1. Potty chairs in the back of the van. Since Aphia is newly trained, this saved us many a time. And since this Mama is somewhat pregnant, it may or may not have saved me too... I will neither confirm, nor deny :) Although Mr. Rules Boy was a bit freaked out when he asked me, while tinkling in the potty chair while traveling, "Mom is this illegal?!" and I confirmed that yes, because he was unbuckled it was illegal. I was able to talk him down though and he was eventually ok!
2. Our new mini-dvd player. We didn't use it too much, which I was surprised about, but when we did it was GLORIOUS and a true gift from God to parents in vans with small children.
3. Headphones. When Jonah wanted to play his Leapster, he could stick on the headphones and was perfectly quiet and busy for a long while!
4. The library. Not that I didn't love the library before, but it came in handy to request SEVERAL movies and borrow MANY books for our trip... All for freeeeeeeee! If you know me, you know how very thrifty I am and this pleased me immensely.
There were several great times to be had while in Tennessee also!
Like the hotel worker lady who would basically sit in the lobby waiting for Aphia to pass through, so she could watch her and say (think this in a deep southern drawl), "Mmmm Hmmm! She is sumptn (something) else! Her and her lil' ol' self! Mmmm Hmm!!" Over and over...
Or watching Jonah being SO brave, jumping off the side of the pool, holding hands with his older cousins. Or watching him say he was going to walk on water and then proceed to run across the pool deck and attempt to continue running over the water as he quickly sunk in, assuring me however, that he DID get a couple steps in before sinking!
If you know your geography, then you know that Memphis is very close to the border of Tennessee/Mississippi and so I was fortunate enough to have time to head down to Oxford, MS on Thursday afternoon with the kids to visit some family down there. My mom's sister, Auntie Mamie (Marie) and her family all live down there: Uncle Joe, cousins Shannon, (and her BF Mike) Sean, Chris and Brian. Shannon just opened a SWEET bakery called the Honey Bee and we got to indulge in some mouth watering cupcakes! There's just about as much DELICIOUS frosting as there is cupcake. And here's a little secret, I'm not much for cake or frosting... and these were AMAZING!!! If you're ever in MS, go to the Honey Bee.
Shannon then had us over to her house for a fabulous dinner and time to visit. The kids had SO much fun with the boy cousins- taking to them quickly and singing, "Seany got no hair!" a little ditty that Sean taught them, while out back by the swamp/bayou thing. Hilarious!
The wedding!! The reason for traveling 1800 miles!!
Dave (Jeremiah's step-bro) and Bethany's wedding was gorgeous, blessed, vibrant, and so much fun! Josh, (Jeremiah's bro) officiated over the ceremony, while both Jeremiah and Liz (Jeremia's step-sis) were in the wedding party. We danced a small part of the night away, as dances aren't really the thing in the south. But Dave, being the northern boy he is, insisted on a dance. It was great! After the reception ended at 10:00, JJ and cousins headed down to Beale Street, a happenin' place in Memphis to party it up some more. He strolled in around 4:00 am, having had a great time with the gang. I hung back and did the mom and pregnant thing- very glad for the sleep after a very busy couple days!
We had a terrific time and would make the trip again in a heart beat... although the next time we will have 3 kids in tow... hhmmmm, that could be more challenging, but worth it all the while, I'm sure. And maybe next time we'll go the early spring when it's really perfect there and you don't drip sweat after being outside for 2.47 seconds.
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