Summer Holidays in America, Part Two

Thursday morning, we headed down to Nashville!

Headphones that actually stay on their ears!

The best $15 I spent the entire trip: to purchase 3 sets of headphones so the kids could each listen to their own stuff for part of the trip.  They were troopers the while trip sitting three in a row across the seat of the SUV.  They didn't complain much about the lack of DVD player, thankfully!!  We arrived to Granddaddy's house around 3:30, and the kids immediately went upstairs and starting playing the same game they play everytime which involves getting pretty much everything out, but they did help clean up at least!  Drew decided he wanted to sleep on the floor in the room where the girls sleep, which was good for me!  Finally, a bed to myself.

Friday, Alison woke up and came in my room and said "I'm 6!"  She was very excited!!  Granddaddy made pancakes for breakfast; she opened a couple presents, including a Princess Power Barbie from Granddaddy and Grandma Connie.  Then we were off to the Dragon Park to meet up with Jackson!  We had a great time; it wasn't very crowded because the schools were already in session in Nashville.  Jackson had a good time playing and watching!  And Alison was so excited to receive a mini Julie doll.  Granddaddy made a yummy dinner that ended with a chocolate cake from Baskin-Robbins!  YUM!!!  After dinner, I went to a Counting Crows concert with David & Blair and Blair's brother Trey and his girlfriend at this new arena downtown.  It was an absolutely PERFECT night!!!  We had a great time, and it was so nice to have some adult time!!

Saturday was Jackson's birthday party.  It was a farm theme, and Blair did a great job carrying the theme throughout every detail of the party.  It was at a small park, which had monkey bars, so Alison was happy.

 Lauren was happy because she re-kindled her friendship with David's friend Elijah's daughters.  Drew was sad because I left his monkeys at home, but Uncle Bob came to the rescue and took him off to distract him.  Jackson was hysterical with the cake...he wasn't so sure what to think, so he shared it with Blair.  I think she had as much icing on her face as Jackson did.  It was really funny!!  And the girls found a caterpillar that they adopted as a pet.   When we back over to Jaskson's house for a bit, and all the kids were sitting on the couch, and Alison was holding Jackson and Drew said "It's my turn, hand it over!"

We went back to Dad's house to relax for a bit and then we were off to Elizabeth's house to visit with her, Austin and Henry.  They had a great time!!

We went to the pool for a bit and then played on the playground (with monkey bars thankfully!), and then had some pizza.  The kids had a really good time playing, and I think Drew was so happy to have some boys as playmates.  When we left, Henry said "When is my boy coming back tomorrow?"  It was great to catch up with Elizabeth, and the kids always have a great time at their house.

Sunday, we went to church.  The girls did a great job sitting through the entire service, which was a little longer than normal because the youth pastor was leaving, and then there was a congregational meeting at the end.  It was great to see some friendly faces of people who have known me pretty much my entire life!!  After church, we went back home to pick up the RV and Connie and head over to Grandmother's house.  We ordered Panera for lunch, and met David, Blair and Jackson at Grandmother's.

Loving the bed in the RV

Lunchtime!

"I'll hold his face!"

GeGe with the great grandkids

Teaching GeGe about the selfie

Granddaddy with his three oldest grandchildren

GeGe was the happiest I have seen her in a long time!!  I think she was really happy to have all the great grandkids together.  The kids had a great time seeing Jackson again, and hanging out in the RV.  Drew was so funny....Granddaddy was holding Jackson's fingers and helping him walk and Drew said "I will just hold your face."  Lauren's favorite part was pretending to drive.  They also had a great time on the neighbor's swing and feeding bread to the fish (the ducks were nowhere around).  Sunday night, I was able to get out for dinner at my favorite place Dalt's for dinner with Elizabeth since it was my birthday!!!  And David met me for a beer as well.

Monday, Granddaddy treated the kids and I to the Science Center.  It was fun!!  They had this climbing thing in the center which was a hit, and Lauren did the exhibit where she pretended she was on the moon.

After the museum, we stopped by to see David, Blair and Jackson one last time and we were able to see Jackson take some steps!!!  So exciting!!!

Tuesday morning, we headed back up to Louisville.  Mum Mum made some cupcakes for my birthday, which was a nice surprise!

