Mark Family Cousins invade Hot Springs!

We love the Yates family lake house located in Hot Springs, Arkansas on Lake Hamilton. It means so much to Marshall and I as a couple (we got engaged there) and love that our children get to make the same summer time memories as Marshall and his brothers made growing up. We decided to head out there a few weeks ago and on a whim invited my brother, sister in law, and nephew who are currently in DC but about to move overseas for 2 years. We didn't expect then to be able to make it but they were! We were so excited to spend uninterrupted time with our baby nephew since we rarely get to see them.


They were supposed to arrive on Thursday but due to the dangers of flying Delta their morning flight was not only cancelled but their re booked evening flight made them spend the night in Memphis. (Super fun with a five month old) They finally arrived Friday afternoon and we wasted no time floating, taking boat rides, eating, and relaxing. Mallory loved trying to get at at her baby cousin, John David- and he seemed to think Peyton was just hysterical.



John David (and his hand) wasn't as big of a fan as Mallory and her teething habits, as evidenced in this picture:


All of the babies did incredibly well on the boat. They slept most of the time and when she wasn't sleeping Mallory was happy to float in her Straight jacket, ie: infant life vest, or crawl around the boat playing with water bottles.

Peyton was in his element at the lake. He loves the boat, the water, and "The Fish"- the huge swordfish that sprays water onto upcoming boats, it is a statue at one of the lake residences.
John David thinking-"Who in the World are these people and why do they keep putting me on this contraption!"


Mallory saying- "There, There John David. It will be okay. I've put up with them about 4 months longer and I'm doing okay."


Mallory- "Might as well use this opportunity to eat a life jacket"


We ate at our favorite restaurant and solved our usual problem of a stressful meal of worrying about Peyton falling in the lake while dining on the patio (He likes to feed the huge catfish, ducks, and turtles that hang around the restaurant.) we just made him wear his Spiderman life vest during the entire dinner- we got some looks while we walked through the restaurant with it but he was adorable and we felt much safer.



Thank you to Bebe and Papa for opening their home to my family. We had such a great time just being with each other and letting the cousins spend time together. Here are some more pictures from our long weekend!

Peyton doesn't have a black eye in this picture. He was playing with the charcoal on the deck :)




Mom This Picture is for you. We might as well just label it "David and Meredith". This is what it would have been like if we had been born twins.


Thank you Mark family for traveling to spend time with us! We love you!