Gone for awhile....

I had visions of blogging and blogging about our 3 week trip to MS. I suppose that's as far as I'll get, because we've been back now for over two months and it just isn't happening! For starters, our digital camera was left at whatever-the-name-is St. Louis Cardinals baseball park. Yeah. That happened the SECOND day of our trip, so unfortunately there are no pictures of all the fun we had. I opted not to check email while we were gone, so I had a huge amount to catch up on when we returned. That takes time. Then I had to get our lives back in order and all that.

Anyway, here are the cliff's notes on the MS trip:

--Flying alone (i.e. without any other adult) with four children, including a nursing baby, CAN be done.

--Just because it can be done does not mean it should ever be attempted again!

--It wasn't as hot as I thought it would be in MS, but pleasant for the entire time. Yay!

--Dori, Micah, and James absolutely loved playing with cousins Hayden, Emmy, Mason, Noah, and Mary Thomas.

--Southern dialect is *quickly* picked up by children. "Mom, can I go outSAHD?" Uh, is that my little Yankee Micah talking?

--We were able to go to a wedding, the Pink Palace, the Memphis Zoo, fossil hunting, MSU, see several sets of grandparents, and celebrate Micah's 6th Birthday with a full-on Southern style barbeque, complete with a random neighbor child riding her dirt back in the back yard. :)

--Dori, Micah, and I planted a holly bush at Dad's grave site. I'm glad they were able to see where Papa James lived and died. We also were able to visit Dorinda's grave site and tell the kids all about Jason's mama.

--Flying home alone with 4 kids, including a nursing baby is equally difficult, but further complicated when oldest son pukes during landing.....on the first flight. Kicking myself for packing everyone else a change of clothes, but not Micah. Oh well....

All in all it was a great trip and visit for our family. We were able to do so much and see so many friends and family. Well worth the stress of getting there.