Home Sweet Home

We are finally home and it felt great to sleep in my own bed last night. In two weeks, we traveled in/through 8 states, plus Washington D.C. and slept in at least seven different beds. In fact, over the weekend, we covered all 8 of those states in 24 hours!

Our travels began by visiting some dear friends in NC. Then, we continued north to Hampton, VA, to visit my uncle and have a very special "scattering ceremony" for my Grandmother and Grandfather's ashes off of the bow of my uncle's sailboat.

Then we landed in Washington D.C. for five days and so much fun in our nation's capital!

We drove 9 hours home on Saturday, picked up Farley from friends, slept in our beds and took off Sunday morning for a 16 hour drive to Texas (broken up over two days). The kids were really good in the car, considering how many hours we spent sitting in one place. Our saving grace was that I found the Chronicles of Narnia CD set at the library, so we had 16 hours of a beautiful reading of the stories. Even Amanda seemed to enjoy parts of the story, as she would laugh or repeat what she heard.

Our trip to Texas was also wonderful. We visited with four of Derrick's siblings and had a wonderful visit with his parents. The kids did all the things that they love to do in Texas, including fossil hunting, snail races, playing in the sandbox, swinging, helping Daddy with any project that Grandad has for him, etc.

I did what I love to do - select a good book from the hundreds that Wilma has on her shelves and sink on the couch and get lost in the book while my kids are being entertained by Grandparents. It was more relaxing than a trip to the beach. I just wish we did not have such a long drive to get there. I'm sure there are some nice people who live in Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana, but to me they are just miles of roads that separate us from family.

We arrived home on Sunday and have VBS this week. After a morning filled with VBS science, I spent the afternoon unpacking. The suitcases are unpacked; the laundry is sorted and ready to be washed tomorrow; the car is cleared out, but certainly not yet cleaned; the random toys and books that keep kids entertained in the car have all found their proper homes; I'm also looking for homes for the new things that we have accumulated, including several fossils that Scott found and many new books that Derrick picked up from his Mom. Next on my list are the pictures. I'll post some later this week.

It is all so fun and I have plenty of material for more postings, so stay tuned.