and Connor got up the courage to ride their first roller coaster together this year. I think it was called "Go Gator." Look at them smiling before they left and then just holding on once they realized that Mr. Gator went forwards and backwards.

And finally, it was so nice to have some good ole' family time. My cousin Allie helped chase our kids around, PaPa watched Sleeping Beauty and Hannah Montana (in 3D) with the grandkids, Reese loved climbing up on my mom's lap to see her Grandma and we all enjoyed each other's company. God bless family and God bless ARKALALAH!