Longest Post Ever

I have just been too lazy to post about last weekend, because, well...it tired me out! And I know this post is going to be HUGE, so just back away now! We had so much fun, and I am so glad we went. The ride down was probably the easiest part of the whole trip, LOL! We were stocked up with books on CD, snacks, toys, and raring and ready to go. It only took us about 4 and a half hours including a stop for a picnic in the car mid way down. And not one single fight. I am not sure how that happened, but they must have been saving up, because they bickered the whole time at Jenny's.

Buckled up and ready to go.

Pit Stop!

The kids started playing right away, and after a little bit of chatting and catching up we headed out shopping! We did a lot of shopping to try and fill up some of the empty space in Jenny's house, and that was fun, it gave us something to do. Plus, I love to shop, especially for home stuff. I totally have the home decorating fever now! We had some good success and a lot of fun browsing. But after a few stores it was evident that the lack of a long nap in the car was now showing in my kids. They were exhausted, that is what happens when you fall asleep 40 minutes before Houston traffic, and then you wake up with all the starting and stopping!

Anywho, then back home for the normal boring stuff, dinner, playing, bath time, bed time. I was so scared for bedtime, but the kids handled it pretty well. We had our very own room, which was awesome (thank Jenny!) and the kids had their little sleeping bags and special blankets and sleeping things, which helped so much. After Momma singing a bunch of songs, both kids PASSED OUT. They were so tired and understandably so, after quite a day! And then Jenny and I headed back out for more shopping! LOL! We went to Wal Mart and basically cleaned out the store. I had so much fun just giggling and goofing off at the store. Plus we found some super cute and inexpensive stuff, including a large trash can that we had to roll all over the store...

Day 2: It was warm, like hot warm, and I have to say I was a bit disgusted. We were going to go to the beach, but we nixed that and headed out for...more shopping! I just think that is too funny! But Jenny introduced me to a store that I had never been too, Garden Ridge, and it was really neat. Yet another place where you could spend a fortune in a blink of an eye. Then we headed back for naps, and hanging out. That night we splurged and went to I HOP for dinner, LOL, and it was yummy! And it was also

I have to say I am pretty pleased with how the kids played so well. There, of course, were squabbles, mostly between Brady and David, who mostly had power struggles I think. But Natalie and Stevie played so well it blew my mind. Of course, Natalie's attitude had to make some cameo appearances, but they were probably more annoying to me than anyone because I can recognize when she is getting extra snippy or when she is just being her own feisty self. Plus I think anytime you are at someone elses home you are harder on your kids that you are at your own place because you don't know what will be annoying to your host! So, at the end of the day we had lots of cuddling and talking and I think that made any hard feelings just float away. After the kids were all tucked in bed and sleeping away we adults settled in for some laughs with My Name is Earl on DVD. That is one funny show.

The last day, Saturday, we headed off to the beach. I have never seen the Gulf of Mexico and I have to say I was probably more excited than the kids. I love, love, love the water. And it has been far too long since I have seen a large body of it. I hope one day we will leave near the ocean, but that is a whole different story! Anywho, it was pretty cool and sad to see how run down Galveston looked. Steven said that most of the debris is cleaned up, but I would describe it as looking like we were in the bad part of town, except that we weren't. And yes, there were boats on the side of the road, that was craziness. The kids were amazed. And then BAM there it was. The water! Yay! We got out and tried not to get blown away by the wind, much better normal November temperatures today, and we headed out for a walk on one of the crusty old pier things, and then headed down to the sand to collect shells. We found a TON of sand dollars and little shells. And we practically had the whole beach to ourselves. It was a nice little outing to end our weekend.

Forgot to change the settings on my computer so the pictures are all sun bleached, until I realized!

so cute!

After that we headed back to pack up and get our butts on the road. It was a good weekend, not too long, and not too short. We didn't want to overstay our welcome! So the kids and I packed up and headed out to one last lunch out (at Panda Express, kids choice! Oh and the large drink and Panda is LARGE, I mean HUGE beyond huge!) and then to the store for one special toy to help keep them occupied on the ride home. We were on the road by 2...

We got home at 9 p.m.! Holy Cow! It was the longest ride ever, I tell you what! We made it without incident through Houston, but then Momma had to go to the bathroom and Brady informed me that he pooped, so thank heavens we had an out! Jason lives in Conroe so we gave him a call and he was super awesome and let us stop by for a little visit. That was so nice and so much better than a rest area. Plus the kids played Rockband, and that was hilarious! Natalie was getting really into it and playing with her hands crossed over, oh man, Jason and I were cracking up. Oh, and I just have to say the he has the NICEST apartment, and the nicest location too, for only 20 bucks more than we pay. I am officially jealous of their bachelor pad!

So around 4 we headed off again. Those next five hours were brutal. I have no idea why. Well, I have some idea why. Brady kept rolling down his window, which made it super loud and cold in the back seat. So I had to pull over, get out, and roll it back up. That was the MOST annoying the whole wide world. Brady is pretty much lucky he made it home alive. Especially when two of my choices of places to pull over didn't have an easy on ramp back to the freeway so we were stuck taking the scenic route a few times.

And we stopped for some food and caffeine so that Mommy wouldn't fall asleep in the car, and of course the one time I want a McDonald's so they can run out some energy at the play area, the best I could find was a Jack in the Box, and they even had lame toys. I was SO disappointed in that one, we really wanted McDonald's!! Dang it! I was so tired and so scared I was going to pass out! I was really hoping that it was going to be a straight shot from Jason's to our place, but for some reason the 3 hour drive took 5. I never, ever want that to happen again. It was terrible. I think the reason the ride was so bad was all three of us wanted so badly just to be at home with Keith again, and it just wasn't happening fast enough! But somehow we made it through all the pit stops and crying and blanket fixing and CD changing and toy fetching and we were home! Sweet sweet home!

Whew! Now you know why I haven't posted this! If you made it through that journal entry of all journal entries then props to you!