How we got here...

How we got where?

Why NC, of course!  

Back in February we learned that my younger

sister and her husband were expecting their first child.

I am not that keen on things at times,

I admit it...

we Skyped my sister and her hubby

(not terribly unusual)

Then she told us that there was someone else

there with them.

I was oblivious...

then she held up an ultrasound picture...

and I am not sure if I just wasn't "willing" to put that 

all together or if I was again

oblivious...

R, 

my then 7 year old, said

"Is that a baby???"

My sis said "YEP!"

I flipped out and just started crying!

Fast forward a few months,

and we decided that I wanted to be here for 

the birth.

To support my sister...

So we planned an extended family trip up here.

Not totally thinking all of it through,

but figured we would manage.  

After months of anticipation by R, 

the oldest,

the month of our trip was finally upon us.

I had marked the date on the calendar.

So they saw it every day...

R started packing about 2 weeks in advance.

Maybe more...

I know I unpacked his suitcase 

atleast twice.

I finally suggested he start making a list

of things he wanted to bring instead of packing it.

Then showed him my list on my computer...

Then I marked on the calendar which day he could start packing...

We were leaving on a Sunday,

so I told him he could start packing the Thursday

before we were leaving.

So Tuesday, his laundry hamper mysteriously 

appears downstairs in the kitchen.

I figured he was out of 

socks

or 

underwear

or 

shorts.

Then I hear this

thump

thump

thump

thump

So I follow the noise

to find him standing at the bottom of the steps with

MY laundry hamper.

I gave him a puzzled look.

He proceeds to drag it, too, into the kitchen.

And then

STARTED SORTING IT!

What in the world??

They do help me with laundry,

so this is one of his chores, 

but I typically have to prompt.

He informed me that he wanted to make sure

all of his favorite clothes were cleaned

and that he looked his best.

WOW!!

Then after sorting

and seeing our work load

ahead of us...

the child had the nerve to ask me if it would

be done by Thursday?!?!

Did I mention this all happened Tuesday morning.

I assured him it would, in fact, be done by Thursday

and that it would actually be done that evening.

He was skeptical.

So we finally packed on Saturday.  

Loaded the car Saturday evening...

then loaded the kids...

Sunday morning at 4am.

(My daughter is TOTALLY faking sleep here)

This was taken 30 minutes in...

they were so excited, 

they wouldn't fall back asleep!

Finally they started to relax.

About 3 hours in, 

they all started really waking up.

I got some awesome pictures of the sunrise

over downtown Houston,

but somehow I lost ALL of 

my pictures on my SD card

shortly after we got here.

So what you are seeing are the "few" I actually

uploaded to FB.

Houston

We stopped to grab breakfast and 

then piled back in and kept 

trucking.

Over 5 hours into our trip and we FINALLY made

it out of Texas! 

Mercy!!

It says Welcome to Louisiana - trust me. 

We decided to make a couple of "fun" stops.

We were lured by all the signs on the side of the highway...

We wound up at the

"Candy Castle"

or something like that,

somewhere on I-10

in Louisiana.

Yep,

it was my idea to get them hopped up on sugar

then shove them back in a car for 8 more hours!

Look, its like two kids in a candy store...

hahah!!

With all this candy before them

R chose "Gushers" and "Bubble Tape"

I told him I would buy that for him at a regular store

and encouraged him to get something "different".

We wound up with about 15 different flavors of taffy,

which wasn't a big hit.

But I did call Nana and asked her to purchase a 

box of "Gushers" and have them waiting for R

if she happened to go to the store before we got there.

She was happy to oblige and they were waiting for R upon his arrival.

Along with being lured by the candy shop,

I was also intrigued by the

"Specialty Meat" shops

advertised...

mostly for the hubs,

cause he is one of those that will

try just about anything.

NOT ME!

I just like looking at it and getting grossed out by 

some of the stuff people eat.

EWWW!

So we stopped and saw this fella

at 

"Don's Specialty Meats"

a little further down I-10

in Louisiana.

 

In the less than 2 minutes it took me to take this picture

a vicious fire ant left me with a gift on my pinkie toe that would 

keep on giving the rest of our trip!

We finally called it a night around 7:30 pm

fifteen and a half hours after we started.

We made it to the east side of Montgomery.

We got a later start the next morning,

and within an hour,

realized WHY we usually

hit the road BEFORE the kids are awake!

We stopped no less than 3 times in the first hour.

Gas, potty, Starbucks, potty...

REALLY???

(this was taken after we all piled in and before the FIRST stop)

Finally trucking in the right direction...

we zipped through the rest of Alabama,

Georgia, South Carolina

and finally I saw this!!!

WELCOME TO NORTH CAROLINA!!!

 (again, you gotta trust me)

We finally arrived at my folks house

at 7:30pm.

We were greeted by my VERY pregnant sister,

her hubs and my folks.

The next day, we tooled around Raleigh a tad,

then put daddy on a plane back to Texas...

What a trip!

There were LOTS more pictures

taken

however,

my phone died a slow painful

death and took my pictures with it.

ARGH!!!

We get to do it again in a few weeks

but the hubs promised to take me back

via the NC mountains...

MY FAVORITE!!!