Valentine's Day 2016

The kids think it's funny that it seems like we always travel on holidays.  V-day isn't a holiday for real, but it is sorta!  We are on a road trip to Texas to visit family and friends.

It only took us about 1 hour to cross into Alabama!

And then Mississippi.

Louisiana was the most boring drive.  The roads were awful and so bumpy!

On this Valentine's day trip I discovered conversations hearts don't taste like they tasted when I was a kid.  Gag!

There is that beautiful sunset I have missed so much.  Good ole Texas doesn't need a sign, the sun in all it's beauty is our welcome to the Lone Star State!

friendsgiving roadtrip!!

Yesterday we decided to take a road trip to Chattanooga.  I was bummed because we'd have to take two cars and I thought maybe we could rent a van.  Everyone thought it was a wonderful idea. Yay!  Our day began with the guys getting the van and us hitting the road for our Tennessee adventure!

We stopped in at Ruby Falls.

And the we decided to visit the downtown area.

The waterfall steps were my favorite!

All selfies today compliments of Layla's selfie stick!

We ate a yummy lunch at Big River.

Then we visited the local cupcake place and I got my favorite classic vanilla cupcake. Layla also got a classic vanilla also, while Hayden got a peanut butter chocolate and Gary indulged in a mint chocolate chip flavor. Mmmmm!  So delicious!

On our way back to Georgia we visited Chickamauga National Battlefield Park.

We went 136 steep and circling steps to the top of Wilder monument.  It was so fun because we didn't realize how high it was and as we swiftly walked up the stairs we could feel the top was near, but we kept going and going and going.  We laughed and giggled through the thigh burn.  The laughter echoed through the cement monument and it's a memory I'll never ever forget.

I was a little freaked out at the top.  I'm not a fan of heights. I was worried one of the kids would fall all the way down the steep stairs, and I barely looked over the sides, yuck!  

I love the little side holes the soldiers shot guns out of.  I'm not a history lover, but it was really cool to tour the battlefields!

We made it back down and took picture looking back up at the top. It was pretty cool!

On the drive back to Georgia I was feeling sentimental.  I'm thankful for a fun day with friends and the ability for all of us to celebrate this holiday together!

Spring Break trip to OH-IO!

The kiddos were sooooo excited to see their friends back in Ohio!

They missed their buddies who are more like family than friends!

The adults got to go out for a night on the town!

It was so fun, I'm laughing my face off in the picture above.

We are blessed with many many fun friends in many different states. 

Friday we spent all day with the kids.  We played outside inbetween rain showers.

We took them out for cheeseburgers and fries.

It was a quick, but fun trip and memories were made to last a lifetime.

We drove 9 hours with the kids there and back.  It was exhusting.  Layla searched each exit for a rest stop so we could get out and do cart-wheels to stretch out!  I'm thankful for a nice and safe trip there and back.  Tomorrow we will get back to normal and celebrate Easter here in Georgia!

Fourth of July 2014

I love looking back at Forth of July's in the past!

I love my family and we had a wonderful day celebrating the Fourth of July!

We love making memories!

Spring break road trip!

We are packed up and hitting the open road for a Spring Break road trip! We're heading to Texas for the first time since we moved. We left yesterday and our trip is going great so far.

Happy Spring Break!

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Easter Weekend 2013

Friday we decided to pack up and visit our cousins in Chicago.  The kids were excited to get to see family members they have heard so much about, but never met.  They were also excited to add two more states to their "been to" status.  Before our move to Ohio they had each only been to a few states.  Now they are national travelers!

The drive to Chicago was pretty uneventful and blah.  Layla and Hayden were great travelers and Gary and I are so proud of them.  I know sitting in a car for hours isn't fun, but they made the best of it!  The kids were shocked by all the wind turbines in Indiana.  Other than that Indiana was pretty gray for March.  I'm sure the state would have been prettier in the spring.  Once we got into Illinois the kids were starting to get really excited to be close to our destination.  We were all so happy to be out of the car!

I was thrilled Saturday morning to get to go to Target for the first time since November.  That's crazy huh?  I have been having some serious Target withdrawal.  I wanted to go hog wild, but I tried to behave myself and not wreck our checkbook.  I did score tons of Easter goodies, if you know what I mean!   

Saturday afternoon the kids were thrilled to actually participate in an egg hunt at church.  Remember last time we tried an egg hunt....it was over before we got there.  Well, this egg hunt was 'the best ever', and those were words right out of Hayden's mouth!

After the egg hunt we all went out to a delicious family lunch and then we hung out all afternoon and then grilled some good food for dinner.  Our kids had so much fun with their cousins and it was almost as if we all have been together once a month for years instead of just meeting.  You know?!?  Our families got along so well together.  We all have great kiddos!

Sunday morning the kids all woke up and the Easter bunny visited!

I love all their sleepy faces!  It was a very special and fun Easter weekend!

We just got home a little bit ago after making the road trip home.  We had a fun Easter dinner (including strawberry cheesecake) as a family of four at a steakhouse near Cleveland.  We are all super sleepy and thankful we are home safe.  We can't wait to sleep in tomorrow morning and go get our puppies from their mini vacation.

Happy Easter!  

We are so thankful for Jesus all the blessing in our lives!

Tuesday - Our travels begin

Today was Layla's last day of school in Texas! It's a bittersweet day.





We are leaving our house! We are all a little sad, but excited about our seeing our new house too!





Saying our goodbyes was the hardest part. I cried my eyes out while saying bye to one of my best friends. We also said bye to both Gary's mom and my mom. I didn't want to say any goodbyes. I much prefer 'see ya later!'






The carpet cleaner got a late start this morning and that put us behind schedule, but we are still hoping to get to Little Rock tonight.





Oh ... these are some sleepy kiddos! Daisy is sleeping too. She is the best traveling dog ever!



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone