After driving 1628 miles (2620 km) in our station wagon I am proud to say that:
1. I am still happily married, and
2. we still have two children (each in one piece!)
Last Friday morning we drug ourselves out of our cozy beds at 3am to begin on our 10 hour journey to visit GiGi and Papa Randy in North Carolina.
We hit Atlanta at 9 o'clock and although we missed rush-hour, there were still some
Max enjoyed hanging out in the backseat while he was sleeping
And Lucas was full of smiles!
After a surprisingly peaceful trip we arrived in NC just in time to celebrate cousin Owen's 5th birthday!
The last time we saw Miley (Owen's sister) she was only 2 days old!
Owen's party was held at Bounce U. It was a great place full of inflatables for the kids to play on!
GiGi entertained Lucas so Mommy could get some pictures!
Lucas showing off how strong he is :)
The birthday boy!
And his parents, Kristi & Mikey
Even though we were tired, there was no time to rest! Saturday we headed into Winston-Salem to take the kids to the new Children's Museum. Max enjoyed climbing the beanstalk (from Jack & the Beanstalk/Sjaak en de bonestaak)
Lucas was just like Goldilocks and couldn't find a chair to fit him
Until we journeyed upstairs to the magical forest and he found one that was just right!
My green-eyed love
Yee-Haw! Max sure did make a cute cowboy!
And this little cow-dude was getting lots of attention from the ladies!
Apparently the kerchief wasn't a huge success in Frontierland!
Max loved fishing
But I think he enjoyed making donuts at the donut factory more!
GiGi also had some fun in the kitchen!
In fact, he enjoyed making donuts so much that we went to the real Krispy Kreme (read, best donuts in the world!) to enjoy a little sugary piece of heaven!
We really wanted to see our long-lost cousin Leroy while we were in NC, but unfortunately due to weather he was unable to make the drive from West Virginia. After Rob heard this news he yelled, "ROADTRIP!" and there we were, in the car to Bluefield, WV! After a lovely visit with Leroy we surprised Max by taking him sledding.
While the other kids were bundled up in their snowsuits, snow boots, and waterproof gloves. Our little Alabamian was rockin his peacoat, skinny jeans, soccer socks, and sketchers! Needless to say his little bum didn't stay warm for too long!
1, 2, 3
Whee!
And even though he had a few tumbles
He always popped back up with a smile!
Papa also enjoyed showing off his moves (or trying not to run into a tree!)
After we made it back to NC it was time to open Christmas and Birthday presents from GiGi and Papa Randy.
Lucas loves cruisin' around on his new Cars car
And Max was enthralled with his race track!
Of course the Christmas season isn't complete without a visit to Santa. And why aren't my kids looking at me and smiling you might ask? That's because their mom is too cheap to pay $25 for a picture and just brings her own camera ;)
Santa even gave me a dirty look for doing it! Looks like somebody is going to be on the naughty list this year!
After Santa GiGi and Max went on the carousel. Apparently GiGi was too short to read the big red signs that said "NO ADULTS ON HORSES!"
After a very busy trip we took a couple of hours to hang out by the lake and try out Max's new fishing pole.
There was a lot of waiting
But finally the boys got a bite! After reeling it in (almost) all by himself Max had caught his first fish!
Max, one very proud Papa, and one very unhappy fish*
High fives!
And fishy kisses were a great way to end a great trip!
*No animals were harmed in the making of this blog!
