good ole rocky top.

road trip day 2.

our day started with early morning visits from lainey...

i think the kids are really getting into hotel living. i love seeing peyton care for and love on little ones younger than her...and lainey eats it up too!

we leisurely took out time getting ready to start the day. the kids jumped from one queen bed to the other until i had visions of bloody heads and an er visit...so that was the end of that. we knew we wanted to have breakfast at cracker barrel...because before this trip, cracker barrel seemed like a really special place to have breakfast. we don't live very near one at home so it was exciting to start the day with something not so familiar. however, as the last two states would have it...cracker barrel has grown to about two establishments per exit (not really, but just about). crazy.

anyway...

the morning

started out

pretty rough.

this is where my memory gets a little fuzzy...

i ordered

we waited...

beckham had a fit over something...not sure what now.

needless to say, i sat in the truck with one of my two kids for most of breakfast. i quickly journaled in our road trip journal something like...

please god, give me the strength to get through this moment. i'm hungry, hot, tired, and it's only 30 minutes into our day. basically, i had a mommy meltdown on paper. it was fab.

after things settled down and i returned back to the table we talked about what the plan was. it is sooooo nice not to have to watch the clock, be somewhere...

we do what we want, when we want it. we create our own path, set our own road trip destiny, stop for ice cream, shopping, lunch wheneva we want. truly, it is the only way to road trip. we are convinced of it!!!!

look what i found at cb...old time cracker jack boxes. memories.

and...we were on the road again...moving towards

honking, taking video, snappin' pics, and celebrating like it was new years in june we drove by the welcome sign. we made it to tennessee!!!!

kelle is a true photog, reminding me to quickly snap pics of the beautiful skyline. it is much prettier and impressive than this though.

i wish i could bottle up the energy from our trip and send it your way. we are truly having the BEST time ever. we sit and talk for hours...we make up stories just to get a reaction from one another...because what else can you do after sitting in a car 7 hours. we laugh, we try to get the kids involved, we ignore the cries at times and giggle all the chaos away, we take pics, and tons of video, and make commercials and ...so much more.

everyone should do this and i am serious when i say that this in one of the best vacations i have ever had. yes, at times, it can be tough with the kids, but mostly they just love it. they love to see what we are doing next...they have all but given up hope on ever getting to michigan-that makes things easier:)

i loved watching peyton and beckham comfortably walk into our second hotel room this trip, and react so differently from yesterday. they weren't afraid...they were excited to get ice, find the bathroom, and jump on the beds. yesterday peyton said, "mommy, our room even has a dinner table!!!!! but there is no dinner on it."

i just love seeing how they react to the things we take for granted.

angel baby...never makes a peep.

i can not imagine having more fun with anyone else on a road trip. we seem to love and appreciate the same things, so stopping to scout out fields for photo shoots or making a stop for jam or a spoon seems so natural and something we just HAVE to do. it's just all fun.

after we crossed the state line, we stopped at a little scenic welcome center nestled on a hill wrapped in lush greenery...it is soooo pretty here. we looked around, shared an ice cream sandwich and hit the road again.

we have plans to visit Kentucky tomorrow.

i have so much more to say, but i am so tired.

some videos from our trip...they are really short snippets of the fun we are having!

oh yeah...it hailed here...like big pebbles of ice were crashing into our car...i'm not sure if this trip can get any more adventurous for us moms and babies.

mommy freakin' peyton out...LOL

and this one

and kelle needs a dentist here

a taste of our cracker barrel tantrum this morning

hailin' here

tennessee

fried chicken

sally mae

happy travelers

georgia on my mind.

today marked the first day of our road trip. first stop...georgia! i think we are in perry, georgia. south of atlanta.

it started out with my and kids and i sleeping through my alarm, making me over an hour late picking up my fellow road tripper and baby. oops. but we made it. we decorated the m-van, strapped in the kids, and headed off...to mc donald's off of immokalee road. okay, we didn't get very far and i lost a little excitement after the first few, "where are we going?, I want to go to michigan!" " how much further"

me: peyton, we are going to michigan. this is the road trip we have been planning. the day has come...wooohooo (insert vicky from housewives)!!!!!

beckham: mommy, i want to go on a road trip.

mommy: we are on a road trip. yayyyyyyyyyy!!!!!! we're road tripping...wooohooooo!!!!!!!

peyton: but this is a long time (it had been 5 minutes...AT THE MOST!)

more questions. more moans from the back seat.

holy crap..what did we get ourselves into??????????

it wasn't until the manager and employees at the mickey d's laughing, and smiling and being so sincery in thier well wishes for a safe and exciting trip. it was amazing. faith was restored...all the excitment was back and i knew we were doing the right thing...going on an adventure!!!! i love how happy-for-you-people can make all the difference sometimes. what a sweet way to begin our trip. i was excited to see other people react to our dec'd our mini-van. we ate the attention up, so did the kids!!!!!!

