Ah, the beautiful South...

Here's the overdue post detailing our trip home. Enjoy the stories and pictures!

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We arrived Wednesday night after a good drive that afternoon. At the rest area, we went in for potty breaks, found brochures about Kentucky and then went back outside for a walk to visit the big Mack trucks. Amos loved it. It was so much fun to walk with him. I know there are alot of things we'll enjoy more since he's walking.

Because there was a new puppy to meet (Fin) we were all outside for a few minutes when we arrived home. Everyone came out to meet us and we reunited in the dark! After we went in, it was crazy to see them in the light and to have them back home.
The next morning we all decided to go to the Loveless Cafe for breakfast. Nestled next to the end of the Natchez Trace, it is a classic place to have home-cooked Southern food. The breakfast was sooo good and afterward, we walked around the shops. We returned home after a good meal, played with the dogs and gave Amos a nap. The guys rotated the tires, too, after Dan told Nathan about the shaking their little Honda was doing. After the rotation, that problem went away, but a new one arose. Mechanic Nathan decided that the car was still safe to drive, even if it was a bit shakey and annoying!
Later that day, Amos found the toy box in the foyer closet and took out the bus from his Great Grandmas Sheehan. Being that he's really into cars and trucks now, this toy was great fun for him. The sun came out too, so we all went outside to watch Dad cut down a tree along the pond. Amos showed his excitement by picking his nose, something he does pretty regularly now! For dinner, we tried a sushi place that has a conveyor belt. The sushi was pretty good and Amos made friends with our waitress!

Friday morning we were all up early (except Nathan) so we went to Starbucks for our morning jolt and brought some coffee back to a well rested Da-da. While at Starbucks, Amos figured out how to make handrums with the cups and then how to stack them, which was very exciting since we had just been teaching him about stacking!
On the way home we stopped by a garage sale and found some great deals. We got Amos a little square rug with roads and streets for him to play cars on. We also found a little chair and some books and videos. The find of the day was the miniature guitar that my dad proclaimed "playable" after tuning, of course. Amos loved it and played it all weekend! Sidenote: His love for music is ever increasing, as he loves to listen to music that he can dance to, and it can't be quiet music--he has to be able to hear the pounding drums and wailing electric guitar. His favorites of late include Led Zeppelin, Radiohead and of course, his Grandaddy. We're so proud of his musical tastes already! Ok back to it...

The day was very busy--I was finishing my sewing projects for Bethany and her shower: three burp cloths and three blankets. My sewing machine broke so I did some last minute sewing on Mom's machine. Mom did an appointment with Beth and Dan and then Mom and I went shopping for food, hitting Costco, Target and Kroger. It wore me out! While we shopped, Nathan, Dan and Amos went on some errands and met up with Grammy Carole P who was in town for some massage appointments.

(Three generations of clear blue eyes!)

Abby joined us Friday night and we all enjoyed little Ben and Jerry's treats!

Saturday was the big day, for Beth's baby shower. We made yummy food: little cucumber sandwiches, little chicken salad sandwiches, veggies, fruit and spice cake muffins. We played a few fun games: Everyone got a few safety pins at the start and we all had to make it through the shower without saying the word "baby" or give up a pin. I didn't do very well, but we all had fun! We also passed around a roll of toilet paper and everyone tore off a piece they thought was equal to Beth's current waist size. That was really alot of fun. Beth was blessed with many great gifts, the best being a "pregnancy outfit"--spring green polyester polka dot pants and a yellow FLORIDA shirt. She tried it on later and showed off her pregnant dancing skills. We all had a good laugh and I promised not to post the video I took of it!
While reading the paper, Dad saw an ad for a Thai-Sushi restaurant, which got us all excited. So we piled into our few cars (Abby's roomate Mary was with us too) and we headed to Bellevue. The food was pretty good, but I ended up leaving first, to take our screaming and tired little Amos home.

Bethany and her midwives

Megan and Ari Martin (My mom delivered Ari!)

Sunday was a good day of rest. After church we headed home for lunch and on the way, stopped to see Susan and Maggie Card, part of the family that I babysat while growing up. It was good to catch up with them and introduce them to Amos! After we sent Abby off back to school, we all went up to the pond for some fishing. My Mom accidentally ran over two mating toads so my dad scooped them up for fish bait. The fish must have been sick of toads, as we saw many more mating couples in the pond. Beth and I watched them all swim around, bumping into each other, fascinated by all of the eggs they were laying. It was like watching the Discovery Channel! The guys went out in the canoe to fish and took Amos with them at first. Soon they realized that their load was too big and so they came back for the second canoe and dropped off Amos. He was glad to get the life preserver off! We enjoyed sitting by the water and the peaceful scene. It smelled awesome, too, like wet pine needles. We were reminded of our other home in the great Pacific Northwest! Later that night my mom brought the little play teaset down from when we were little. Amos loved it. He had tea with Da-da and enjoyed sitting at his little table.

Amos and Nathan played handdrums while Grandaddy played slide on the mini-guitar!

Monday morning we packed up and got ready to leave. Amos had a few more tea parties and then we said goodbye. It was sad and tough to leave, I am used to having Beth and Dan live in the same city as we do (at least before seven months ago). Our drive home went well, with Amos falling asleep almost immediately and a stop at a rest area for a breathing treatment. We made it home safely and were very tired. It was great to be with family again!