Umpa Meom and Paw Paw!

The Rest of Our Vacation

As sad as we were to not have more time at the Grandparents' house,

we were equally as excited to get to go down to Daniel's parents house.

They live on a beautiful river

and it is oodles of fun to be there.

When we arrived, we were greeted by some special guest.

Four furry ones.

London and Dylan were so excited about the kitties

you would have thought it was they were the best thing ever.

They were pretty darn cute!

Dylan made a b-line to his favorite spot at Memom's and Umpa's, the hammock.

I mean, it was literally like

"Oh, We are so glad ya'll are here! Where is Dylan?"

because he was already in the hammock before we had even

hugged necks!

In the same way that open space is with soft green grass

is our sanctuary of sweet goodness at the Grandparents,

this beautiful stretch of river is just plain happiness.

The kids love, love, love to skip stones into the river with Umpa.

And we all love slipping our shoes off and wading through

the cold water of the river.

Seriously, look at these views.

And I really didn't get a picture that does it justice.

Every time we are down there

I think to myself

"This is the perfect place for Yoga"

I mean a view like this just feeds the soul

spoons of peacefulness, no?

Too bad I don't do yoga.

After a little river time

we headed back to the house

for what might be my new favorite dish!

Memom made a Eggplant casserole that had

shrimp, ground beef, cheese, and tons of other

yummy things in it.

Seriously...

SO good.

I'm gonna have to get that recipe!

Just like in the country

(actually, this is also the "country" but I always call it the river")

the kids went straight to sleep.

Fresh Air and lots of outdoor play

its the best remedy for sleep, I think.

Daniel and I stayed up

and enjoyed some grown up time

with Umpa and Memom.

We always love this time with them.

When we woke up,

we had biscuits with the yummiest homemade jelly.

Then, my littlest bumkin went with Memom

and Daddy to do some morning gardening.

Sister makes a great little country girl.

And she rewarded herself with a little R&R in the hammock.

Daddy tried to snag a turn,

and London and I had lots of fun trying to flip him out.

I'll let you guess if the two of us were

strong enough for that one!
He's so sweet though

and let us "flip" him for fun,

which London thought was the best thing ever.

Lorie, Daniel's little sister, came down with her kids

and all nine of us jumped in kayaks and took a little trip down the river.

I took London in mine and Daniel had Dylan.

Dylan loved the whole thing, even flipping out once.

London was less than thrilled with it all.

I don't even know what everyone else's reaction was to it all

because I was so caught up with London fussing,

me trying to not flip us,

and to be honest, getting it over with

(because of the fussiness).

But from what everyone said, they enjoyed it.

We came back to the house and were rewarded

for our hard work in the river

with some of the best red beans and rice that

ya ever did have!

We took a little nap, and then the kids enjoyed some

homemade popsicles.

That night, we met my Daddy and Brenda for Dinner.

This is of course, my favorite part of any trip to Mississippi.

He is doing well,

looks great and is as happy as always.

There are no words for how much

I love my Papa Poo.

So, I'll spare you all the sappy-cheesiness of me trying.

Seeing him just does my heart so much good.

I could hug him a million times.

And I'm so grateful to his wife for taking great care of him

and for always driving him up to meet us and

treating us to dinner!

Sunday was the day to go home.

Just like with the Grandparents

we never feel like we've had enough time

with the In laws and are always sad to leave.

But it was bitter-sweet,

because after 10 days of an amazing vacation

we were all very ready to be home.

And that wraps up all of our vacation.

I don't know if I could pick a favorite

place or activity from the trip.

We had so much fun everywhere that

we were able to go.

But I do know that my very most

favorite thing of the vacation

was simply having my hubby

all to myself with our babies

for ten days straight.

My heart is still full of happiness!

Day 8:Grandparents House

Daniel's Grandma and Grandpa

are some of the most wonderful people

that I have ever had the privilege of knowing.

I remember the first time that I met them,

they made me feel so welcomed as part of their family,

even though I wasn't yet married to Daniel.

I joke with Daniel that if we ever split up

I get the Grandparents.