our kids did WONDERFULLY. they were troopers. we stopped at cracker barrel...i love that place. it is tradition in my family that on all trips, we stop by cracker barrel. there is something so comforting by the sight of all the rocking chairs, large and baby small leading into the store. after the kids had a who-can-rock-the-fastest-contest we entered the store while being welcomed by the familiar smell of turkey sausage and cinnamon.

and the kids were...off, anxiously searching for the perfect toy or treat to take back into the car. maybe something keep the kids occupied and quiet for a few minutes.

peyton and beckham found some lovely toys...

lovely microphones that make the kids voices sound robotic and loud at the same time. so lovely they are in the hotel room trash right now! kelle's poor little pregnant head will thank me tomorrow!!!!

off we headed to ...shoot, i can't remember, but i know we had lunch. the kids ran around for a minute, had milkshakes and fries and headed back to the open road. our car hugged i-75 north for hours and hours. we answered, "are we there yet?" questions from the kids (my kids) while kelle and i answered questions from the 'if' book-funny thing is that we know what each will answer before we do...that was pretty funny! we laughed, almost cried (maybe we can get some real tears tomorrow...cause that's the way we roll), we dreamt about a little baby that will be here just after christmas and hopefully before february...names and nursery chats...very sweet!!!! we watched our kids play, share, love on each other too (mostly loves:).

we talked about what we would do if we won the lottery...what would we buy first, who we would surprise. new house and decor for kelle's mom, and a new cherry red f-150 for my grandma...cause that's the way she wants to roll!!!!

i think we stopped at what body part we would be willing to sacrifice??? tiredly laughing right about now. we didn't finish answering that one, but i will get back to you tomorrow.

mostly, we are just having fun! wearing our hats, jotting things down in our road trip journal (kelle made it!)!!! i am pretty sure the first entry was a horse and her baby running just about side by side at top speeds within a fence off of i-75. it was BEAUTIFUL! i was looking for the unicorns next.

finally, kelle stopped the car at some magnolia plantation. sounds cool, right? well, we learned that 'plantation' meant gas station and a bunch of people hangin' out in the parking lot. AND...

the sweetest moccasin booties i have ever seen. we walked in fully intending on coveting some peach butter and a georgian spoon (to collect for our kids...cause our grandma's did it and we think it's pretty cool. to be honest i wouldn't have thought of it...but i have dna enhanced kelle with me and she has a way of making every little thing seem so special and meaningful-love u kells), in addition we swooned over homemade booties for the girls and then figured..."what about the mama's?" the girls rocked their new booties...and so did we!!! we were on a shoe high for atleast an hour. no lie here! (i actually placed my dusty brown gems on the dash of my car so i could admire them until we stopped!!!!!

on the road again...

today wasn't all rainbows and unicorns...but it was pretty close, because i can't remember all the whining, and repeated questions...i mostly remember how happy the kids were when we gave the dairy queen ice cream cones to eat in the car and how kelle and i laughed instead of cried when we could have.

we ended the day at a very clean, highly rated hotel...no bed bugs for us. the kids went swimming, kelle took some photos, and then we ate dinner.

right now, the kid are tucked away in bed and i am thrilled to have free wi-fi, a cold water, a sleeping peyton girl who tests me everyday but just wants to cuddle with her mama at night, and a tv. HELLO!!!!! the real housewives finale was on tonight while i blogged...it was such a great day. the stuff unforgettable memories are made of. and the housewives are crazy! jusy sayin'.

xoxoxo

more to come of kelle and heidi's road trip adventures!

see kelle's blog for more on our travels!!!!

jeff...the kids and i are soooo excited to see you. they keep asking about you!

tired.

the time has come for us to start getting ready for our annual summer trip to michigan!!!! while it is fun and exciting...it is a lot of work to prepare the house and ourselves for the trip. this year, kelle and i are road-tripping it to michigan. we are taking three days to get home, making fun stops in macon, georgia and tennessee!!! kelle has a ton of ideas to make our trip even more memorable. i won't bore you with the details...tonight...i'll save it all for kelle and heidi's (and kiddies) roadtrip series blogposts!!!

around this time of year, i get a tad sad that i am leaving home. as much as i love going home to our families...i always miss home.

we will be gone for two months. we will have tons of fun, take many trips, have family dinners around a table with people we don't get to see very often. it will be lovely, making it hard to return home at the end of august. i guess i just hate saying goodbye.

every year around this time, i pack as much as i can into a two week period...trying to fit in playdates, girl's nights out (or in), coffee in the morning with friends who have off for the summer...

it goes on and on, and I LOVE IT! however, i have finally met the point where i need to hole up and sleep for a while...ha. i'm sure that can't happen. i am so excited for this summer and for all the memories we will make. my kids are sooooo excited to get to michigan and see sito and gido, papa and nona, g-pa and g-ma, auntie hi-o, auntie elaina, and baby evie too. i can't wait to see all the lovin' from my sisters and brother to my little babies. they will eat it up...glow, and feel super special. okay, i'm not sure why i said glow. hahaha. i'm so tired. anyway, this is what was on my mind and without proofreading it and checking for errors...i'm posting.

