Farewell Texas

Adelyn and Kristen had their first BIG road trip. out of state. to the land flowing with natural beauty. the great state of Arkansas! where many of my relatives live. Kristen and Adelyn were going to meet their great-grandparents (Mama and Papa) for the first time as well as my great aunt and great uncle, cousins and friends of the family. It was an exciting trip for the proud Mommy to introduce the girls to loved ones.

We left early! at 5am on a Saturday morning and drove for as long as we could with the girls asleep. James drove (all the time, everywhere!). and I sat in the back seat in between two beautiful, well-behaved girls. They did absolutely wonderful. As they started to wake, we looked ahead to what small town we could stop at and feed the girls. The circus was rolling into town! We found a Burger King - and the four of us walked in, looking a bit disheveled from an early morning start to our day, and as discretely as we could, fed the girls. But you know twins are quite an attention grabber - all the local town folk needed a peak, followed by a comment or two.
And we were off again! Our second stop was Little Rock. and our restaurant pick for that hour was Chili's - the wait staff was actually very accommodating and great. Feeding Adelyn and Kristen, and getting a bite to eat as well, went more smoothly than I imagined.

After almost 10 hours of total driving, we arrived at Mama and Papa's house! I hope I will forever remember introducing Adelyn and Kristen to their great-grandparents. Yes, I teared up a bit - it was a really special moment... for all of us.

We really had a great time! Mama entertained the girls a lot. We got to see Papa work in his garden. Daddy and Papa went fishing. We played Domino's - James won (because no one could beat him!) The girls told LOTS of happy stories. and to Mama's surprise, they rarely ever fussed. Our family time together was valuable! Thank you Mama and Papa for hosting us and loving us well!

We (sadly) left Mama and Papa's... and drove on to the other side of the great state. We were warmly greeted by my Dad's side of the family - my great aunt Mary Ann, great uncle Bobby and cousins Susan and Gary. We loved our time with them! a chance to get hugs and visit. It's hard being so far away from family - I value the time together and definitely wish it was an easier trip to take, especially now with kiddos! There was more family that we were not able to see while there because of scheduling conflicts - how I wish it could have happened, but I look forward to the next time we are there!

James and I feel that God really blessed our trip for us. We were thankful for the cooler, cloudy days of driving. and the ease of stopping to feed the girls. for the wonderful time with family. and the memories made with our daughters. The girls did great on the drive home as well. We made it there and back safely - and in the end, were excited to be out of the car!