Seven states and 2,040 miles was our trip to Arkansas. The van was set up with a queen sized platform so they could travel comfortably. We drove the first day about 11 hours and stopped for the night in Alabama. Before we tucked in for the night, we took the dogs for a walk at some Indian mounds that were close to the hotel. They traveled so well!
Friday

Saturday we got up and out early to start our 5.5 hr drive to our destination. We arrived before check in time, but they already had our room ready and some of our family was already there. We unpacked and headed to the pool/pavilion to hang out and catch up with everyone. Slowly but surely everyone else started arriving. It was very exciting to see everyone. There were a total of 43 of us! Our largest crowd yet. Some people hadn’t met Moose and Anna so that was fun and there were two new family members that I had not met yet. It didn’t take long for the kids to hit the pool. It was kind of a drizzly afternoon so we huddled in the pavilion. We ordered Popeyes chicken and sides for dinner and then the games began. We started with Left, Right, Center which we ended up playing almost every night.

Sunday I got up and made my morning rounds to see who was up and what the plans for the day might be. This morning, we started it out with a pack walk with Henry before the day got too hot. The walk was immediately followed by hanging by the pool. We had all but 2 cabins in the resort so it was basically our compound for the week. We swam, ate, drank, played, and laughed the entire day! On this evening, one of my favorite Arkansas traditions returned. The men cooking the dinners! With so many people, getting us all on the same page can be a little challenging, so another Arkansas tradition is you snooze you lose. Meaning, you better be close by when the meals are done because the food goes quick. Today also happened to be my birthday and I can’t imagine a better way to spend it than hanging out with this crowd! Our evening continued with more games, drinks, food, and laughter.

Monday was our first boat day! This is one of the best ways to spend the days on Lake Norfork. We barge up and anchor our pontoons together and just float our cares away. The kids enjoy jumping from the top platform on one of the boats. This year we made this trip a little earlier in the summer than normal, and you could definitely tell the difference by the water temperature. I think this was the first year that anyone described the water as cold! We drank, ate, and floated until a storm was rolling in and me made our way back to the resort. Once we got back, it was clear the storm was going to miss us so I loaded up the pups and took them to the lake to swim. They loved it! After this it was back to the pool / pavilion where we would finish out the night with, you guessed it, food, drinks, games, and laughter. This evening we also broke out the karaoke machine which was a big hit!

Tuesday morning started with biscuits and gravy for breakfast which is a crowd favorite. Afterwards, it was time to get ready for another boat day! Today we went to the big cliffs to anchor. I made the climb to the top and was able to jump again this year. It’s gets a little harder the older I get. The little kids were able to jump off of smaller ones and of course they had the boats to jump off of. We were treated to some flyovers while we were out there. They seemed sooo close to us. For dinner tonight, the guys cooked steaks, tenderloins, and ribs. Then the evening went the same as all the others.

Wednesday was another boat and float day! This time we anchored at a different spot than we had before. Mikey and Matt took our anchors to the shore because we were having a hard time getting them grab the bottom. While they were anchoring us, we noticed a bird flapping upside down from a tree appearing to be caught in a line of some sort. We couldn’t enjoy our floating while watching this bird suffer, so Mikey and Matt went on a bird rescue. Matt was able to grab the bird in a towel and hold him while Mikey untangled him from a hook and line. Once free the bird went to the water and then back onto a tree stump to rest/recover. After the bird rescue, we were able to return to floating our cares away. Eventually, it was time to head back so the guys could prepare dinner. Tonight’s dinner was a much anticipated shrimp boil! It was delicious! After dinner, we did our traditional Blackburns family photo. It’s always a chore to get everyone gathered for this and they give you about 2 minutes to do it before people start threatening to be done. It is a treasured necessity. The rest of this evening went a lot like the others until… During some late night/early morning shenanigans Julia got one of her teeth broken off.

Thursday morning as I was making my rounds, I heard the tales of the previous night’s shenanigans and learned of Julia’s tooth. As I was visiting Connie’s cabin, Neil came over with his morning find….it was Julia’s tooth! She was able to get into a dentist this morning and they were able to fix it! Hillary and Andrew took off this morning after breakfast because they had to attend a wedding this weekend. A smaller group of us took a couple of boats to the cove for some float therapy for a while. When we got back, it was time for dinner. Tonight’s dinner was another highly anticipated meal. For the first time in a lot of years, the resort did a fish fry! This used to be a tradition that we always looked forward to. After several requests from us this time, they decided to oblige. They supply the fish and fry it and we provide the sides! It was so good! After dinner, it was time for pack walk, drinks, pool, games, and karaoke.

Friday…Last day. Started out pretty normal. Only after breakfast I had to take Scott to urgent care because he has some crazy infection in both of his eyes. After we returned and got his meds, I packed up and went out for the last day of boating and floating. A couple of people went in together to rent a nicer faster boat so the kids could go tubing. That boat also had a slide which the kids thoroughly enjoyed. All was going great until Aiden dropped his phone over the side of the boat and watched it sink to the bottom. We got a magnet to see if we could find it. I dove as deep as I could but could not see it. A tough lesson for him to learn on the last day. We stayed out as late as we could until we had to return all the boats. We even called to see if we could extend the time because we didn’t want it to end. Something must have been in the air because as we were docking the boat for the last time, I heard Mikey exclaim “are you serious?”. Turns out Talon’s phone slid off the seat of the boat and into the lake. The only difference for him was that because we knew exactly where it fell, the owners were able to scuba dive for it and found it very quickly. He lucked up. For tonight’s dinner, it was Must Go. Meaning, everything must go. We brought out any and all leftovers, cooked up remaining meats and sides, mixed up last of fruits and alcohol. It was quite the smorgasbord. After dinner, everyone kind of separated for a while to pack and tidy up before morning departures. After getting most things squared away, some of us gathered for a final hang out!

Saturday we got up and out by 630 am. I was going to drive the entire way due to Scott’s conjunctivitis. It was so very sad to drive away from everyone. We are already planning our next return trip in 2029. We were going to stop and visit Scott’s parents on our trip back, but Scott got sick and so instead we decided to drive straight through. He was able to drive for a little bit so I could rest. We made it home by 1145pm.

I’m so glad this trip happened this year! I’ve always worried that when my Nana passed, we wouldn’t get together as much. This week proved that all the work that goes into organizing and coordinating such a large group of people is 100% worth it! I love my family. It’s weird to think that some of my earliest memories of Arkansas, my parents were the age I am now. It also makes my heart happy to see the younger group of kiddos forming bonds and making memories that will hopefully last a really long time.