FALL BREAK IN THE OZARKS

We decided to head west for fall break....well 3 hours west. I was looking online and realized we had a timeshare in northern Arkansas, up in the Ozark mountains, so we decided to give it a try. It was beautiful but very, very remote....almost creepy remote!!! After a few days of not really seeing anybody we started wondering if we were part of some horror movie. We realized we were in a golfing retirement community where the average age was 80 and with the weather being too cold to golf ---I guess they were all hiding. The highlight of the trip was Sugarloaf Mtn. Dave was so kind to take the kids hiking and let me stay home and just veg for hours. It was a great deal for all. The scenery was beautiful and the kids loved it!!!

With it being so secluded (not even any WI-FI) we learned that we had to make do with what we had. The kids watched lots of movies, played board games, went swimming & ate lots of crap~what more could you want for fall break. Needless to say we had a good time. Carson brought his friend Jarret and we just hope he didn't go home telling his family we're all completely nuts!!!

RED

As most of you already know---I decided I wanted a change so I went BIG!!!! I have NEVER put any color in my hair and one day I decided just to go for it. My friend Amy did it for me for a whopping $12.99 (Loreal from Target). I love it!!!! She did a great job and I really like the color. Thanks Natalie for helping us out on that haha :) I'm not sure how long I'll keep it, but I thought it would be good for the fall and why not??? It's just hair-and it can be changed back plus Dave loves it!!! So for now-I'm a REDHEAD~

Cara's field trip to the Memphis Lichterman Center

This year Cara's class visited the Lichterman Center for their field trip. The field trip was based on animals and the habitats that they live in. Like her mother, Cara was over it after about 20 minutes....until they brought the snake out. Most kids opted out of the snake petting but she hopped right up and was as brave as could be. Cara has a great teacher and a great group of kids in her class-making it a very fun day for her.

TARA OAKS TIGER WALK

Cara and Ryleigh did great at their school fundraiser. The girls both ran for 20 minutes straight. I was shocked at how competitive Ryleigh was. Cara of course was more worried about the social aspect but little Ryleigh ran and ran hard. I was very impressed!!!

OLE MISS VS. BYU

Most of you know we're not big BYU fans around here, but we couldn't pass up the opportunity of watching a UTAH school play in the South against an SEC team. I'm so glad we went. I fell in love with the town of Oxford and was so impressed with the Ole Miss campus.

The kids had a great time. They got to experience "The Grove" which is really just a big drunken party but they didn't know...to them it was just a lot (and I mean a lot) of people eating and having fun. The size of the stadium was just massive too. Carson was in football heaven. My favorite part was seeing all of the Ole Miss girls in their dresses and Greek Row. The homes were big and beautiful-very southern. In the end it was nice to see BYU win and I'll definitely be back to Oxford for a little shopping and dining--my new favorite place!!!

NEW YORK CITY SEPTEMBER 2011

My cousin Kelsey and I were talking last spring and decided it would be so much fun to start a cousins trip tradition--we got the word out, started planning not knowing how many would be able to come, and decided if this first one went well it would be an ongoing thing every couple of years. Almost all of my girl Peck cousins were able to join us. We missed those who weren't able and can't wait until they get to join us next time. As Kelsey and I kept talking we thought it would be so much fun for my PAPA if we invited him too. We extended the offer and he was in!!! We had such a blast with him and I loved getting to share the week with my cousins and getting to know them even better. I had a blast and I was definitely homesick for all of them when I got home. This is another LOOOOONG post but I just had to share all of our fun pictures and memories. The picture above is the whole crew in front of the Broadway theatre playing "Anything Goes". It's a great show~I would recommend it to anyone.

My Mom bought my sisters and me scarves in Alaska and asked that we take a picture with them on. It's so funny how matchy matchy we all turned out to be....missing Angela though...she's somewhere in the city haha :)

TIMES SQUARE-WE STAYED RIGHT IN THE ACTION OF IT ALL. WORTH EVERY PENNY!!

"30 ROCK"

We decided to take a bike tour of Central Park. It was something I had never done and it was well worth the time and money. It was actually one of my favorite memories of the trip. We had two great tour guides, beautiful weather, and learned lots about the park.

Above right is the finish line to the NYC marathon which I thought was pretty cool trivia and of course below we had to reenact a little "FRIENDS" drama. I obviously am the tallest by far because my feet came down first haha!!

Of course you can't visit the city without visiting "Serendipity's" and trying their frozen hot chocolate-delish!!!

TOURIST ATTRACTIONS ABOVE: 1. Juicy 2. Jackie O's home 3. Parsons School of Design 4. Wall Street 5. American Girl Store 6. Late Show studios 7. Radio City Music Hall 8. NBC studios 9. Columbia University

ME AND MY SISTERS--LOVE THEM!!!

"EMPIRE STATE OF MIND"

DOUBLE DECKER BUS TOUR--TOTALLY RECOMMEND. WE LOVED IT!!

TOURIST SITES BELOW:

1.Trump Towers 2. Grant's burial site 3. Cpt. Sully's landing on the Hudson 4. American History Museum 5. Lennon's burial site 6. The Guggenheim 7. The Apollo in South Harlem 8. The MET 9. Madison Square Garden

JUILLIARD & THE LDS TEMPLE

CHINA TOWN AND LITTLE ITALY

WALL STREET-has definitely become one of my most favorite sites to see in NY--You just can't explain unless you've been there. I love the streets, the action, and of course all of the men in suits walking around haha!!

These pictures of Natalie kind of make me feel bad....I didn't realize until I saw these off of my camera how worn out the poor prego thing was. So sad :(

Whoever says they're not "star struck" is totally lying!!! Those of you who know me know I'm a little beyond though. Here's just a few of those moments..

Any Project Runway fans??? Look familiar???

The Seinfeld Restaurant & NY Ink on TLC

1.The restaurant with the red awning is where Barbara Streisand got her start.

2. We happened to walk right into the filming of "EXTRA". A few of us actually appeared on the segment that night-commenting on Ashton Kutcher nude---hmmmm...no comment :)

3. Angela and I at "Rice to Riches" the rice pudding restaurant in "Hitch". So good!!

4. Just happened to get stuck in the elevator with the drummer of the band ROOTS

NEW YORK Part 1

We had the opportunity of spending September 11th in New York. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little nervous at first but then Dave told me "If you don't go out of fear, then you have let the terrorist win"! So I pushed "BUY" on my plane ticket and never looked back. I'm so grateful for the experience we had-a feeling and emotion I'll never forget. Above are tiles that were created by local elementary school kids, made for each one of the victims they had lost in 9/11.

My sister and Natalie and I were out shopping, we heard singing coming out of a cathedral close by and decided to walk in--little did we know, we had walked into a catholic mass celebrating the life of those firemen lost on 9/11. The spirit was so strong and the emotions of the families so real.

Flags with all of the victims names flew in Battery park

The Freedom Tower

A rose pinned to a memorial ribbon off of Wall Street

Above is the construction site at Ground Zero-The upper left picture is what the memorial will look like once completed.

BRUNCH AT THE PLAZA

We were lucky enough to have my Grandpa join us on our "almost" all girls vacation. It was so much fun having him there and were lucky enough to have him treat us to brunch at the Plaza Hotel. The food was great and it was so much fun getting dressed up and doing something out of our element (and pocket book) and of course kidless!!!

Staten Island Ferry & Statue of Liberty

The Carnegie Deli is an absolute must and I'll revisit every time I go--The best REUBEN I have ever ate and look at the size....priceless!!