I love them like my own.

And being at their house out in the middle of know where,

breathing in fresh, warm country air,

watching my babies run barefoot in more outdoor space than they know what to do with

from my seat in a swing,

listening to stories of sweet memories of the past,

sharing opinions of events present,

and feeling insaid amounts of love in the air...

Its pure heaven

pure bliss

for our family.

Daniel and I have always said that Grandparent's house is like

our own little sliver of heaven.

Its peaceful and quiet

and yet filled with

laughter and happiness.

And to kick start all the happiness

Grandma always cooks the most amazing breakfast for us.

Seriously, we've gotten in be more than once and said to each other

"I wonder what she's making for breakfast"

The menu changes often,

but it is always

"Slap Yo Mama Good".

I mean, these pancakes were boarding on sinful...

And breakfast was made sweet by this sweet little girl singing us songs with her Great Grandparents. Dylan joined in and we got a fabulous concert to enjoy while we ate.

My little sprouts wasted no time getting outside.

I don't think the table was even cleared before London had found her way

to one of her favorite spots,

the big tree swing.

Dylan found a cozy spot right next to Grandpa another swing.

Dylan adores Grandpa

and I think its safe to say

the feeling is mutual.

Grandma and London picked some tomatoes from the Garden.

I love watching my city babies

getting to live country life

for a few days.

London is crazy about Grandma.

They spent lots of time playing with bubbles.

I think the place that the kids spend the most time at

is the tree swing.

One or both of them are at it

at most times.

And it seems to never fail that Daniel will push

Dylan at heights that make my stomach flop.

Dylan's sequels of excitement and smile that is

plastered on his face are so priceless.

And how do you cool down on a hot

Mississippi Summer Day?

With a Smith County watermelon

of course.

I swear I have dreams about those things.

Almost every time we are down there

Dylan has something up his sleeve

that he wants his Grandpa to help him make.

And every time, Grandpa figures out a way to make it happen

and takes Dylan and Daniel

to his workshop to build this or that.

This time it was a boomerang.

Another staple at the Grandparent's house are those little

squeezable coolaid drinks.

I admit that I don't usually let the kids drink them at home

because they are filled with sugar,

but all "sugar rules" get put aside

while we are here, and the kids drink

those bad boys like they are

at an all expense paid bar or something.

A sign of a good summer day in the country...

Again, I had to set my "sugar rules" to the side

for the kids to make chocolate pudding with Grandpa.

They thought they were in heaven!

The babies sure do get spoiled with goodies and love...

They have been married fore over 50 years and you can still see

true love between them. They are a true inspiration.

After lunch,

we said our
"See ya later"s

and headed out.

We are always sad to leave.

And we are already looking forward to Christmas!

Day 7

Day 7: Lunch and the Grandparent's house

When I was booking our trip, I went back and forth a million times on how many nights we should spend at the beach. When I settled on 4 nights, I was kind of worried that it wouldn't be enough time. But thank the Lord, it was just the right amount of time. As the kids get older we might add to the length of time we are beach side, but for this stage of life, 4 nights was just right.

And any sadness that we did have about leaving our cute little condo,was eased by the fact that we were heading to Mississippi to spend some fun time with our family.

On our way to Daniel's grandparents,

we stopped in Mobile, AL to have lunch with my

Uncle Billy and Aunt Shirley.

It has been much to long since the last we saw them

and it was nice to catch up.

The trip from Mobile to the Grandparent's house was about 2 and a half hours, and London slept the entire time. My big boy played his little Didji the whole way. And Daniel and I indulged in great, uninterrupted conversation.

We arrived at the Grandparents with lots of daylight left in the day,

and the kids wasted no time running out to their back yard to soak

up some fresh country air!

Dylan and London even helped Grandpa water the Garden...

They looked like good ole country kids!

By the time the we had dinner, and the sun went down

the kids could barely keep their eyes open

from all the fresh air and all the running around they did.

Daniel and I stayed up and talked with Grandma and Grandpa on the back porch for a while, which is one of our favorite parts of visiting with them.

It was a great day.