Original Pancake House

Best pancakes in town, maybe anywhere. Prepare to wait. It's worth it.

 

Lagniappe

And one more shot from Arkansas. You know what was missing from the photos I took? Pics of baby Vaughn! We called him and his cousin "Vaughneke."

She loved this car until 20 seconds later when she slipped out of the seat and onto the driveway. :(

High School Library

Now that mom has moved from the Intermediate to the High School library she means business. And she reads "Twilight."

Aunts, uncles, and cousins

Maybe the one downside of the trip was the brevity of visits with our aunts, uncles, and cousins from Texas and Louisiana. But they were still good visits. We celebrated my cousin's birthday at a Mexican restaurant in Hope, Arkansas.

Red velvet cake!

Mom's side of the family

Daddy's side of the family

I didn't get a photo of my two cousins, Lori and Lisa, but I might as well have since their daughters look exactly like them. These are some of the nicest kids I think I have ever met.

Darlin' and Granddaddy

Despite Anneke's double ear infection and both grandparents coming down with the stomach bug that apparently swept the nation, everyone was able to get in some quality time.

The big, wonderful back yard

Anneke loved naptime with Darlin'...

...and apparently has decided Granddaddy's not so bad, after all.

No matter how much her ears hurt Anneke was always up for a wagon ride.

Mamo

I'll have to do a few posts about our trip to Arkansas. I found a cheap fare and decided two weeks ahead to come down for my mom's spring break. I didn't make it to LR to see any of my friends, but saw a lot of family.

Here's Juju getting her hair did, supervised by Mamo. Mamo has had her own beauty shop for...well, only her hairdresser knows for sure. She cut Dave's hair over Christmas, and I was very impressed with how it turned out. My dad said she has cut the hair of most of the ministers at First Presbyterian.

Here we are having lunch at Mamo's. She cooked two meals for us while we were there. Nothing fancy. You know, just pot roast, corn bread, purple-hull peas, iced tea, probably a whole bunch of other stuff. With a broken wrist. So essentially with one hand tied behind her back. The above tableau is as familiar to me as anything can be. There are countless snapshots like this in our albums--same photo, different generation.

Mamo and I went for a walk my last day in Camden, and I had to work to keep up with her. Granted, I had the stroller, but she has a few more years on me. I guess that's what happens when you work on your feet your whole life.

Mamo wrote an essay about her childhood in Jacinto, Arkansas. She wrote about growing up in the Depression, and said that this was a time when "we all learned to share." I think about that every day during these hard times. I'm so glad Anneke has her in her life.

Cousin

This is Anneke's cousin, Miss S. I promised I would blog about her. Isn't she a cutie? She's also a sweetie, and such a fun cousin to have.