This past weekend three of Gary's closest childhood friends [along with their better halves] came to visit, making the trip from Dallas and New York to meet us in Hot Springs for a couple of days at the lake. Two of his friends briefly met Elliott when we were in Texas earlier this summer, but for one, this was the first time seeing our little man.
We enjoyed taking the boat out, cooling off in the lake, dinner on the water at Fisherman's Wharf, playing games, making smores, watching Elliott entertain us with his every move, and just catching up on each others lives. Of course in packing all of E's stuff for the weekend, I ran off and left our camera at home, but I did get a few photos from our weekend on my iPhone.
This was our first time taking Elliott out on the boat, and I have to brag on how good he did hanging with us. He never once fussed about having to wear a life jacket, stayed happy and content for several hours out on the water, and even let us put him in the water to cool off. I think he's gonna be a little fish next summer. I'm going to have to find some Mom and tot swim lessons for us. We held him and put him in the lake in his life jacket for a few minutes, and he loved it! He started kicking those little feet the moment they hit the water, and the boat, when moving lulled him instantly to sleep.
It was so nice of Reid, Stephen, and Stanton to plan a time to come visit Gary and make the drive/flight to Arkansas. I know it meant a lot to him to have them here and get to see them interact with Elliott. We loved hosting them at the lake house [thanks to my parents] and showing them a little of what "The Natural State" has to offer.
