I'm not exactly sure when we started packing up and hitting the road. I think it goes back to when Hannah was about 3. We traveled to Washington, DC and stayed with a friend of mine from college. We like to fit in family or friend visits when we can. That helps the budget, and it is also fun. We managed to visit family in Baltimore on that trip as well. The only reason this was tolerable when the kids were that age is because of the DVD player in the van. I felt so guilty for purchasing the van with this add on. Not any more. That thing was great! It has been broken for a couple of years now but we can still travel. The kids have replaced movie watching with Nintendo DS and IPods. I'm okay with that, until there is a video game haze. At this point the game becomes nothing but frustration. The youngest is always losing and it is finally wearing on her. Cries of JAMES!!! resound in my ear. Time to stop playing I chime in from the front seat. No really, we are fine. I won't do that any more. This lasts about one second and finally the game between three ends. Time to go back to single play, or music, or even the alphabet game. On our trip last weekend we played 20 Questions. After midnight. I can do a whole blog only on that game. It was hysterical. Lowell seems to think that Under Hannah's Bed is a place in the West. Oops...no we didn't guess that one. But he answered wrong. Okay so he had been driving a long time I give him one mistake :-). Scott came up with the fictional person Ronald McDonald. Who can guess that? Mine was Abraham Lincoln and I think they guessed in two guesses. Oh well!!!
Okay so this summer our family vacation was to the beach. We didn't do anything except sleep late, swim in the ocean, swim in the pool, eat a nice dinner with extended family. Repeat. One evening we went to Adventure Island in Orange Beach. This is our standard Putt-Putt place. Wait, I think it is MiniGolf now. Putt-Putt is a chain :-). Kind of like all sodas are called Coke in the South. Then the kids like to burn quarters in the gaming section and earn tickets to be redeemed for ummm... junk. If only all the kids could get the same number of tickets. Tough luck for the youngest...again. Hannah, I can relate. I am the youngest. Tough stuff.
This is my extended fam...only missing one nephew. Mark Meador. He gets his first name mentioned since he was absent. Lucky guy. From left to right, the Urbans, the Lawther's, and the Meadors.
Trip number two was a tag along with the hubs to San Diego. He had to go to a technology conference...poor thing. We still managed some time together. Actually quite a bit, including the zoo, and since the trip fell on our 23rd anniversary that was just fine. I really enjoyed San Diego. The temp was almost too chilly for me at night so I always kept a sweater close by. Highs about 72 each day I think. I live in the wrong place, y'all. I love the water. I can walk beside a river or on the beach or beside the bay and feel really close to my Creator. I pray while I walk. I am reminded of God's beauty, even on the city streets. I would have been happy in San Diego for a long time. I walked everywhere. I even found a mall. Once I found the mall I walked some more while I shopped . Nice. That was vacation, though. That is what it is for. Tuscaloosa is home. When we deplaned it was about 103 degrees. Ugh! Vacation ends. Home is nice as well. The dogs missed me and maybe the cat. My kiddos were having their own fun with the cousins in Huntsville. But they were also happy to be home.
Stay tuned for trip number three.
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