Let me begin by saying how absolutely wonderful A was on the entire trip. She really was our perfect little traveler. She slept, watched DVDs, and was pretty agreeable the whole time. It really wasn’t until quite a bit into the very last leg of the trip that she was getting pretty tired of riding. Completely understandable – I shared her sentiments. The trip was fabulous. I did the majority of the driving which really helped to pass my time. Hubby got some work done on his laptop. I was able to update Facebook quite a bit and took dozens of great pictures both with my phone and with our big camera. Here’s our timeline…
Friday, March 13th – Left around 7:30 am. Arrived in Tennessee at Aunt San’s and Uncle Phil’s house at around 9:00 pm. A loved both of them instantly. Neither of them had met A before. They had a baby doll for her and she loves it. She named it Lucy. Aunt San made us a wonderful breakfast the next morning and we were off again.
Saturday, March 14th – Arrived in WV late in the evening. We had stopped in South Williamson, KY and had dinner at a Chinese restaurant that Hubby and I used to eat at all the time before we moved to Texas. It was exactly the same as we remembered it and it was as good as ever! We got to visit with quite a bit of family after arriving in Gilbert on Saturday. We stayed with Uncle Dusty and Aunt Carol on Saturday night.
Sunday, March 15th – A and I went to my grandmother’s house early while Hubby joined Dusty and Carol for breakfast in town. Hubby joined us at Ma Merlie’s a bit later. We got to visit with Ma Merlie, my mom, Wilkie, and my Aunt Ellen. I hadn’t seen her since my dad died in 2000 and she had never seen A. So it was great to visit with her. Later in the evening, we went to meet up with Hubby’s family for dinner. We had a great visit with everyone. We got to see James, Marlena, Dusty, Carol, Dale, Rose, Ma Gles, Bobby, and A’s cousins, Alexis and Austin. A loved playing with them. She talks about them quite often.
Monday, March 16th – With Ma Gles in tow, we hit the road again. We arrived at Aunt San’s and Uncle Phil’s at around 6:00 pm. We had a great visit and looked at some old photo albums. A got yet another present – a sweet stuffed rabbit wearing a crown. This time A named her new little friend Sarah. Later this night we roasted marshmallows.
Tuesday, March 17th – What a great day! We started out with another wonderful home-cooked breakfast. I certainly couldn’t live near Aunt San. She is a fantastic cook as is my mom-in-law. We played bean bags in the back yard. We let A pick some flowers. We petted and fed the horses. Later in the evening we went into the nearest town and had a fabulous Mexican dinner at El Patio. After we got back, A settled in to watch some Noggin. While she was doing that, the adults played Apples to Apples. That was so fun. I laughed so hard. We all did. I can’t wait to play that game again.
Wednesday, March 18th – We hit the road a little later than we wanted, but we made some great time. We stopped three times – once for lunch, once for a general gas stop, and once for McDonald’s. It was really a potty stop that turned into a food stop. We had talked about splitting the last leg of the trip up into two days. But as we got closer to home, we really didn’t want to do that. So we arrived home at 10:00 last night. I immediately set out to put everything away and make it as if we had never been gone. It’s just a thing that I do every time we travel. I was unpacked and had a load of laundry washed before I finally went to bed after 1:00 am.
So that’s our fun trip in a nutshell. We had a great time. I am thankful to have had the time with my family, both immediate and otherwise. The visiting was great and I enjoyed the time in the van immensely. I have found that driving is a great way to pass the time and I felt much more relaxed when I was in control of the vehicle.
Thanks again to the T family for use of the van. It was awesome and very comfortable. Thank yous also go to Aunt San and Uncle Phil as well as Dusty and Carol for their hospitality. It was very much appreciated. And Ma Gles, please know what having you here means to us. We love you so much and are so happy that you came to visit. I love the memories that we have been making these past few days and look forward to the ones yet to come 
Sleeping baby
She is such a great traveler.
Sweeeeet!
This was taken at the mall where we had dinner on Saturday evening.
This is my aunt Ellen. It was so great to see her again.
Four generations - A, my mom, my grandma, and me.
This is my sweet Mama Merlie. I love her so much and have so many fond memories at her house.
My mom brought her new poodle to meet us. Very cute!
A and Alexis playing a game. She just loves her cousins.
Dale, Hubby, James, and Dusty. These are Hubby's brothers and they're all trouble
James and Ma. He's the baby of the family, and he's always felt like my little brother.
A and her cousins were running and sliding on the tile in the kitchen. They had a blast!
A with Uncle James. She adores him.
Ma with Uncle James, his family, and A.
Aunt Carol and A. She gave A a special doll.
Ma Gles on the road.
Playing at a Cracker Barrel. That is Ma Gles' favorite restaurant so we hit a few of them.
The farm. They are currently growing wheat.
A wanted to pick some flowers. It was a beautiful morning.
I could have taken her picture all day here. It is gorgeous!
Sweet!
I caught an action shot of Ma playing the bean bag game.
A with Ma in a gorgeous setting. The farm is amazing.
More pictures. I couldn't help myself.
Daddy took this for me. We had a such a great day on Tuesday.
Daddy and A were sitting in Aunt San's swing.
Cutie pie!
She was just being silly and jumping around. Great shot!
Playing at Aunt San's and Uncle Phil's
This nerf dart gun was really fun.
The trusty van that was so graciously loaned to us by the T family. Thanks again!
These horses were awesome.
Just beautiful.
Love this picture.
I loved those horses. They were amazing.
Ma and Aunt San.
We wanted to prove that it really is a place
Yes, it is called Frog Jump. It's very peaceful there.
I like this picture of me and A. We had the best time in Tennessee.
Uncle Phil took A to pick some flowers. She was on cloud 9.
Our waiter took this for us at El Patio. What a great meal and a great way to end the day!
This was after having lunch at yet another Cracker Barrel on Wednesday as we were heading home.
While Ma was here, we took her to our favorite Chinese restaurant, had lunch with the F family at Joe’s Crab Shack, and also went to the Oasis with the T family on Sunday. Here are some pictures from that.
Ma and A posing with the statues at the Oasis.
More posing
Breathtaking views are a staple of that place. Love it!
It was a perfect afternoon to eat outside.
She and I also went to Bingo twice, once with my friend M. We had a great time. Sorry we didn’t win Ma.
Hubby left with Ma yesterday morning to take her home. We miss her already and were sad that her visit was short. We had fun and we hope you did too. See you in August.