here are a few pics that daddy will enjoy. he is in michigan and has been for about two weeks so we know he will enjoy. we love and miss you jeff.

beckham not into getting his pic taken anymore...what's up with that anyway?

i bribed him with m&m's for this one

(trying out my new lens too)

i love this picture of my little baby boy...he is just the happiest little guy...apart from his new favorite pastime...temper tantrums!

while daddy has been away...we started a new tradition...sparklers in the pool each night before bed!!!

my baby girl graduated pre-k3 last week...

peyton, grace, zach, beckham, and other friends dancing at the end of the year school party. she was having so much fun. i wanted to bottle her happiness up...it was darling.

peyton mae...

we are soooo very proud of you. you are such a big girl!!!! you have grown so much in the last year and we love you so much. you make us happy every single day...every single day you make me smile and say a little prayer thanking god that you are our little one.

i love how you care so much about others, how you are learning to help a friend that needs it, and how you are using your words to tell other's how you feel. i love how you are so protective of your little brother and how much he loves you for it.

we know there is so much to look forward to this summer, but most of all it will be watching you and your baby brother loving on each other (most of the time:) ) and having fun with family.

xoxoxoxoxoxo

g'night. i'm off to bed!

happy early birthday...

beautiful-sweet-booty-shaken-dance off champ-colleen!!!!!

we love you and your moves on the dance floor.

thank you for moving your celebration up too!

cheers!

xoxo

catching up, gardening, and a little brunch...

i think this is the longest i have gone without blogging...maybe not, but it has been a while. i simply can not believe how busy we are during the days and how tired i am at night. i think my next year of age is creeping up on me...slowly like a thief in the night.

however, truth-be-told, i love to sleep. LOVE. TO. SLEEP. growing up i would relish sleeping in on the weekends, and i when say sleeping in, i am talking about the old school kind. you know the kind of sleeping in you did before you had your own house, kids, tons of responsibilities. yeah man...i would sleep until 11 or noon even. my mom would eventually come in, raise the shades, and say..."you're wasting the day. you're sleeping it away. get up!"

i have to say...i have never EVER felt guilty about sleeping in or 'sleeping the day away!' nevvva!!!!!!

and i guess my age has me appreciating new components of the getting-into-bed ritual because i truly love and savor crisp clean, downy smelling sheets...fresh and cool and scrumptious. i bury my face in my pillow and smile from ear to ear. when jeff sees me...he knows the face. he gets all happy and tells me how happy i look. is it weird that i get that happy bout sleeping?? i bet it's even more strange that i am blogging about it. i guess i just want my kids to know how sleep-loving their mama is when they are old enough to read this for themselves. maybe the next post i will talk about how i NEED to have my fan on full-blast when i sleep:) moving on...

peyton and beckham love to garden. i hear it a few times a week at least. "mama, can we plant a garden?"

we did it last year and it worked out okay. we planted about $25 worth of flowers that peyton chose from the array of blooms. only 'bout $5 made it...grew, flourished, but we'll take it. so, we did it again this year. this time beckham was old enough to get more involved. he wanted to help plant peyton's garden! it started to rain as we headed out, but it didn't stop us, it only made it more fun...for the kids!

notice the ONE boot. peyton's old boot no less:) he cracks me up. he really, really wants some cowboy boots and when he couldn't find any that fit him he decided the girly fuzzy boot would work just fine:)

peyton takes her garden very seriously. seriously though...she does.

...the wildflower seeds...

you can't hear it, but peyton was singing to herself while dusting the

seeds into every square inch of her garden.

watering time!!

peyton's flower garden!

later that day when jeff pulled in from work, she raced out of the front door, grabbed him by the hand and nearly dragged him to see her garden. "daddy, daddy...look at my garden. i let beckham help too. are you happy that i let beckham help too, daddy?"

i love these kids so much.

in between fighting sickness and daddy going to michigan, and us packing for our

ROAD TRIP...hellllo, i/we (jeff helped lots) hosted a summer brunch...

little vintage flower seed packets...looked like little pieces of art. i want to take each one and do something special with it.

...and it was so much fun to see so many of my friends in the same room together drinking coffee, sipping mimosa, noshing quishe and chocolate filled croissants. laughing, excitement looming because of the impending summer break. it was fabulous. i have many more pictures, but these are the beauties that kelle sent me. thank you:) will post more in a few days.

xoxoxo

peytonism:

after stepping on one of the kids toys, my foot felt like it had been ripped in half therefore, causing me to scream out in pain (i'm kinda a baby in that way tho). peyton rushes to my side with an ice pack. she literally ran to the freezer and back to the bathroom in record time and with conviction and a nurturing little heart.

she says, "mama, am i a doctor (said with an extremely serious face)?

before i could answer, she says, "nooooo, i'm not a doctor, mommy. (in a tone that would suggest that i had actually called her a doctor in the first place) i'm just kid. you are so silly mama!" :)