Home Again!

Sometimes you need to leave home to appreciate what home is. We had a wonderful time visiting family in Florida and South Carolina and I'm so glad we went! 8 days away from home is a long time though, and by the 5th day, the girls were asking when we were going home. It's good to be home again, sleeping in our own beds and playing with our own toys. The last 30 miles to home seemed like it took forever to drive and we were all bouncing out of our seats by the time we pulled into our driveway.

We left at 8:30 Sunday night, putting the girls to bed in their car seats in the van. Our intention was to drive until we got sleepy, then pull over at a rest stop and snooze a little bit. We hoped to get to Florida by lunch time. Hubby started the first leg of the trip and Youngest and Middle promptly went to sleep. Two hours into the drive, Oldest was still awake! Oldest drifted in and out of sleep, but she was awake for most of the trip, which really surprised us! Hubby drove until 2 am while I napped a little, then we switched. I wanted to drive at least 150 miles, but I started to nod off a little and pulled over into a rest area somewhere in South Carolina. As soon as I pulled in, shut off the engine and tried to get comfortable in the driver's seat, all the girls woke up, Hubby perked up and I was wide awake. So I pulled back out of the rest area and kept on driving. We arrived in Florida at 9:00!!! Way ahead of schedule! We weren't expected until lunch time, so we pulled over for breakfast and then rolled into town around 10:30.

The actual drive down was pretty good and we feel encouraged to try and make the trip down at least twice a year. It had been 2 years since I saw my family and that is way too long when there are little children in the picture. Oldest was great with the baby and Youngest got along great with my Sister's oldest girl. I had such a feeling of satisfaction to see my Dad with all of his grandchildren on his lap. The smile on his face was so perfect and the look of love in his eyes was all I needed to see to know that we HAVE to get together more often. The older girls warmed up to Grandpa and Grammy but by the time we left, Youngest was still a little wary of them, she usually takes awhile to warm up to people.

While there, we went to the Zoo, celebrated Halloween, went thrifting, went to the Museum, took pictures and got to see where they lived. It all seemed to go by too fast, and soon it was time to leave. There was so much more we didn't do, go to the beach, visit St. Augustine, see local sights, but I know now that we will be back, and those things can be done later. The most important thing was we spent time with family, our girls got to know their cousins and we had fun. I'll be posting pictures later on this week and I'll leave you with a few from Halloween here...

Snow White, an Asian Princess and a bow-tied Mouse, trick-or-treating at a Family Fall Festival event in Florida.

I have a thing for turtles and I couldn't resist snapping this pumpkin at the Zoo.

The Zoo got into the Halloween spirit by dressing up the elephant statues in ghostly costumes, too!