1st Combined Family Vacation

Our first combined family vacation was a success. We learned a few things to avoid in the future (like trying to trotline with a group), but I think we all had a good time (although exhausting!). Doing anything with three 4 year-old boys is a challenge! The moms were hoping to have a little down time while the guys entertained the boys, but that didn't really happen. Dennis and Stephen spent a big part of the time out on the boat, running trotlines. It wasn't the right kind of fishing to do with the littles. They took Jesse and Shepherd out for a boat ride, but all of the kid fishing took place from the dock on this trip. But the trotline provided a good feast of catfish for Friday night supper!

We arrived Wednesday afternoon and got settled in. Nam made the trip great! We ate lunch in FW, so he slept a good bit of the way. Sheila decided to take her car (we ended up having too much stuff to fit in just one vehicle), so Nam rode with Grandad, and I rode with Sheila. That gave us a good couple of hours to catch up on our visiting. We don't get that very much any more! The house was perfect for our needs: 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, a great kitchen and dining area, and a full laundry. The back patio had a loveseat and two chairs for sitting out watching the boys play. The boys had pool noodles for playing with outside, as well as their fishing poles for "practicing casting". We had blown up a couple of packages of balloons for Shepherd's birthday, which provided a LOT of exciting inside play. Even Gracie enjoyed playing with them! I really enjoyed my time spent with her. She is at a great age! She is quick to smile and cuddle. She loves to watch all of the activity going on around her...especially the boys' antics! Nam really enjoyed her, too. It was sweet to watch him interact with her. He was so gentle and was quick to kiss her on the head.

We've been working on getting Nam to sleep with us to give Sheila a break. He decided to give it a try Wednesday. He enjoyed it so much that he decided to spend every night of our trip sleeping with us. After the first night, I had to move to a little mattress on the floor! I didn't get much sleep at all while in the same bed. Sheila got better rest than she has for the past 10 months!

We celebrated Shepherd's 4th birthday on Thursday. The boys enjoyed playing with his gifts for the remainder of the visit. Shepherd was so sweet about sharing them! He is such a big-hearted and gentle little guy! I say little, the kid is a giant! He is the biggest of the three, even though he is the youngest. He outweighs Nam by about 10 pounds and is about 2-3 inches taller. Jesse isn't far behind him. Even though Jesse is the middle of the boys, he takes the lead most of the time...which can sometimes cause trouble. He and Nam are both pretty headstrong! But they are learning to work things out and play well together.

Friday, we took the kids to the Tyler Zoo. That was a lot of fun! The boys were able to run and play and use up a lot of energy. We used to always take our kids to that zoo when they were growing up. Afterwards, we would let them pick out a plastic animal from the gift shop to add to their collection. So I told the boys that we would buy them one, if they were good. That turned into a circus! Jesse and Shepherd finally settled on rubber snakes (😳). Nam and Gracie (via Mandy) picked out jaguars. (Nam is working on his large cat collection: lions, tigers, cheetah and now the jag.)

Saturday morning was busy with packing, cleaning and loading up to head home. The guys had to go take up the trotline, too. We finally hit the road, and Nam was asleep within minutes! He and Grandad rode together again. We stopped for gas and lunch and he was still sleeping, so we just grabbed Subway sandwiches to go. We got to Sheila's about 1:30 and then headed on back to MW. I pretty much crashed after unloading! I still had some cooking to do for our monthly potluck, but didn't do much else.

Sunday was our guest speaker (Phil J.), potluck (at the Reddings), and singing service in the afternoon. We enjoyed visiting with Phil and Jennifer! We all enjoyed our meal and visitation at the Reddings' new home. It is beautiful and very well laid out for entertaining a group! It was a really great day all around!

I slept in this morning and have since been trying to get caught up. Nam was in a good mood when I picked him up from school and we talked about vacations all the way home. He really enjoyed the trip and wants to do it again sometime! He says as he gets older, he'll get more patient so we can travel farther. He did really good on this trip though. Sheila wasn't sure if he would last all three nights, but he did fine. The first night was the hardest, and he wasn't sure if he wanted to stay, but he got up the next morning and told her that he didn't want to leave! This was his first vacation! (He's been to Stephen's house a couple of times but only for one night. Other than that, and staying at our house, this was his first time to be away from home.)

Well, my dryer is telling me it is time to tend to laundry. I hope everyone is enjoying the cooler fall temperatures that we've been having. Hope your week goes well!