Thanksgiving - Part II

On Saturday (12/26), we left my parents' to go to Jeremy's parents' house and celebrate Thanksgiving with the Jordans. The kids (of all ages) had a great time playing. Yes, it was Saturday and, yes, it was gameday. And what do the Jordans wear on gameday Saturdays in the fall? Yes, that would be correct if you said Alabama gear!

See, it doesn't matter how old you are you can play ball with the kids!

And you can show-off, too!

Uncle David was having some target practice with Austin, but Ella Grace & Major got in on the fun also!
Jeremy, Uncle Chris (aka Uncle Bubblegum) and Uncle David
These kids were captivated, and upon a closer look there was a HUGE bug. YUCK!
Jeremy with his family
Uncle Chris and Hunter
Our crew
David, Laura, Austin & Caroline
the kids with Great-Grandmother

the kids with Granddaddy and Grandmother
and the big boys with Grandmother (or Great-Grandmother, I guess it depends on who's calling her!)

We had a great time, ate way too much and saw a heck-of-a football game! At the end of the day we went back to Mom & Dad's to pack up and sleep. We departed while it was dark & rainy, got some gas and a redbox movie and were on our way.

As we neared home, there was so much traffic. After much debate we detoured, which in itself added an hour to our time, but there was no guarantee the traffic would let up when we got on the turnpike. Going through a national forest a black bear ran across the road in front of us. At first I just thought it was a huge dog, but, no, black bear! Can a road trip get more exciting?!

And it was SO good to get home!

A short trip

The kiddos and I headed down to Miami this past Monday while Jeremy worked. Jeremy went in to the office for a couple of hours and we hit the road as soon as he got home. It was about a four hour drive, and we made good time (having lunch in the car helps!). We checked-in, unpacked and it didn't take long for us to head back out.

We were really wanting to go to a Marlins game, and despite the rain, decided to give it a shot. It took us a while to finally decide on something for dinner (it ended up being Chick-fil-a!, and Kids Night which meant free kids food!), and then after about a 2-hour rain delay, we watched (part) of a ball game!









We were tired when we finally got back to the hotel Monday night.

Tuesday, as Daddy headed off to work, we headed out to the mall to try our hand at some bowling! Mrs. Kelly met us for lunch at Johnny Rockets first, and then went with us to the bowling alley. After stopping in at a few stores at Dolphin Mall, back to the hotel we went. Just as I laid the kids down for naps, Daddy got back.




On the way to dinner, the kids said they weren't tired.


We had dinner in Miami Beach with Mrs. Kelly and Mr. Keith. Seafood for the adults, chicken and mac & cheese for the children.


Wednesday was another SUPER busy, SUPER hot day. Again, Daddy off to work, so the kids and I headed to the Zoo. OH.MY.GOSH. The Miami Zoo is super huge and I totally did not realize that. I suppose the monorail and the safari cycles should have tipped me off, right?

BUT, we FINALLY got to see elephants! Yes, it has taken my kids 5 years and 3 years before they ever saw live elephants!










Daddy got home just after we did and we all went to the pool for about two hours. One of Jeremy's co-workers went to grab pizza with us for dinner, which was fun. He said our kids were well-behaved, but I reminded him I had completely worn them out at the zoo. Glad he didn't see them on a normal day! :) kidding. They are usually pretty good!

Yesterday morning we swam a little more while Daddy was finishing up. He helped us pack up the room and car and off we went home. Luckily, Mr. Keith was in front of us and called to warn us of the fires that had the interstate shut down. After about a 40 min detour, we were back on our way.

Home, sweet Home!

Oh, yes, a plane ride!

These last two "last nights" in Maryland have been sleepless for me. Jeremy seems to think it is because I am afraid he is going to oversleep. While he says it is tempting to stay in bed, I do believe it is the dread of going back to work and the real world after being far away!

I took the shuttle to the airport and was there in plenty of time. Finally, we began to board. There were less than 45 people on my flight. Really. And there were at least two people that tried to board the wrong plane, not counting the guy who's dad pulled him out of our line to go get in the right one! Geez, people, pay attention! I promise, it is typed right there on your boarding pass!

I am deep in my Amish book when we reached the elevation where you can take off your seatbelt. And then I hear "I don't know what you like to drink, but you can have one of my drink coupons."

