A couple weeks ago, we headed south to go visit Lacey and family. Originally planned to be a regular occurrence so we could escape the extended winter of State College, now it's just a nice trip to see family, since we also have spring on the way in Durham. And as it worked out, we actually got to experience SUMMER while in south Georgia - highs in the mid to upper 80s!
We headed out Thursday evening after work, and drove out of NC (trying to drum up excitement for South of the Border via the billboards for Hayden. She was less than impressed), through SC (so many cops around!) and into Georgia before stopping for the night around midnight. Hayden and Eliza thought the hotel was great - it was so fun to see the excitement of staying someplace new. A nice counterpoint to my adult perspective that had grown used to conference hotel level quality! They were excited by the long hallway, the possibility of the pool (H: can we go swimming when we come back again?!), and the sharing of beds (one kid and one adult per bed, worked well!). We managed a decent breakfast at the free continental breakfast, brushed our teeth and were on our way by 8:30 the next morning.
Our drive into the night and stay at a hotel strategy meant that we arrived at Aunt Lacey's house in time for lunch, giving us plenty of time to eat and play before nap time. The girls quickly explored all of Jay's toys (he was at the sitter's till after nap) and got comfortable with their surroundings.
For dinner we headed to Lacey and JT's favorite
pizza place. The kids enjoyed a walk to the fire department while waiting for food, and all kids ate some pizza. I especially enjoyed the roasted red pepper, goat cheese and local sausage pie. Eliza liked it so much she showed off her fun stuff-your-face-make-yourself-throw-up move; luckily we were outside. Everyone enjoyed some of the famous peanut butter chocolate cookies. Even Charlotte had fun munching on a plastic cup.
The sleeping arrangements worked amazingly well - Hayden and Jay in the same room. And we all woke up the next morning well-rested and ready for fun. Well, except for Hayden, who had kind of a rocky morning. She even tantrumed about going to get fresh donuts!!! (which were ridiculously good.) After breakfast, Sarah and Brad came up to meet us and we all headed out to
the goat farm to check out the goats. The kids liked seeing the goats and trying to feed them small pieces of grass, while the adults frantically tried to keep the kids (human kind) from touching the electric fence.
After the goat farm (with H having a tantrum as we left), we went to their retail store downtown (tantrum about going to the store), then to a toy store (tantrum about leaving the toy store), and then aborted lunch plans at the park to go home (tantrum about no picnic and playing at the park that lasted the whole drive home and for 10 min parked in the carport!). We managed some lunch, put them all down for nap and watched some basketball.
Once nap was over, the real fun began - GATOR TIME! Or tractor time, depending on your perspective. Okay, so technically they'd been introduced to the gator the day before, and it was a big hit. Hayden was a little rocky on the driving at first (she drove into bushes and bumped into the garden on separate turns) but she got the hang of it and had a blast. The kids were amazing at taking turns. The theory was that both driving and riding were fun, so it didn't matter which you were doing.
So after nap on Saturday, they actually had water play, because it was HOT - upper 80s. Lacey and JT have the coolest water table that we might need to find for ourselves. Eliza got introduced to the sprinkler. In true, I'll-try-anything Eliza style, she ran into the spray, only to stop short when the water hit her and freeze, while continually being pelted. I'm not sure if she liked it or hated it. She didn't smile, but she didn't cry. (can you see the expression on her face?!) And she did the same thing again after we got her to unfreeze. She was curious to check out the sprinkler when it was no longer spraying. And Jay was a very considerate host, serving Uncle Jason lots and lots of tea.
And THEN it was gator time again. This time, Eliza even got to ride and she loved it. She held on tight just like she was supposed to (except for one time) and would chase after it when it wasn't her turn. Chasing became the official third activity of gator time so that all would have something fun to do as everyone took turns.
Sunday was our last day with Lacey, JT, Jay and Charlotte and we just had fun playing. There were morning pajama pictures, a walk to the playground at the local elementary school, more rides on the gator and just lots of playing.
For dinner we went to one of the few places open on Sunday and enjoyed some delicious barbecue, complete with a side of fried pickles. There were lots of cute pictures at dinner - we must have all been happy with our food!
(this one taken by Hayden, with only a little cropping added!)
And back at the house, as we packed up stuff to head to Sarah and Brad's, we tried one last group picture. First Eliza wouldn't cooperate. Then we got Hayden to smile as it was an "all girls" picture. Then Hayden got mad because Jay joined them. Gotta love cousins.
All in all, it was a great visit. Sure Hayden had her most impressive tantrum to date, but overall we had so much fun. Hayden asked if we could get a pink tractor to drive in our yard, though she did acknowledge that our yard (with little to no open flat space) isn't quite right for that. The kids were able to share a room. I got to eat local collards in a sausage casserole. And Carolina won their basketball games. All was good. Thanks for hosting us!
On Monday morning, we headed into Tallahassee to get a tour of the university and grab some lunch. The tour ended up being by car, so no pictures, but we did have a tasty lunch at a local Mexican place. We got to sit out on the deck which was great. The TV was showing Dora so Hayden was in heaven. And Eliza tried salsa - and liked it! (and it wasn't even super mild.)
Logan's indoor climber with a slide was a big hit with the girls - especially with Eliza.
At bathtime, Logan finally consented to a group bath. Sorry about Eliza's psycho eyes, the only other picture I took did not have full bubble coverage.
After bath, Eliza continued our family tradition of naked-try-on-shoes time.
heh, heh, look at me, I have a marker top in my mouth!
best car toy ever - magnetic paper princess dolls with sticker accessories
(help me, help me - I want to go up the slide!)
