Hodges Gardens

At the end of June, our cousin Mackenzie came all the way from Indiana down to Louisiana to visit her awesome family! :) It was so great to see her and so thankful she made the long, long trip to come see us! All the Pineville crew and Mackenzie came to Anacoco and spent the day, and we had a wonderful time on the farm. Then we trekked over to Hodges Gardens, a beautiful, 4,700 acre State Park about 15 minutes from our house...who knew!

Here's Sadie Grace, just practicing for her Senior photos :)



I spy three little monkeys!

Throughout the day, all the kids collected these huge feathers along the trail. They had a handful by the time we finished!

It's so fabulous having Jason off in the summer! He got to come too!

 

And our favorite Wadie Boy too!

All the kiddos before our big adventure! And brother wins the "He's such a ham" award!! haha!!

Best friends forever! And yes, everyone had to get get a map when we visited the Welcome Center haha. We cleaned them out! :)

Beautiful Jenny and her Judey!

Naturally when there is only stairs, one (Wade) takes the stroller down the steep hill...Naturally! haha!

These two are just the best little buddies.

I love how Melissa turns the simple, ordinary things into fun, educational opportunities! For instance, Andrew and Savannah were walking in the pasture next to the house, and Melissa pointed out the horse manure. Then she told the kids about cow "chips" and how prairie people would keep warm! hah! This trip, she utilized the feathers for a educational tidbit...Indians! haha Here's our two little Indian braves.

Callie did not want to be an Indian today. hah! Look at that face!

Exploring the waterfall!

And of course, we had to sing "Let It Go!"

Sweet Judey!

and Baby Grant. Two heartbreakers if I've ever seen any! :)

The whole crew! So thankful for this beautiful Brinker/Sharbono/Poole/Kees bunch! The Lord has multiplied our blessings over and over with each little miracle in this photo...To him be all the glory, honor, and praise!