Day 6: Fort Smith, AR 5/28/09

Fort Smith has a really nice park called Creekmore Park. There are 3 playgrounds, several picnic areas, some nice open green areas for running around, a pool, a mini-golf course, and a small train that costs $.25 to go around the perimeter of the park. Today's weather was supposed to be mid-seventies and sunny. The weather changes tomorrow and gets really hot, so we decided to go to the park today. Here are some pics of the kids playing.

Samantha swingingMarc swingingMarc playing in a HUGE sandbox that is thereWe met my mother-in-law, Pearl, my niece, Kaylee, and my father-in-law Marc Sr at the park for some good play time. Marc has had a lot of fun playing with his cousin Kaylee.We took Marc on the train last time we were here and he had a blast so we thought we would take him on it again..and see how Samantha liked it. It was a hit with them both!.There were some pretty flowers and trees so we decided to try to have a photo shoot. We got some cute pictures of Marc, but Samantha was not in the mood to have her picture taken. So here are the cutest of the bunch.....

Day 5: Fort Smith, AR 5/27/09

My Mother-in-law, Pearl, wanted to take her grand kids (and their parents) to Chuck E Cheese for lunch today. Samantha loved the pizza.....and Marc had fun playing the games.....After lunch we went and showed our cute kiddos to Marc's Grandfather (Papaw) and step-Grandmother (Nannie).
The kids with Papaw.......
and with Nannie......and with Lisa (who is technically Marc's Aunt. Nannie & Papaw adopted her)......
After some time with Nannie & Papaw we went over to Marc's sister & brother-in-law's house (Melisa & Paul) for dinner and so Marc could play with some of his cousins. They live in the country so Marc had a lot of room to run and play outside. He had a lot of fun, he isn't used to the amount of space to run free.and Samantha had fun playing with their Fridge Phonics letters.

Day 4: Fort Smith, AR 5/26/09

Last night samantha was sitting on Marc's Elmo Suitcase (which is about 4-6 inches from the ground). Next thing we all knew she was face first on the floor screaming. After a few minutes she settled down, played, and went to bed for the night. This morning about 7:30 we got up and got ready to go down and gey breakfast. She was completely lathargic, her eyes were kind of glazed over, and she had a few dry heaves. We called our doctor's office back in MI and they said those were signs of a concussion and that we needed to take her to the ER or Med Center. Our hotel is right across the street from a hospital so we took her to that ER. After 1 agonzining hour of waiting, the doctor finally came in and examined her. He said she had no obvious signs of a concussion, so he suggested we take her back to the hotle and keep an eye on her. While we were waiting for the doctor, we had to fight to keep her awake. the doctor told us that she would be fine to fall asleep...so we let her. We got the discharge orders and came back to the hotel. My father-in-law was here with Marc and he wanted to cuddle Samantha. While Marc Sr hel Samantha, Marc Jr got her some milk (we did not eat before we went to the ER). As soon as she saw the cup of milk she perked up. She slept for about 10-15 mnutes between the time in thed Er and the ride home. Within 10 minutes of getting back in the hotel room she was sitting in the high chair eating fruit loops and drinking her milk, back to normal, happy as can be. She has been fine ever since. Needless to sat, we took it pretty easy and slow the rest of the day.
We think we figured out that our ER health deductible is $500 so we decided that she has a "$500 ankle bracelet".

Day 3: Fort Smith, AR 5/25/09

We left Kansas City about 11:00 this morning. We drove the final 4 1/2 hours to Fort Smith, AR and arrived around 4:30 after a few stops along the way. We told immediate family that we would be at the hotel and "accepting guests" after 5:30. We have a room full! Here are some pictures of the kids with various family members.

Samantha with BumpaSamantha with Grandma PearlSamantha with Grandma DebbieMarc with cousin ParkerSamantha with cousin ParkerSamantha with Aunt MisseyMarc with Bumpa (Grandpa)Samantha with Cousin AceleySamantha with Uncle Paul