Project Life Tuesday

Tuesday 5/15 Jaxson LOVING the firetruck at the Railroad Museum.

Wednesday 5/16

Our pet for the night in the hotel.  Jax dubbed him “Goldfish.”  Even though he is blue, not even remotely orange at all!

Thursday 5/17

Jax fell asleep about 10 minutes away from our house!  Go figure!

Friday 5/18

No picture. 

Saturday 5/19

Jax wanted to walk Julie to the car.  The whole time, he told Julie how you are supposed to hold hands when crossing the street and to look both ways before you cross the street.

Sunday 5/20

Julie was excited to watch Curious George on TV.

Monday 5/21

I took the kids to the play area in the mall.  I’m not sure what Julie is doing here, but she sure was having fun!

Road Trip! or How do I get out of Arkansas?

It’s time to go home! 

We went on Priceline and reserved a room in Nashville for the night.  We figured that we might be able to go further than that, but we wanted to give the kids a break. 

And us.

We had the option to take the back roads and meet up with I-40 or just to drive I-40 the whole way.  We knew that there might be some construction, but figured it couldn’t be that bad.  Right?

Wrong.

We sat on 1-40 for an HOUR.  The lanes was merging down to one lane, but we hardly moved at all.  When we finally made it to an exit we immediately got off the freeway thinking that we would by pass the traffic.

Wrong.  Again.

Everyone else had this idea too.  We sat on the back roads because they were also backed up.  Luckily, Justin does know Arkansas and used his GPS to get us over to another back road.  Finally, it was clear and we could drive.  This ended up costing us about 2 extra hours in the car.  It was then we were so thankful that we had booked that hotel in Nashville and not one further.

When we finally made it to Nashville, we had traffic.  But all along, I kept saying I was just glad we were moving.  It may only be 5 MPH but at least we were going somewhere!

The hotel was easy for us to locate and was fancy-schmancy.  They gave Jax and Julianne rubber duckies for their bath.  And the front desk asked if we would like to have a pet fish for the night.  Um, sure!

Jaxson named him/her Goldfish.  Oh, how original.  I was afraid that he might want to take her out so I had to explain that she stays in her fish bowl.  It was funny.  He kept saying, “Come here fishy” as if she was a dog. 

I’m proud to say that he listened and Goldfish stayed in her bowl the whole time!

Soon enough, we all collapsed into bed.  We were so tired!

Choo-Choo!

This morning we woke up and decided to go to the Railroad Museum.  We figured that Jax would enjoy the trains.  And he did.  But his favorite part was the 1939 fire truck.  He climbed on up and pretended to drive it.  At one point, he said, “Red light.”  And he pretended to stop.  Then what seemed like a long time he finally said, “Green light” and he drove on.  Even in pretend, red lights seem really long.

Afterwards, we headed to the park to meet up with the cousins.  I overheard Jax tell Luke that we have to go back to Carolina tomorrow and that he was going to miss him.  And then Luke told Jax he was going to miss him too.  So sweet.

Julianne made me swing with her pretty much the whole time.  She would just giggle like crazy and when I would stop she would run right back to the swings to let me know I wasn’t doing my job!

I’d say she’s opinionated!

It's all about the pretend boat.

We took Jax to the Nature Center this morning.  He had a blast.  He loved pretending to fly on the airplane and pretending to drive the boat.  We even saw an alligator and bald eagle!

“Do I have anything on my face?”

Jax is still enjoying the cupcakes that him and Pap made yesterday.  I’m really not sure how much he actually ate to what he wore on his face.

For dinner we headed down to the catfish restaurant.  Julie devoured the pickled okra and catfish.  She was loving the food.  And Jax was showing me his “sour pickle face.”  Thanks Barney for having an ENTIRE song about sour pickles.  Seriously.

I think the trip has caught up with Jax.  He was cranky today and took a nap in the car.  That NEVER happens.

1 year ago

It was one year ago today that we rolled into North Carolina with a U-Haul in tow.  Julianne was 2 months old.  Jax was 3 and had boundless energy.  And I was one tired mama.

It’s funny to look back and realize that I don’t really remember our road trip out here.  It was hard, I do remember that.  And I remember the biggest cow statue in North Dakota.  I sure enjoyed that.  Fun times, fun times.

We lived in the Pacific Northwest for 10 years.  We endured the misty rain and missing sun.  We embraced the cold weather.  And we enjoyed the mild summers. 

And not once did we own an umbrella. 

Six months into living in North Carolina, I broke down and bought an umbrella to keep in the car.  I know! I think we are babies now when it comes to the rain.  But in all honesty, I think the rain is significantly crazier here.

I honestly can’t imagine life without fried okra.  Or hush puppies.  Or Chick Fil A.  Jaxson loves Chick Fil A.  And I love their indoor play area.  It’s great for rainy days.

This last year has been a great adventure for our family.  We have enjoyed exploring the south and experiencing new foods!