The Rest Of The Trip

We left Mississippi Tuesday morning. Today is Sunday. Tomorrow we are planning to GO HOME!!
Tuesday we traveled to Tullahoma, Tennessee. The next morning Jay dropped me and the kids off at Joy's house. We did what we used to do back when we were neighbors. We took a walk out in God's fresh air. They have goats. And bikes. And then we had lunch, took a few pictures, and hit the road again.



Wednesday we traveled to Medford, Wisconsin. The next morning we had breakfast with my brother, Eric. And then we traveled northwest to see my cousin, Lovina and her family over lunch. My aunt brought spring treats over for the kids.



In the afternoon we headed north to come here to Arla's house. On the way we went past the road and the house where I was a little girl. Things change, but not too much. I don't miss it, but I still feel fond of it.


Here at Arla's we've been doing a lot of this:

We took a walk in the melting snow yesterday.




Arla has nice geraniums.

Gulf Shores, Alabama

This will be pretty much a picture post. We went to Gulf Shores with Jay's family last weekend. It was Olivia and Mima's first time to see the ocean. Half of these pictures were taken on the beach and the rest were taken on a big long fishing pier. The beach was windy! It was too cold and windy for the girls, so we found a part of the beach that came inland a bit and was much more sheltered. The sun peeked out a time or two, and when it did it was lovely! I love the ocean, so the bad weather didn't really bother me. Everyone else seemed to enjoy it too.
The pier was worth the $2.00 fee for sure. There was a lot of fishing going on. There were some large sinks and cutting tables for cleaning fish about halfway down the pier. That was where the pelicans were hanging out. Have you ever watched a pelican eat? When the fishermen would toss them what was left of a fish after filleting they would snatch it and gulp. And then there would be all manner of contortions and regurgitations until it was finally properly "stomached". Yuck. No manners at all.
It was a good memory making trip, including the pelicans.

beach pretties

flying kites on the beach
us, over on the windy side
we buried the little girls in the sand for the novelty of it and because it warmed them up
the view from the sheltered side
pier pictures

Goodbye, Mississippi

Here we are on the road again. This time we are headed up the road only five hours or so to Tullahoma, Tennessee. I get to see a friend I haven't seen for a year. She used to be my just down the hill neighbor, but she moved away a year ago.
The girls are in their car seats, softly snoring. They played hard in Mississippi. Their little cousins are the same ages as they. Two three-year-olds and two four -year -olds. And one mellow little boy, six weeks old (he's theirs, not ours). They painted and played they were chickens and mommies and sweeties, and jumped and ran, and ate candy and crackers, and melted down, skipped naps and crashed. Charmed their nana and granddaddy and tias too.

What more can be said? Little ladies posing.
Nana's swing.



Granddaddy's pond and the ancient sea shells to be found around it. I guess Mississippi must have been under the ocean at one time.
Olivia digging in the red sand. We took a little nature walk there at Granddaddy's place.....



Jay, brother-in-law Jeff, and Granddaddy worked on building Nana and Granddaddy a car port. They need one. Last weekend we came arrived home from the coast in a pouring rain. The five steps between car and house were enough to get you very, very wet. It sho' can rain in Mississippi.
Jay has been craving crawfish. He lucked out; crawfish was in season this visit. We got to enjoy a crawfish meal with family and old friends. Eating crawfish is a fairly organic experience. Not nearly as organic as eating raw oysters; the crawfish are cooked. But there is some sea weed and sand to be found in the crawfish pot..... Not to mention the optional step of removing the little crawfish colon before eating...... It's good-tastes like shrimp.

Next post: Gulf Shore Pictures.

The Zoo

We went to the zoo with Matt's and Gabe's on Thursday. It was everything we expected. It was fun for a first time adventure for the girls. We didn't get through the whole zoo, but by 4:30 the kids and adults were all tired. We ate our supper at a Ruby Tuesday and then went home and had some more of Matt's good coffee. We packed, put the girls to bed and left the next morning for Mississippi. Olivia and Keagan got along famously and both felt bad about goodbye. I like it when my kids like their cousins. It was a short visit, but a very good visit.

On The Road

Yesterday we left our house about 6:00 in the morning. We are headed to Mississippi to see Jay's family. But on the way we will spend two days with Amy and Matt's family in Nebraska.
Traveling has gone pretty well. Mima had a little bit of car sickness yesterday. I couldn't figure out how to take her car seat apart for cleaning before, but after she got sick it became very necessary. Jay figured it out for me.
Yesterday we ate breakfast at a little restaurant in Montana. It was terribly dated, but clean as a whistle. I liked it. It is probably the only one left of its kind! When the owner/waitress left the bill it was signed "Lilly". Could her name have been anything else?

Two days later: Amy and I spent a relaxing chaotic day with each other and our kids. We went to the thrift store, ate cookies and drank coffee, and stayed up til 1 o'clock settling the world's affairs.
Today we are off to the zoo.
Following are some pictures of the icy roads and scenery we went through .

I can't forget about the tumbleweed. When we stopped for lunch at a Subway they're were a few tumbleweeds frolicking on the sidewalk. The girls were intrigued with them so we watched them and talked about them for a bit before going inside. When we sat at our table there was one of the tumbleweeds right outside of out window. It seemed to have followed us....... And posed nicely for a picture.