Fall Vacation: Day 1

Since we went on our trip for 7 days, I thought I would break my writings about the trip into a day or two at a time, not to overload you guys or take up my whole day writing.
This trip has been a LONG time coming. We haven't been able to go down to Alabama for over a year and a half. Between moving, having Paxton and being slow at work, its been super hard to find time and money to go down there. We had this planned for quite sometime. We saved and saved and God provided in several ways, little bits of money for us to be able to take a whole week off, without pay, to go and spend time with our family in the South.
We left early, around 6:15am. I had packed our breakfast and lunch for us to eat on the car on the way down. I did this to save money and time. The kids were FANTASTIC on the way down. After about 1 hour in the car, Adriana said, "Are we almost there yet?" . Ummm.....not even close! 11 more hours to go! My kids have a hard time sleeping in the car, so it makes the day so much longer for them.

Adriana chillin' in the back. She had quite the set up, with colors,
books, movies, stuffed animals, you name it, that child had it.

One of the little cat naps that Paxton took. I think the longest
nap he took was 45 minutes. He had been up the night before
with his teeth bothering him, so he was extra tired.

Sister took about a 45 minute nap too, but not at the same
time as Paxton, of course!

Paxton in high spirits. He was such a trooper.

Ryan drove the WHOLE way. All 600+ miles.

Believe it or not, we only stopped 3 times on the way down there. I couldn't have asked for the kids to have done better. I was so proud of them. A trip that normally takes up 12 hours, took us about 11 hours and 15 minutes. I know its only 45 minutes shorter, but after riding in the car for that long, you count EVERY minute!

We were so happy to see everyone. Adriana immediately started playing with her cousins Jack and Riley.

We all shared a room while there. Jim and Sandy are always so gracious to give up their master suite for us. We had more than enough room, however, with all of us in one room, if one child wakes up, they woke the other child up. The first couple of nights were rough, but we got the hang of it by the end.

I'm thankful for a safe and happy trip on the way down. The thing that puts a damper on the whole trip, is always the ride in the car. We had never made the trip with both kids, so I was nervous but they did so good. The way home, now that's another story.....Stay tuned...