Last Thursday, early in the morning, Casey, Gabe, and I packed up our little Nissan Altima and headed for Oxford, Alabama (sandwiched right between Birmingham, AL and Atlanta, GA perched on the I-20 corridor). Awaiting us in Oxford were Casey's brother, Will, sister-in-law Bev, and their two children, Abby (age 4...almost) and Jacob (age 2...almost).
The fifteen hour drive to Alabama was actually quite pleasant. The only time Gabe cried was when Casey was driving through a very ugly and crowded Memphis and he yelled at him because Gabe's nonsense gibberish was just a little too loud for the frustrated driver. And, honest to goodness, the only fight Casey and I had the entire way was literally three houses from their driveway because it was dark and we'd never been there before and he refused to call his brother, insisting it would be easier to use the Garmin. Three houses away!!
We quickly put that behind us and enjoyed the most relaxed vacation I have ever been on in my entire life.
Amen.
The end.
Just kidding. I wouldn't leave ya hangin' like that.
Everybody we met in Alabama I immediately liked. There's something about a southern drawl that's just down right friendly. And, my niece Abby's southern drawl is about as southern as they come and so very cute.
Some of the activities we partook of while in Oxford included, town tour finished off at the biggest Thrift store I've ever been to ever, church (where Will is the youth pastor and substitute drummer), lunch at Los Mexicanos afterwards (delicious by the way), garage sale-ing, swimming, napping (for the kids and us!), green bean pickin' in their awesome garden, helping Casey with his school work (next year's vacation will be planned between semesters not in the middle of the summer session), watching the World Cup and wondering what in the world that annoying buzz was and if it was just the channel we were watching (turns out it was approximately 95,000 people blowing stupid toy horns), and tons of major quality time with family we only get to see about twice a year.
We were asked repeatedly if there was anything we wanted to go do or see (tourist-y stuff) but truly I could not think of a better way to spend our time there than the way we did. The kids played together, swam together, fought together (they are toddlers after all), and just got to know each other. Gabe and Jacob shared a room together while we were there which worked out perfectly. Jacob was even kind enough to relax his 6:30 am wake time for Gabe who usually sleeps until 8 every morning. I think they both played so hard they were too tired to cause trouble when going to sleep.
When it came time to leave Tuesday morning we were sad to go and even sadder about the fifteen hour drive ahead of us, but we made it home without incident (except for the piece of cardboard that flew off a trailer in front of me and stuck to the grill of the Nissan for a good sixty miles while driving eighty miles per hour down I-40 across the state of Arkansas). Gabe was a little more impatient about riding in a carseat on the way home (which ultimately meant he was bribed with a lot more junk food than ever before in his short life time), but it wasn't too bad. After we stopped for a bathroom break in Central, Arkansas around 7 pm, we thought for sure he'd fall asleep and it would be a peaceful rest of the ride home. He did not. Instead he talked the entire three and a half hours to Broken Arrow where we stopped for gas. The....ENTIRE....three and a half....HOURS....NON-STOP....talk. Finally, after stopping for gas, we gave him a cup of milk and as soon as it was finished he was lights out.
Amen.
The end.
Just kidding, again.
Here are some of the photos from our vacation to Alabama.
On the open road, just finished cereal and blueberries.
"Natural"
What does that even mean?
Gabe running like a wild man inside the Arkansas visitor center.
Making himself right at home in their flowerbeds.
Our view from the front seat.
Our fearless driver crossing the Arkansas/Tennessee state line.
We were going to stop at each state's visitor center....
....then we went to Memphis and that plan got nixed fast.
Gabe and Annie checking out the back deck.
My studious husband.
Just look at that adorable face!
And, on a side note....where in the world are Gabe's pants?
The boys were throwing toys out Annie's dog door.
Pool time!!
Cool, refreshing water.
So glad for the pool, it was very, very hot in the deep south!
One, two, THREE!
Gabe thoroughly enjoyed the pool.
Casey relaxing and playing games.
Jacob building towers.
Abby twirling circles like a ballerina.
Gabe kissing seashells.
Why? I truly do not know.
A whole lotta cousin love.
Amen.
The end.
Seriously.
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