It's Good to Go Home

This week has been a blur of recovery from last week's Spring Break and preparations for the Easter holiday. I wanted to take a moment to share a few pictures and memories from our last half of Spring Break while the memories are still fresh. And with me, that means I'm quickly running out of time to do it. Last Thursday we began our trip to Alabama to visit the family. I was a bit anxious as strong storms were in the forecast all the way from Kentucky to Alabama and was hoping we wouldn't spend the whole day driving in the rain. Thankfully the day started out bright and sunny. By the time we reached Bowling Green the clouds were moving in but the rain continued to hold off. We were able to stay just ahead of the storms through most of Tennessee although once we were south of Nashville it seemed were were just barely ahead of them. There would be severe thunderstorm & tornado warnings announced on the radio for areas we'd just been in 20 or so minutes before. We hit rain near the Alabama state line as the first round of storms had already started moving through. About an hour from my parents we got caught in in a big one. Rain like I've never seen.....truly a toad strangler. Throw in thunder, lightning and high winds and you've got yourself a good time. I couldn't see the road at all and pulled over to the shoulder by sheer feel. Thankfully I was in a flat area and knew that even if I went further than the shoulder I wouldn't land in a ditch or anything. As the rain eased up a bit I pulled back on the road and continued to inch along at 15 miles an hour. I really don't enjoy driving in weather like that. I can just feel the muscles in my neck and shoulders drawing up as I do. The girls were pretty freaked out by it all. Sister Girl spent the entire duration praying. Baby Girl later told me she was too scared to even pray. Poor kid. Thankfully we drove out of it and it was clear the rest of the way to my parents' house. It was so nice to get there.


My mom and I are huge ER fans and I am so glad we were able to watch the final episode together. I was really so pleased with how they ended it. I've watched it from the beginning and it felt like a very appropriate ending. Oh, how I miss it already. Mom had to work a half day on Friday so the girls and I spent the morning hanging out with my Dad. He had promised to take them on their first fishing trip while they were there so the girls spent a good part of the morning practicing how to cast. Dad took the time to show them how to properly cast just like he did with my sister and I when we were little girls. In fact, they used our very own kid size fishing poles.

My sister and nephew arrived that evening. Her birthday was the weekend before so we celebrated with cake and presents. I'm a good sister, so I won't tell her age. I'll just say that she is the older sister. Heehee!


Saturday morning arrived with great anticipation of the upcoming fishing trip. We loaded up the kids, the food, the various fishing paraphernalia and we were off. After a quick stop to get the appropriate liscenses and permits, we soon arrived at the fishing destination. Baby Girl insisted that at the tender age of just 5, she was much too young to touch the worms. My dad is a good Papo and baited the hooks himself. I'm pretty sure I had to bait my own when I was a kid. Just sayin'.

The fish were clearly feeling lazy or perhaps they are smarter than we think and were fleeing for their lives. Either way, it was not a great day for catching fish. The kids grew bored after not getting a nibble after about 15 minutes....an eternity for a kid, you know. One by one, they began to explore the creek banks, eat snacks, etc. They spotted the beach area so my mom took them over there to play while my sister, dad and I continued to fish.

But never fear, there were a few fish caught before our day ended. Only 4 actually. It was a catch and release kind of day. I caught this one which, while impressive to look at, is apparently not a good fish to eat. But still.....

And my sister caught one......

My dad caught a couple. I missed a picture of him with a big bass because I was over at the beach taking pictures of the kids. Oops! Sorry dad.

That afternoon we took the kids to have Spring pictures made by my mom's favorite local photography studio. She usually does this once a year or so. For several years she did Christmas photos but we decided to skip this past Christmas and do Spring pictures instead. The kids looked so cute in their outfits I insisted on taking a few myself.

Unfortunately the trip ended too soon. We had a wonderful time visiting with my parents, sister, nephew and G.G. The drive home was much easier than the drive down. We're happy to be home but always look forward to our next trip to Sweet Home Alabama.