It's Falltastic

What an amazing weekend! We packed so much into our fall southern Shiloh reunion that I feel like I took a week off of work. It all started on Friday night with some pumpkin carving and wii sports. My favorite two pumpkins carved were the Shiloh symbol and April's depiction of Chris. 

Chris woke up early Saturday morning to cook banana pancakes, eggs, bacon, and hash browns. I have to admit that they were the best banana pancakes I've had. Fully fueled up, we headed out for a day of fun.

Our first stop was at a farm just south of Conway. After sharing our mission to have a more entertaining weekend than our friends in New York with the family running the farm we had some new allies. They happily agreed to help saying they'd rather see Arkansas win over New York every time. We were sent into the fields to pick Muscadines and were given all we picked for free. After a few more pictures they sent us on a mission to find a corn maze a few miles away that had been cut in the shape of the Statue of Liberty. They felt this would be an especially great jab at the New York crew. 

The corn maze was packed with families going on hay rides, picking through the pumpkin patch, and working their way through the maze. Despite my best efforts to get us lost, Chris did an excellent job leading us out to safety. Having worked up an appetite walking through corn we sat and relaxed with some corn dogs and fresh squeezed lemonade. 

Our next stop was the Rendezvous Festival at Pinnacle Mountain. This event featured many interesting characters dressed both as pioneers and indians working to take us back in time. They were selling pioneer gear, performing indian dances, and offering a chance to throw a hatchet at a target. Chris stepped up to the plate and, after a few practice throws, successfully nailed the target.

Again hungry we stopped at Boscos for dinner before heading to our final stop: the Arkansas State Fair. We fought through the thick crowds around the rides at the entrance to people watch, enjoy fair food, and try to win Kristi Cooke a prize. We succeeded at all three. I tried the fried Dr. Pepper, Kristi went with the fried Orios, and April and Emily went with the classic funnel cake. Alex was able to hang a ring around a glass bottle winning Kristi a close to life size stuffed Spiderman. Good times.

Sunday was our final day together and it started with a family breakfast at IHOP. We took a relaxing walk over and around the "Big Dam Bridge" and played some cards by the river. April and Kristi headed back that afternoon leaving Chris, Alex, and I to watch the Redskins and the Tampa Bay Rays win big games. 

Though the stakes of the contest between the southern Shiloh reunion and the apple picking up north were never agreed upon, I feel confident we won. I don't want my New York friends to feel bad about that. They tried. They just should have come to visit us. You can see more pictures here...