It seems like I get more and more behind every month with these posts. Better late than never, right?
January 2020 started off with major jet lag! We spent the last 15 days of 2019 in Germany and arrived back in the States just in time to catch the new year and be totally thrown off in time for days. If I’m being honest, it wasn’t that bad. The kids just woke up at 3am for about a week straight. When we went to Thailand Andrew slept for a solid 24 hours because he couldn’t function. I haven’t let him live that down yet because it’s never affected me or the kids that way, we adjust much better.
We were home for close to 2 weeks between our Germany trips and Paris trips so we spent that time getting stuff together for the 2020 farming season and working on building our new shop. The weather has not been our friend through this as it has rained almost every day!
We took all the kids duck hunting. It was Maggie Mae and Belle’s first time. The twins love to go hunting with Daddy! MM really enjoyed it and well Belle, she slept through it. Seriously, she slept through our entire morning of hunting. She slept through the shooting right next to her and everything. The kids have noise cancelling headphones so the shots don’t hurt their ears and apparently they work really well!
We were not accustomed to being home for very long, seeing as how we had been gone since the middle of November, so we decided to get away for a few days before we left for Paris. Our go to quick getaway spot is Gaston’s White River Resort in Lakeview, AR. If you’ve never been to Gaston’s you absolutely should! They have private cottages in all sizes from single bed cottages to large lodges that can fit parties of 10 or more! We love their 2 bedroom/2 bath cottages with a full kitchen and real wood fireplace. Gaston’s also has an amazing restaurant that’s open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. They open for breakfast around 6am so no worries if you’re an early riser like us! Also, one of my favorite things about Gaston’s is that pets are welcome! My kids would say their favorite part is the peacocks! Gaston’s has walking trails through the woods and a large bird enclosure with peacocks, turkeys, pheasants, and other gamebirds. Some of the peacocks and turkeys roam free around the enclosure and come are contained. They love to eat potato chips! There’s also a playground for the kids and a swimming pool when it’s warm. If you prefer to get there quicker, Gaston’s has a private airstrip right in front of the main building for fly ins. Gaston’s is famous for their Sunday brunch which many people fly in just to eat on Sunday’s and leave. Overall Gaston’s Resort is a real treat. The owners Clint & Nicole Gaston are wonderful people. I’ve known Clint since I was a little kid and they’re working hard to keep their family resort in excellent operating order.
A couple days before we left for Paris Belle rolled off our bed and gave herself a beautiful black eye. The very next day she fell in our driveway and cut her other eye! She was quite the spectacle for a week or so!
I’m working on a full post about our trip to Paris so be looking for that soon, but we spent a week there towards the end of January.
The rest of January that we were home was filled with church, finishing up duck season, and some homeschool days.
Raising Rowletts 