Trip to Texas Part 1 & 2- The Drive & Visit with Grandma L and Grandpa J

We made it to Texas to days ago. We left Friday evening and put in a few hours of driving in. On Saturday, Sunday, and Monday we drove between 7 and 8 hours and it went great. The kids were amazingly well behaved. Babalu and Rookie took nice turns on the Nintendo DS and an old phone for entertainment (as well as books and a Minecraft coloring book). Snuggle Puppy sat in his seat and played with his trains, looked out the window and ate snacks the whole way. I read books (finished one short one and am nearly done with two more, I was alternating every chapter or two) and then out in a half day of driving while Big Daddy slept. I passed the time listening to podcasts from the "Stuff You Missed in History Class" show and it was a blast. I'm a history nerd.

We managed to book hotels with free breakfasts so that was supposed to be taken care of. The last morning the breakfast provided was so horrible that I splurged on drive thru from McDonald's. We did picnic lunches every day to save money and that went well. Dinner was bought at various fast food places. The last night on the road we were all tired so we ordered pizza and had it delivered to our room. The kids thought that was awesome. I just liked that I didn't have to go anywhere in a town with an annoying collusion of highways and nothing that I could really see from the parking lot.

We arrived at the Mother-in-Law's home on Monday evening. The boys are having a blast. Grandpa J took them fishing in his pond twice (once for "catch and release" and once more for keeping) and there are 6 cat fish in the fridge waiting to be cooked tonight. They also went to two of the local volunteer fire stations where Grandpa J is a volunteer to see the vehicles. Babalu wants to be a fire fighter now. There are also goats here including one that was born yesterday (he is one from a set of twins. He made it through the birth but his sister didn't). We are hoping that he survived the night so we can see him today. The boys are also loving playing with their 1 year old cousin, Baby B. He is such a social little guy, a nice change from Snuggle Puppy who is not social at all.

I had a nice visit with my Mother-in-Law yesterday while the guys were at the fire stations. She spends a lot time in bed because of her health so I hadn't really had a chance to chat with her yet. I heard a few new stories about when Big Daddy was tiny. I love hearing about him. And she thinks our boys are wonderful which is always nice to hear (and I think it true, my boys are the best!).

I think today we are planning to hang out around the house and see the baby goat. Tomorrow I'm hoping we can check out the very small zoo near by. On Friday after breakfast we are headed to my Mom's place about 3 hours south of our current location. We have a busy visit with her as long as the weather cooperates. I'll post more about that later...