The Long Road Home....

Or in other words, the post that shall also be named...."A trip without pictures" by the liar formerly known as Sarah. Yup...that's right...remember the last post when I said I was going to be a picture taking fool? Didn't happen. I totally lied and only took 28 pictures...tops. That's nothing...coming from the chick who took over 300 pictures in Cancun and maybe 150 pictures during the 4th of July weekend. And I've been trying to think WHY, ya know? Why didn't I bring my camera and snap pics everywhere? I think maybe because my camera is a bit lame...or maybe because I've had too many people poke fun at the fact that I take pictures of EVERYTHING. ;) I dunno. Either way...this is a post without many pictures...my apologies.

Friday:
We left at about 530am....which was nice...because that put us in Sikeston at 3pm and I got to take an hours worth of a nap! Usually when we go on trips, I'm working the night before, so Thurs/Friday night I only got 3 hours. Not too shabby, sometimes I get none and just sleep in the car...but it always kicks my butt...because who can really sleep in a car with 2 toddlers?

This was actually a "quick trip" about 5 hours shorter than our regular excursion to Minnesota. But we were still bored....the girls found numerous ways to keep themselves occupied. They were quite disappointed that McDonald's doesn't give out crowns like Burger King...so, they got creative.

It rained the ENTIRE drive...most of which is in Arkansas. Extremely irritating, since it had been raining here in TX for the four days prior to us leaving.

When we checked into our hotel...the lobby smelled like POPCORN. Seriously, I think this is the best hotel we have ever stayed in (not including Cancun, obviously). They served free popcorn from 3pm-10pm alot with a fantastic hot breakfast in the morning. James booked us a suite, so that we could put the girls to bed back in the room while we stayed up and watched some TV. We hate being in a hotel room and having to go to sleep at 9p with the girls. This room cost a bit more than what we usually pay...but it was DEFINITELY worth it. AND...it turned out to be the brand new Drury Inn. The only downside...the indoor pool was freezing. The girls still had fun and swam, but they were shivering the whole time.

After we got into town and we took a little nap...we headed out to El Tapatio for some dinner with a few friends. One of which was Beth...my bestest friend in grade school. We lived across the street from each other for about 6 or 7 years. I would spend the night almost every weekend (and my mom would come pick me up at 1am because I was scared, lol) and I'd get to watch MTV! Ahh...the memories. Anyways...we had a great dinner and it was great to catch up and see all their cute kids!
We then headed to the football game. We found my friend, Kelly and all sat with her. We thought there would be a whole section for our class...but it was the class of '59s reunion, too...and I guess 50 years trumps 10! lol. It was fun to see the band perform. Kelly and I could see the difference between then and now...and could def tell our band director wasn't in charge anymore. Back "in our day" we would get in deep doo-doo if we had our jackets off or if we stood out of line while waiting to march out onto the field. It was a nice performance...pretty perfect for us, since they played songs from Phantom of the Opera. Bella paid close attention and kept wanting to see Christine again.

We made it till about 1/2 way thru the 3rd quarter. We had promised the girls that they could swim if they were good...so we wanted to get back to the hotel before the pool closed.Saturday:
We did a bit of "sight seeing" ... James got a bit tired of my reminiscing. But he had a good ole time making fun of small towns on the way.
We stopped and walked around my grandparents home...just to make sure everything was still ok. Everytime I am at that house, it brings back the best of memories. I have visions of jumping off this short ledge onto rocks....or climbing the magnolia tree....easter egg hunts in the backyard...collecting and cracking pecans...the list goes on and on. James suggested we drive up to Morley to visit my grandfather's grave. Such a wonderful suggestion. Once we got up there, I got a little teary...visiting someone's gravesite is not an easy thing. We drove on back into Sikeston...and put our names in at Lamberts. The wait was about 45 minutes...but we were seated about an hour and a half later. So many people! And BUS loads full. It was totally worth it. We were able to sit in the area where the train went around the ceiling. Aube would yell "TRAIN" everytime she saw it. Bella ate about 4 rolls. She thought it was hilarious that the guy would throw them from across the room. The best rolls ever. While the girls slept (and James dozed) I went and got some Sonic, then drove around looking for a bookstore (which they don't have...yes on Sonic, no on Half-Priced Books Ü) and took a little detour to the neighborhood where my parents bought their first house. I love this house because of the big backyard and that big ole tree that's survived many tornado seasons. My dad built the planter around the tree and I didnt get a glimpse, but he also built a great swing set in the backyard.Saturday night was my 10 year reunion. Of which I have NO PICTURES. Can you BELIEVE that?! I didn't even get a pic of my CUTE outift! But I'm planning on 'borrowing' pictures from my friend Kelly when she posts on her blog...so there WILL be another post (Thank you Kelly!). It was a....fun....night? I don't want to say it was a waste, because, well....I want it to have been worth the money and the travel time. And it was in a way...I got to spend time with friends I haven't seen in years. We left a little early and went over to the bowling alley with Tanya and her honey. They whooped us in a game of pool. The girls were being watched by Tanya's mother...who is a miracle worker that got both of the girls to sleep! We went to pick them up about 11:30p and ended up sitting and talking with them all till after 1am.

Sunday:
We got a late start (and skipped church, unfortunately...missed seeing alot of people there). We had a bit of breakfast and headed to Memphis to visit my grandmother and cousins there. Because we left late, it was too short of a visit. It was so nice to sit and catch up with everyone.

We headed out and the girls took their usual 20 min car ride nap. I could sleep forever in the car! I wish they could, too... We passed over the big ole Mississippi River. We got home late, late, late....poor James had to go to work on about 5 hours of sleep. Trips can be so much fun...but man are they tiring! Makes me weary yet excited at the same time that our next trip isn't until December.