Wait.

Who are you? There is no white shirt, no airplane pins...

No!

Are you kidding me?

The guy in front of me has gotten up, come to MY row and is hitting on my with a drink coupon. Seriously?

Now, I am basically sitting right on top of the wing, so there is lots of noise. And he continues to talk. I really don't know much of what he said other than he flies a lot. (Obviously, if he can pass out drink coupons.)

Oh, well, it was painless, and I didn't really even have to listen to him.

I watched out my window a lot on this flight. There was a good deal of turbulence off and on. Pretty amazing if you think about it. It reminded me of that song "I am Yours" where it says "like a wave tossed in the ocean"; except it was a plane tossed in the wind. One minute you look out and can see absolutely nothing, another you can see the ground and all of the man-made things - parks, houses, cars, etc. The best part, though, is witnessing the clouds from that high. My view today reminded me of a chocolate meringue pie. The clouds just seemed to be created in perfect lines that reminded me of meringue, continuous lines of meringue. Wouldn't that be heavenly? Especially, if there was lots of chocolate pie underneath!

I'm l-e-a-v-i-n-g on a jet plane

Kind of. I am so, so excited. I am flying later today up to Maryland to visit Jeremy!! Yippee! I haven't physically seen him since he left on November 15th. It's been a little while. Thank goodness for Skype. Ella Grace, Major and I are able to visit with him almost every night, and that has been absolutely wonderful!

We have a few fun things we want to do while I'm there; otherwise, we hope to just catch up! It's been very different not having him here to come home to and such. However, I think God has granted us the strength to make it through this time.

Long weekend for me = short work weeks (which totally rocks!) Four days this week, four days next week, 1/2 day off the following week, then Christmas break! Yea!

Happy Weekend all! Much love from the friendly blue skies!

Travelin' Times #3

I told you we have been on the road!

This particular weekend (September 24), the kids and I drove to my sister's house in Northeast Mississippi. I was lucky to get off work just a little early and we hit the road quickly! The kids were awesome! I most definitely was worried about being in the car with them for several hours - how soon would they have to potty, get hungry, start arguing, etc, etc, etc? It never happened! I packed a few snacks an they never argued, they never asked to stop - it was purely amazing! I hope they will always do that well (*wink*, *wink*)!

While at Aunt Lo-Lo's and Uncle Curt's, we went to a park, we had lunch at an old pharmacy/soda fountain, visited a fun little place with lots of bouncy things. When the kids went down for a nap (finally) on Saturday afternoon Lori and I got to watch the game...well, except for the quarter or two where we fell asleep! ha! We were exhausted, too! Here are some pictures from our adventures in Mississippi!

So, my kids are terrified of dogs...Lori has one inside doggie and two outside. Baxter spent the weekend away and Doreen and Rufus (yes, they have chosen to give their dogs "old" people names) were still there, hanging around outside. Ella Grace and Major LOVE looking at them and getting close, but this is how they were each time they wanted to see the dogs. Poor Lori!

Air-born!

The kids call my dad "Pop" so I thought this was funny!

Fun on the bouncy things.

Travel Day

Today was a travel day for us. I took off a little early today and the kiddos and I headed to my parents. I have some fun things planned for us; some time to relax and take advantage of a zoo and science center membership, some time seeing my grandmothers and family, and maybe a bit of a break from the craziness we are living right now!

As we were traveling today we learned of a major wreck on the interstate. Luckily, we were traveling through about the same time as my dad and we were able to follow him along some backroads to avoid all of the congestion. During one place Ella Grace said the road we were on looked lik "X Road" that we live down, due to the trees along the roadside shading the road from the sun. It felt so cool in those places. Later we noticed a man on his riding lawnmower cutting a really big yard. She made another grown-up comment that he had to cut "all this area". She is so big with some of the words and phrases she uses. I mentioned we were going by Wal-Mart and she asked if "we just had to pick up a few things?". Ha! When she said this it totally reminded me of my Mee Maw. I love that little girl with all of my heart. She is so precious and so grown-up at four years old.

I hope we will get to see my grandmothers tomorrow. We haven't seen them much lately and I completely regret that. I hope over the next several months we are able to get in lots of visits and some fun time with them.

Time to get in bed. Lots on the agenda for tomorrow.