today

It's happening again ...

It feels like summer is just slipping away faster than I want it to.
Can someone please stop August from coming here?

- ajb

around the house

a few photos from before and after our trip to Chicago ...

taken by Eden

love watching her sleep

L was whining and before we knew it E was cutting up a peach

and said, "Here. This is what she wants."

her solution when her Daddy said it hurt a bit for her to sit on him

love

- ajb -

getting home

We left Purdue around lunchtime on Monday and started making our way back to Chicago to catch our first of two flights to get back to Jackson {and Lydia and CC and Granddaddy}. On our drive through Indiana, E pointed out the huge Y's ...

Ashley and I were both taken a bit since we had never thought of wind turbines making Y's as they spin..."A Y ... A Y ... A Y ..."

And while the drive is pleasant, by the time you get 30 minutes north, you are bombarded by toll roads (nearly $15 worth in total, one way!).

At least there is free food on the plane!

We got to Memphis with no trouble and found our gate rather easily (well, Eden found it, counting the gates down the hall the whole time). Our flight arrived at 6:42, and we were supposed to depart at 7:50. Once we got to the gate, they pushed that time back to 8:50. So we let Eden do pretty much whatever she wanted. And what she wanted was to tear pages from her coloring book into confetti. I have to admit it was quite fun!

What wasn't fun was when they (after at least an hour of turmoil) finally cancelled the flight. That's right - no flying to Jackson Monday night, and no flying the next day since there was no way to book 50 people on already full flights. When they announced they were chartering a bus (that's right ... the airline was chartering a bus!), I was already booking a car ... can you imagine a 3+ hour bus ride with a 4 year old who had her sights set on sleeping on a plane for the first time!?!

I got the car and met Ashley to this sight  around 10:45 ...

After crying all the way through the airport "I want my airplane!" ... she finally passed out.

getting home - part 2

Since it was so late, we decided to drive to Oxford (an hour versus 3) in our rad 2012 Corrolla. The upshot was that I got to meet Henry Winters!  We joked about praying for things as Ashley has been for another chance to see our nephew before school starts ...

It only took two broken airplanes, a chartered bus by an airline, and a rental car to get there.

Eden was excited to see me holding him, and she filmed the moment.

She also got to hold him ... a pro!

Don't take his picture, Momma!

She knew just how to help him calm down ...

 

Winters' nursery, complete with his great-Granddaddy's (Joseph Winters Jones, Sr.) hat ...

We left Oxford around 11, on our way to see Lydia for the first time in a while!

She was so excited to see us that she fell out ...

We were in Jackson until around 5:00, then a quick stop for dinner ...

It was a rough return trip, but worth it. We got home at 9:00 with two sleeping kids and lots to unpack ... Thankfully, we were able to celebrate being back at home with beignets the next day ...

Thank you, CC & Granddaddy!

While we were gallivanting in Chicago, Lydia was being pampered by CC and Granddaddy.  At the same time, Lydia was pampering Sugar - which is why she had to be moved to a higher chair (she was feeding the dog from the table).

One of Lydia's favorite thing to do is climb in and out of chairs - and one of her favorite chairs is bouncy chair at CC and Granddaddy's ...

Other things that make her happy? Doing what she wants and being the center of attention (who doesn't love those things?)

Apparently, while we were gone, she learned a new trick - walk through the door of the tent, crawl out of the window.

She had such a good time that she konked out on the way home from church ...

When we talked to Eden about Lydia staying with CC and Granddaddy, E chuckled and said, "He {Granddaddy} wants me to live there for a hundred years." We're pretty sure CC and Granddaddy both feel that way. And although we will keep both as long as we can, we know that they are in very good hands when they are at the 147. Thanks so much for keeping our precious Lydia and for loving all my girls so much!

the 'burbs

On the Saturday of our Chicago trip, we took the day to visit our good friends John and Maura, their girls Maeve and Clare, and our other visiting friends from grad school Joshua (and Elizabeth at the conference) and their girls Sydney and Evelyn.  As we were packing up, Eden wanted to make sure we had enough leotards for all the girls ... she was right, they were a hit!

Maeve, Sydney, & Eden

John and Maura were great hosts, even picking us up at our hotel to drive us to their house. The day started with a brisk walk to the library where we saw a professional juggler ...

... and started to think about a new career for our girls.

Then, it was back to John and Maura's for lunch and some running in the backyard...

... and various attempts to get a picture of everyone in attendance.

After a bit of a rain storm (during which we read the library books we HAD to check out)

and a snack of peanut butter smoothies (John raved about them the entire day and they were interesting),

we went to the neighborhood park (twice really since we got rained on right after our first attempt).

Ashley kept saying Maura and John's town looked just like neighborhoods do in the movies ...

Eden had a BLAST and fell asleep in the car on the way back to the hotel {After telling us, "Guys, be quiet. I'm trying to go to sleep}. She did not wake up when I took her out of the carseat, nor when I carried her 200 or so yards to the elevator, nor the 18 floors up, nor the 100 yards to the room, nor when I put her in the bed. Exhaustion! Definitely the sign of a great day!