We started the road trip down to Alabama with a car full of loveys and audio books and smiles.
On Saturday, we got out to walk around Grandma & Granddaddy's pond as soon as possible.
Take note: this girl did great at night, but rarely slept on her own mattress on the floor for naptime. She climbed up multiple times onto the big bed, crawled into corners and under tables.
They had fun working on art projects,
and snuggling up on Granddaddy's big bed,
and baking Red Velvet Cake with Grandma.
The Berryhill family Christmas lunch on Sunday was fun for all. The kids were thrilled to be included in the annual gift swap.
My kids' favorite part of the entire Alabama trip was their time with their cousins.
This snowman was left from the gift exchange, and Colleen LOVED it. We might have left it behind so Grandma and Granddaddy could use it to remember her dancing by.
The kids loved discovering Daddy's childhood things.
On Monday afternoon, I took the kids to their Great Pappy's memorial at his church. Now that they are older, they understand more about it and were eager to rehear stories about him. While it was chilly, there were beautiful flowers in bloom, and the kids asked for photos. So I jumped at the chance!
Austin had been asking for weeks before Christmas if we could decorate gingerbread houses, so we pulled out the kits and made it a family activity on Christmas eve. Grandma helped Austin; Daddy helped Colleen; and Aunt Laura helped Amelia. Squeezing those frosting bags was hard!
Grandma pulled out the good treats to keep them from eating the old-boxed ones.
We took a walk around the neighborhood, wearing our own Christmas lights.
A few fun photos from Christmas morning.
Daddy got his old baseball mitt, and Austin received a new one.
Feeding the baby and changing its diaper....over and over and over.
These boys played ball all afternoon!
Christmas lunch!
Grandma snuggles.
Playing Apples to Apples.
On Wednesday, we met up with William, Donna & Ben at the zoo for the morning.
Colleen had a nasty fall from running that resulted in a horrid busted lip. She was pretty miserable the rest of the morning until she fell asleep on Patrick's shoulder.
Austin insisted that he wanted to touch the rays in the touch tank. He has never been brave enough to actually do it until this day. He was so excited that he touched them!
This girl woke up miserable from her nap, but a bath seemed to put her in a great mood.
This boy and what he falls asleep with crack me up often.
Evenings full of puzzles
On Thursday, the big kids enjoyed some pool time.
Again, not in her own bed for naptime.
An early run to Home Depot to look for a new washing machine - this HD had them all stored up high on a 2nd level!
Loving our new hats that Donna made us!
I took the kids to this children's play space for Friday morning and afternoon. It was very fun and the kids did not tire of it.
Austin gets hot, even while playing games.
On Saturday, we got into Grandma's attic as Daddy went thru some of his childhood things. The kids were beyond excited to hear stories of Daddy growing up.
Wearing Grandma's dress
and Daddy's school uniform and cap.
Daddy pulled out his trombone and everyone wanted to hear him play and try it out themselves.
It has been over 15 years since he's picked it up.
Getting our heights measured!
Finishing up the puzzle we worked on over our time.
This girl will find her own way, I have no doubt.
We hopped back into the pool on Sunday morning and let Colleen enjoy it.
The floor works as a napping place too.
Enjoying some park time and walking around the pond.
On Monday, we headed up to Auburn and stopped by Krispy Kreme to visit with Renee & Steve. The kids loved watching the assembly line, playing with their hats & of course, enjoying their donuts.
I finally made myself an Auburn quilt; we took a quick stop by the university sign so I could photograph it.
Colleen wanted to get in on the baseball too.
Pulling out Daddy & Uncle Nathan's old legos provided hours of entertainment.
Austin was so proud of his building accomplishments.
On Wednesday, Jan 2, I took the kids to Old Alabama Town. It was a drizzly day, and a perfect way to spend the morning. The blocks of buildings were deserted so we got to enjoy the exhibits alone. The kids had a scavenger hunt to complete, and it was a lot of fun. We learned about printing presses, the cotton gin, spinning and weaving, and school life.
One of the staff pulled out the carding wool tools, and the kids had fun playing with them.
Newspaper as wallpaper was so interesting!
She finally napped in her own bed!
On Wednesday night, we headed to Birmingham. Patrick got us a suite that ended up with a giant conference table in it. After hitting up the Embassy Suites' appetizers, we ordered 2 sandwiches through room service. The children acted like it was the best meal of their lives. We followed dinner up by multiple rounds of Uno before bed.
On Thursday, we took the kids to the McWane Center in Birmingham. They spent the day enjoying all the science exhibits.
The indoor zipline was a big hit!
Their first IMAX movie. An almost empty theatre, snacks and a panda story = a great time!
Bed of nails for the girls
The kids had fun with the teen volunteers and their science/math tricks.
Digging for dinosaur bones
This was her most favorite exhibit. She got thoroughly soaked.
At the lightning exhibit
No success at the touch tank this day, but he had fun trying!
Enjoying time with cousins at the hotel later that Thursday night.
On Friday, we honored the life of Great Granddaddy at his graveside funeral service. There had been many difficult moments for the kids over the week since his death, but a lot of their anxiety was over what to expect at the service. It was a beautiful tribute to his life, and the kids walked away with so much peace and a better understanding of how we honor someone.
We didn't like having to leave so quickly after the service, but we did get on the road and made good time, getting all the way into Virginia before calling it quits for the night. The next day's drive continued this trip's weather pattern of rain throughout, but we made it safely home, thanks to hours of audio books and good snacks.
No comments:
Post a Comment