Thanksgiving Vacation

Oh my goodness going home was SO much fun! Our little family of four stayed with Oma & Opa in their new house in Ruston. We really appreciate all the trouble they went to just so we could have beds to sleep in and furniture to sit on while we were there.

We were planning on driving down all day Friday. BUT, Dan got off work on Thursday morning after a 30 hour shift and felt so good that we decided to drive down if we could get packed quickly enough. Both of us were feeling up to that challenge and did laundry, cleaned the house, and packed the entire family (including the dog) in 3 hours. Whew! The drive went well and was pretty uneventful considering we traveled more than 800 miles. We drove laaaaate into the night and got to Ruston around 2am on Friday morning and collapsed into bed. Oma & Opa weren't scheduled to be there until Friday night and Ellie wanted to know where the heck they were. Try explaining this to a 2 and a half year old when it's 2:30am and you've been driving all day. Then try to explain to her that she has to sleep in a new room all by herself... that didn't work either so Dan slept with Ellie and I slept in our room with Julia. The next night (and the rest of the trip) Ellie did great and slept in the room all by herself.

I'm going to have to condense all that happened while we were in Louisiana so here goes:
- First stop was to visit Nana and let her meet Julia for the first time
- Second stop was to round up my parents and take them to (none other than) Johnny's Pizza for lunch! This was all a big surprise because we didn't tell my family we were getting there a day earlier than scheduled.
- Ellie learned how to turn a summersault
- Dan cleaned out his "memory" box and we all got a big kick out of his stuff. Well, ok, it was mostly me laughing. Especially the My Life list (predicting what his life would be like) that Dan, Ellie & I are pictured holding... Sorry to tell on you Dan, but I haven't laughed that hard in years. You were supposed to have your first million by next year. Hm... Dan actually laughed so hard he cried when he opened up a card his brother drew for Opa's birthday about 18 years ago.
- We had a surprise visit from my Aunt Claire & EA on Sunday at my parents. We were scheduled to eat dinner with the Fam, including Aunt Kay & Uncle Ken, and were delighted when Aunt Claire & EA got to stop in and visit on their way home from picking up a horse.
- Ellie had a fantastic time! She enjoyed swinging, jumping in the leaves, taking family pictures, marching, dancing, singing songs, playing with Avery & especially combing her hair, having her fingernails painted purple (the new fav color), playing with all of her Aunts, and probably most of all... having undivided attention from not one, not two, but FOUR grandparents for a week.
- Julia (our social butterfly) enjoyed charming relatives for the first time and smiled at each and every one of them, leaving puddles of melted hearts in her wake. She relished in having an endless supply of smiling faces at her disposal any time of day. For the first time she met: Nana, Uncle Luke, Aunt Katy, Avery, Great Aunt Claire, Great Uncle EA, Great Aunt Kay, & Great Uncle Ken, Steph, Ryan, Julie, Dave, Aaron, Jenna, & Jen (hope I didn't leave anyone out!).
- Dan, Julia & I all made a quick trip to Shreveport one day and got to see several friends, eat lunch, and do a tiny bit of shopping.
- Dan & I got to do pretty much whatever we wanted, thanks to an endless supply of babysitting. I got to go with all of my sister-in-laws to the mall, but we only made it to one store. haha. Then I went back to the mall by myself later in the week to find jeans since my only pair that fit me right now were ripping in the leg (got to love post-pregnancy!). I also got coffee a few times... I really do miss frequenting coffee shops. Dan got to play some golf, disc golf, ate Mexican, and I'm not really sure what else because I was shopping. ha ha
- We ate Thanksgiving dinner twice, on with Dan's family and once with mine.
- Thanksgiving morning Dan & I drove over to Shreveport and did the Turkey Trot with Dan & Jen. They all beat me, too. Not that that's surprising... I haven't exactly been running regularly lately (I blame my two kids, he he).
- Julia attended her first tea party with Oma, Aunt Carol, Aunt Joan, Aunt Katy, Ellie & I.
- Saturday night we stayed at Pop & Tudi's house (in order to get up on Sunday and drive home). We had a bonfire that rocked the house. We haven't done that in years. Ellie actually participated in the festivities, as did Dave, Julie & Olivia who drove all the way from Shreveport to bid us farewell. Aunt Katy, Uncle Luke, Avery, Pop & Tudi were all there of course, and eventually Uncle Erik came with a friend (yep, a girl folks).

We got up and drove home the next day and were seriously tired when we arrived home. Dan actually could not drive the last leg because he was falling asleep. THIS is seriously out of character for him, but I cracked open a coke and drove 'er the rest of the way home safe and sound. Surprisingly, when we got home the house smelled exactly like it did when we bought it. It made me wonder if this is what our house always smells like. I mean, have we even lived here a year and a half? I'm not exactly sure.

Ahhhhhh. It's good to be home!