Thanksgiving

I didn't want to advertise the fact that our house was empty so I delayed posting until we came back home. Two weeks ago we set off for Texas. I spent days beforehand cleaning and packing so I wouldn't freak out about not getting things done the day of departure. The house did look okay at one point but by the time we left it was in disarray. Buddy walked in the door first when we arrived home and thought that the house had been ransacked. It was but only by our children as I was loading the car prior to leaving.

We picked Buddy up Friday night to leave from post to save time. With all of that advance prep in packing I managed to forget to pack underwear so I stopped on post to pick some up. I later learned that I forgot several pairs of pants as well. I must pack better under pressure. The first night we made it to Jackson TN. It was after 1am when we stopped. The kids slept pretty much the whole way.

Nyla woke us up bright and early Saturday morning. We drove forever before arriving in Texas to meet up with friends. I expected Bohdin would have loads of fun with their just turned seven year old daughter and that was true. I've called dibs on her for Bohdin later in life. We had a lot of fun visiting with them and their three wonderful children. We left Sunday morning to go meet more friends in Fort Worth. During all of this driving Cora actually did the best in the car. She did an awesome job. Nyla was Nyla and Bohdin was a bit whiny which is what dropped him into second. When we were close to Ft. Worth, Bohdin, Buddy, and I were playing the quiet game. We had played several rounds with various winners. During one of the games Cora started getting a touch fussy - not crying just dissatisfied. Bohdin finally said "I really want to win but I want Cora to stop crying more". Then he started singing to Cora so she would feel better. It made me feel like a jackass. He's definitely the better person.

After visiting with friends we headed to Buddy's parents house across town. It had been a long trip and it felt good to finally arrive. We spent nine days and eleven nights there. The kids did all sorts of things. They played Wii, watched movies, spent time with their cousins, played ping pong, and numerous other things. Papa managed to outlast Nyla on the swing a few times which is quite a feat. She can usually swing longer than somebody wants to spend swinging her.

Buddy bought a rocket to launch for Bohdin's birthday. He set it up the day after Thanksgiving. I waited with the camera for a really long time but they couldn't get it to work. As I was about to go in the rocket launched. There were no more launches that day. Buddy tried again on Tuesday and had three successful launches. The problem was with the batteries in the ignition. Once a good pair were put in everything went smoothly.

Wednesday morning we left for the long return trip home. Our first stop was Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas where we searched for diamonds. Since we didn't arrive until afternoon the kids were hungry and then tired. I think I spent as much time searching for diamonds as I did doing various things for the kids. Nyla used the bathroom three times. Once the novelty of the digging and searching wore off the kids realized how tired they were. I took them to the car while Buddy searched more. In the end we came home with Playmobil treasure but no diamonds.

We stopped in Memphis for a very late dinner because Bohdin had such a long nap in the car. Central BBQ is supposed to be one of the best in the city. I have never been wowed by any BBQ place and this one was no exception for me. Bohdin on the other hand really enjoyed it and asked to go back again sometime. He liked the spicy beans. We drove a really long time on Wednesday so we wouldn't have to drive as long on Thursday which was Bohdin's birthday. I'm afraid that Bohdin once again had a rather bum birthday. It is Friday afternoon now and I still haven't blown up his balloons or made him a cake. We'll do something this weekend to celebrate. The only thing we wanted to celebrate yesterday was not being in the car anymore. It was a super long drive and not one we want to repeat for quite some time.