Y’all

I don’t even know where to start.  We were gone for three and a half weeks and I have over 500 pictures to show for it.  On Sunday we got back and Monday I was sick and Tuesday it was Miller’s 5th birthday.  Phew!  Now we are at Wednesday and I am at a loss to where to start.

So let’s start at the beginning.  However you know how it’ll be.  Kinda of all over the place!

We hopped on the plane on Wednesday.  Contrary to what this picture looks like Miller did not have 2 black eyes!  Allen had to stay behind and work.  Boo!

We arrived in Charlotte a few hours after my niece Miya and Chele picked us up.  Miya is a little warrior.  She had just gotten home from a 3 week trip to China about 24 hours before she got on the plane to join us.  {And she got her 2nd degree black belt while she was in China, so that makes her a fierce warrior!}

We made a beeline for the GAP outlet in Gaffney where we HAD to get a certain boys some more drawers.  He is growing so fast I can’t even keep up!  We picked up some drawers for the Bug and a blazer for this guy.  A what?  Yep, a blazer, or as Miller calls it his, “lawyer sweater”.  I kid you not.

He wore it to dinner at Cracker Barrel.  Miya had never eaten there and we seized the opportunity to show her country cookin’, while her parents weren’t around.  Their only instructions were that she should eat some veggies while she was with us.  She ate her veggies alright.  Fried veggies!

We had a crazy bad thunderstorm that we watched from the parking lot of the Cracker Barrel.  I had no idea that light poles had so much flexibility built into them.

The next day we dropped Chele off at work visited Kelly and Anna Kate and then went to have lunch with Mom.

We picked Chele up after work and as we were driving back to her house the car started acting funny.  Yes, I blew up her car the first day I drove it.  We got it home shortly before her friend Christy arrived from Nashville with her two children for a visit.  Good times!  While we were waiting on someone to come look at the car the boys got to catch some frogs.  They love the country!

After Christy and her kids arrived they paired off for some bonding.  You’d never know that these guys had just met. 

Christy brought her RV because we were a little short on beds.  That’s what I love about family and friends that are like family, they just roll with it.  Get roll with it?  Christy rolled all the way from TN with her beds!  I’m hilarious!  That night my brother KC and his daughter Braedyn came in from Colorado.  Whew! 

About 8:30 the guy shows up to look at Chele’s car and we’ve got kids catching frogs, an RV in the yard and heavens knows what else going on….

The next day there was shopping, car renting, more shopping (Kelly and I!), slip’n sliding and playing board games.

That evening I left the kids inside doing this

and when I went in about 30 minutes later we found this

They were all tuckered out!  I was not tuckered out.  I was stoked to see what was waiting for me that day.  Chele’s friend, Willie, is a peach farmer and his peaches are amazing.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. If you don’t have to stand over the sink to eat a peach, it’s not worth eating!

Saturday we got ready for a little party.  Chele had some friends that wanted to see us and Christy so she had a party that night.  I have very few pictures, but it was fun.

We capped the evening with these Chinese lanterns.  The pictures don’t do them justice.  They were amazing.

Sunday we headed to Waffle House.  It took us 3 tries before we found one that was not full of cigarette smoke or completely packed.  I was really glad we went to this one.  Miya had never been to a Waffle House either.  She liked it!

So did these guys.  Look at my boys plates.  Hungry much?  They had to have 2 breakfasts there!

That afternoon was par for the course because the AC decided to go out and we realized that we would need to rent another car if we all wanted to have seat belts.  After all that  business we decided to take the boys to see Turbo at the movies.  It was a cute movie and they loved it!  By the end Miller was cheering, “Go Turbo!  You can do it!”  I love his pure spirit and willingness to cheer in a movie.  I hope he never loses his purity!

Now my fingers are tired, so I think I’ll give it a little break.  I’ll be back with more from our trip and a birthday!