Wednesday, we got Chick-Fil-A and went to the park for a bit, but it was REALLY hot.  Alison repeatedly did the monkey bars (there are three different ones!), and Lauren and Drew pretended they were at "Cars World."  Wednesday night, Lauren had a sleepover with her best friend Avery.

They were in the same class for two years at Goshen, and I am so glad it worked out!  I think they had a good time.  I was able to go out with some friends at Captain's Quarters.  It was a perfect night, and I am so thankful for all the friends who came out to see me!!  It was great to catch up!

Our old neighbors!

Thursday, after I picked up Lauren we went to Hillcrest so I could say one last goodbye to a couple of people and we stopped by to see John, Millie and Katherine.  I think all the kids were happy to see them.  And we got a surprise when Drew's teacher Ms. Lynne happened to be driving by!!  I had coffee with my friend Jen, and then we headed over to Anne and Charlie's pool; Bob and Glen came over as well; I am glad we were able to see them one last time!

Friday, we left early and headed up to Columbus to see my Miami girls again.  We all met at Shannon's house, which worked out perfectly.  We actually saw Tammy on the road right before we got into downtown Columbus!  And Stacy was not too far behind us; Laura arrived around 12.  There were 13 kids, of which Lauren was the oldest at 8 3/4 and Libby was the youngest at 2 1/2 months; and Drew and Zac were the only two boys!!!  That's pure craziness!!!  It was SO MUCH FUN!!!  It was a little crazy at times, but I could not have had a trip back to America without seeing those girls.  And Lauren and Grace decided they were BFFs.  Shannon's house was perfect because she has a backyard that is fenced in and has some shade.  The girls arranged for us to take a photo with Shannon's self timer.  It was the big girls (Lauren, Grace, Megan), the middle girls (Ella, Kaitlyn, Alison, Jackie) and the babies (Clara, Drew, Jillian and Zac).  The highlight was these awesome water balloons that Tammy brought....you attach this thing to the hose and it inflates all the water balloons at once.  They had a great time playing with them!!

Alison loves to hold babies!

We left Shannon's house around 4, and headed back to Nana and Papa's house.  It is not a very direct route, and then it started raining harder than I have seen in a long time.  Lauren was freaking out, and I wasn't sure if I should pullover, or just keep on going.  It probably lasted for about 15 minutes, but it was very scary!  We were so happy when we made it to Portage, a little later than anticipated, but safely none the less.

Papa and I went for a nice walk on Saturday morning.  Then, Nana, Alison and I went to the farmer's market and got some peaches, corn, raspberries and cantaloupe.  We walked to the playground, and had a great time playing there despite the heat!!!  Drew was not so happy about walking there, but once we got there and he had a drink, it was better.

Playing Old Maid with Alison is quite entertaining!

And then he and Papa had a nice walk back.  Saturday night, we had a nice dinner and watched "Grace," the American girl movie and got all packed up to head to Naperville.

Sunday morning, Papa headed up north to golf and the kids, Nana and I headed to the Carlson's house.  We made good time, and I was so thankful that was the last road trip because I think the kids were over it!  Lauren and Annabelle immediately started rehearsing, Alison went on the playground and Drew played with Pixie.  We went to the pool in the late afternoon, and overall had a relaxing day.

Monday, Papa arrived and the girls did their show, which this time was a couple dances, including a well corregraphed dance to "Lips Are Movin'."  I mailed a box of stuff that wouldn't fit in my suitcase for $100.  And then when we got to the airport, my suitcase weighed exactly the maximum weight of 32 kg, which was another $90 charge.  I guess we acquired more stuff than I realized!!!

The journey home was much better than anticipated.  The kids were well behaved and helpful, and there was an empty seat next to Drew.  And we arrived into a different terminal than the one that requires a 20 minute walk to baggage claim; we were able to take a shuttle instead.  Lauren went up to her bed as soon as we got home; Alison had a snack and Drew played cars. I had to wait for the grocery delivery before I could go to sleep, but then Drew and I laid down!  Lauren was of course the last one to awaken.  We were SOOOOO happy to see Brad when he finally arrived home from work!!

It was a great summer holiday.  I was able to see ALMOST everyone I wanted to see, the kids were able to spend good time with family, we celebrated a wedding and several birthdays.  We used 7 1/2 tanks of gas and drove 2,850 miles.

Our ride for the holidays!