There's No Place Like Home

After being gone for a little over a week there is no place like home. The closer we got to home the more excited I got. I know that sounds silly but I love being in my own house with my own stuff. The boys and Eric were glad to be home too. On Friday Jacob kept asking to go home and we kept telling him soon. We pulled in the driveway and his eyes just lit up. Too cute. Thomas was just as excited to get home. We had an awesome trip. Here is a small run down of how things went.

Thursday June 21st - left the house around 7pm. Eric decided to go ahead and get on the road. Stopped in Louisiana to sleep.

Friday June 22nd - Arrive in Mississippi and spend the next couple of days with Eric's dad, step mom, and grandmother. Got to see all the aunts and uncles and some cousins. Had a great time.

Sunday June 24th - Back on the road and headed to Illinois. Eric took me to Nashville. Even though it was a little out of the way, we had never been and decided that this trip was the trip to do it. Well on a Sunday evening at 5 pm there isn't much open in Nashville that is kid friendly. We went to the Country Music Hall of Fame. I got to see one of George Straits platinum albums. It was so cool. I wish I would have taken a picture. We bought a few things before the store closed and then got back in the truck and continued on our trip north. We arrived in Illinois around 9:30pm, I think.

Monday June 25th - Start to measure the trailer that Eric's mom lives in and start to draw out what was going to be done to it. It needed new flooring and a new kitchen.

Tuesday June 26th - Eric and I go a buy the wood for the floors and he and his cousin start to demo the old floor. Yes we moved his mom and grandmother out before they started the demo.

Wednesday June 27th - Eric and a local carpenter continue to tear out the old floor and put down the new one.

Thursday June 28th - Eric's aunt, the boys and I all load up in the truck and go get the new linoleum for the trailer. That was an adventure that I would not like to do again with two kids in tow. That night Eric and I stay up till 1am putting down the linoleum in the living and kitchen. Good thing it is one big room. No cutting or gluing. Just unroll it and tack it. Eric wouldn't agree with the 'just unroll it' but that was pretty much all that we had to do.

Friday June 29th - The original plan was for us to be on the road again but this time headed home and that just didn't happen. Eric, the boys and I all load up and go to Home Depot to buy the cabinets. We didn't think that they would all fit in the truck but Eric's Tetris playing all these years has paid off. Get back to his mom's and unload the cabinets and start to work on getting them put in. Eric's uncle comes in and stops us and tells us to go rest for our trip home. We gladly listened. Eric got to spend some time with his mom and grandmother and of course me and the boys.

Saturday June 30th - On the road again! This time we are headed for Texas, home sweet home. We had talked about stopping in Cairo to see were the Mississippi and the Ohio Rivers meet but then decided it wasn't a good idea with the time schedule we were on. We just outside of Cairo my wonderful husband surprised me and took me there. It was so cool. You could actually see the currents of the 2 river meeting and becoming one. It is also were Louis and Clark met and started their adventure together. (I just love learning new stuff like that) We had also talked about going to Sikeston Missouri to eat at Lambert's Cafe and also decided that due to time we couldn't do that either. Well, my wonderful husband surprised me again. Off we went to Lambert's Cafe, Home of Throwed Rolls. I went back when I was Thomas' age and just remembered getting my rolls thrown to me and loving it. We ate till we couldn't eat anymore, I didn't eat again till the next morning when we stopped for breakfast. The boys loved that the rolls were thrown from across the room to them. Jacob even tried to throw his roll and we had to stop him. Now I have a roll throwing habit to break but the memories made are well worth it. We continued on our trek home till about 10pm when the weather was getting bad again and neither one of us was able to drive safely. We had been in bad weather all day, the kind were you can't see to drive, and didn't want to risk it at night. So we stopped in Arkansas.

Sunday July 1st - already supposed to be home and Eric back at work, we are on the road again, one last time. My wonderful husband just loves to spoil me when he can and he did it again on Sunday. He looked at the map and decided since we were so close to Dallas that we should swing through Arlington and see my mom. We stayed and had lunch with her and my step dad and then got on the road, seriously for the last time. We arrived home around 6:45pm. We unloaded the truck and began our calming routine for the night. The boys didn't go to bed till late but hey we were home, safe and happy.

Dear Lord - Thank you for our safe trip. Thank you for allowing us to go and not have to worry about anything. Thank you for everyone that was praying for us. Thank you for my wonderful husband who spoils me rotten every chance he gets. Thank you for the boys being so good while we were gone and in the truck. Thank you for the family that we got to spend time with. Thank you for Eric having a job where he didn't have to worry about calling in Sunday morning. Thank you for keeping us healthy on our trip too. Even though Eric didn't feel good a couple of days, thank you that it wasn't anything serious. Thank you for everything You do. In Your Name, Amen

I will try to post some pictures of Cairo later when I get them downloaded.
And now a word from Jacob - 'b'njn;lmlllkhfhbfdhfb hnfjrjjjhnn gggb swfvg fbb