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!