My favorite doctor, better known as my brother Derek, treated the family to an extended weekend getaway over Spring Break. My parents, myself and the 3 littles loaded up and hit the pavement from Kansas City to Hornbeak, Tennessee. We spent a relaxing four days in a rental "Sportsman's Hideout" home (very fitting name considering all the MANY taxidermy animals that adorned the place including a full size bob cat and bear - yep a bear!) just off Reelfoot Lake. This was a memorable trip for a couple of reasons.
One - our seven+ hour travels ended up taking us twelve+ hours due to several scheduled restroom stops, a meal break, a visit to McDonald's for ice cream and to let the kids run off some wiggles and one EXTREME detour! Short version of the story is the GPS led us to a ferry boat which we were to board, cross the Mississippi river and continue the 10 - 12 mile drive to our destination. Due to severe flooding, the road was closed and the ferry shut down. The detour took us another 2 1/2 hours scurting around the Mississipi. The part I am leaving out is the fact that we were in the middle of no mans land with no atlas and without cell reception. It was right at dusk and we all were somewhat panicked. By the time we found our way back to a Casey's general store it was 7PM and we hadn't had any supper. At Casey's we were told not once, not twice, but multiple times to look straight ahead with our doors locked and windows up through a little town that apparently is less than safe. NICE!
Two - it rained for two straight days and NINE out of ELEVEN of us were hit with the stomach flu. My two youngest were the fortunate ones whom escaped the illness. Picture two very small bathrooms occupied with those who were hit with the lower extremity outs {runs} and the rest laying on the three couches with heads hung over trash cans. Enter one VERY loving mother/grandma who graciously emptied the filled trash bags to the outside dumpster and replaced with a fresh bag. Double.to.the.yuck!!!
I took along my camera, but the handful of shots I took didn't turn out due to the horrific lighting so I am sharing a few my SIL took on their HD video camera.
This little miss was one incredible baby the entire trip. She was a great traveler, was patient with being passed around from person to person as each of us took turns being sick, and adapted to sleeping in a room with three other people seamlessly.
These have to be the two cutest three and half year old boys on the planet. Could they be any cuter? I love Connor's mop top of curls!! It makes me wish Gabrielle had her ringlets back.
This is six of my parents nine grandchildren:
Dawson 3, Gabrielle 6, Connor 3, Logan 7, Dylan 10 & McKenna 2 months
There is no other time like precious time with family!
One - our seven+ hour travels ended up taking us twelve+ hours due to several scheduled restroom stops, a meal break, a visit to McDonald's for ice cream and to let the kids run off some wiggles and one EXTREME detour! Short version of the story is the GPS led us to a ferry boat which we were to board, cross the Mississippi river and continue the 10 - 12 mile drive to our destination. Due to severe flooding, the road was closed and the ferry shut down. The detour took us another 2 1/2 hours scurting around the Mississipi. The part I am leaving out is the fact that we were in the middle of no mans land with no atlas and without cell reception. It was right at dusk and we all were somewhat panicked. By the time we found our way back to a Casey's general store it was 7PM and we hadn't had any supper. At Casey's we were told not once, not twice, but multiple times to look straight ahead with our doors locked and windows up through a little town that apparently is less than safe. NICE!
Two - it rained for two straight days and NINE out of ELEVEN of us were hit with the stomach flu. My two youngest were the fortunate ones whom escaped the illness. Picture two very small bathrooms occupied with those who were hit with the lower extremity outs {runs} and the rest laying on the three couches with heads hung over trash cans. Enter one VERY loving mother/grandma who graciously emptied the filled trash bags to the outside dumpster and replaced with a fresh bag. Double.to.the.yuck!!!
I took along my camera, but the handful of shots I took didn't turn out due to the horrific lighting so I am sharing a few my SIL took on their HD video camera.
This little miss was one incredible baby the entire trip. She was a great traveler, was patient with being passed around from person to person as each of us took turns being sick, and adapted to sleeping in a room with three other people seamlessly.
These have to be the two cutest three and half year old boys on the planet. Could they be any cuter? I love Connor's mop top of curls!! It makes me wish Gabrielle had her ringlets back.
This is six of my parents nine grandchildren:
Dawson 3, Gabrielle 6, Connor 3, Logan 7, Dylan 10 & McKenna 2 months
There is no other time like precious time with family!
1 comment:
I wish I had the gift of penning like you do, Christine. You did a bang up good job of telling about our vacation - one we'll remember and not forget soon. You left out the part about not getting to enjoy the beautiful lake. Maybe another time, huh? And, we'll hope that Travis, Brett and his family can join us next time. XX
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