Down South

The kids and I have arrived in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Got here late last night after three plane rides and almost 12 hours. Sounds like it would have been a day of heck, doesn't it? But somehow we made it through without any meltdowns (me or them). We even got a few nice compliments about the children's behavior. (Speaking of heck, the children within the past week have taken to saying with much amusement, "What the hey?" which is what I sometimes say instead of the other "H" word. I need to watch it.)

My dad met us during our Memphis layover. We even had time to grab a bite to eat at Corky's BBQ, go outside security to visit with dad for an hour or so, then made it back through security without being too rushed for our final light. I was concerned about having to go through the whole security routine again there, but it was dead in Memphis (no one in front of or behind us when we re-entered), so I was very glad that we did it and got to visit with dad.

I almost chose to fly into Houston, with only one plane change. But we would have needed to rent a car and drive in two hours. I didn't mind the thought of driving, but when I tried to picture myself waiting for and getting onto the car rental shuttle bus with two young children, two large suitcases, two other small check-in bags, my carry-on bag, my purse/computer bag, two car seats AND a stroller, I just about panicked. So, we instead endured two plane changes to fly into the much smaller Lafayette, La., airport, where my brother drove over to pick us up. It was nice to see him and visit for a few hours anyway. (We all came back to mom's, where he basically took a 3-hour nap before having to get up in the middle of the night to drive over to the New Orleans airport to catch his own flight back to North Carolina.) My sister and her family were also in town this weekend but drove back to Mississippi this afternoon. So now it's just me, the kids and mom. Mom is still in the hospital but is expected to get out tomorrow. My sister brought a ton of toys and left them at mom's place for Anna and Alexander to play with.

Here are the kids with Dad, Donny and just playing.