Weekend #3 - Mama II's

On Sunday, we woke up in Auburn, had some coffee and cereal, then got on the road for long trip home. Apparently, yelling "War Eagle!" all day wore Lydia out. She was completely out by the time we made it to Andalusia for lunch at Mama II's ...

 She is still in love with her pacifiers (aka "ba-ba"), though we know she will need to be done with it sooner rather than later.

We got to Mama II's house in time for lunch. We picked up some Zaxby's on our way to her house and called the Brooks clan to meet us.

Bob took this picture, which Ashley loves ...

EB and Lydia had a grand time with their cousins ...

 It was also time to pick limes from Mama II's 12-foot-tall lime tree. Seriously, this thing is huge. We've already made one key lime pie since we've been home, and it was delicious.

We played in Andalusia for a few hours then it was time to head to our next stop, Mobile. The girls got a bit crazy close to our destination, using their popcorn holders to "talk" to each other in funny voices.

 The view of the bridge that takes us into Mobile from the north ...

After dinner, playtime, and bath time at Nona and Big Daddy's, we made the rest of the drive back to Baton Rouge on Sunday night.

It was a long drive, and we were tired on Monday, but it sure was special to see Nona, Big Daddy, Sarah and Robbie, and Mama II and the Brooks clan in a single weekend.

Weekend #3 -- Lydia's First Football Game!

I have a rule that my girls can't step foot into a football stadium until they have first experienced Jordan-Hare. I stuck to that with EB, and on September 27th it was Lydia's turn!

We picked EB up from school about 15 minutes early on Friday with the car packed and everyone bathroomed and ready to go.

Needless to say, all were super excited.

Our first stop (well, after two bathroom breaks) was dinner with Nona at Chick-Fil-A in Mobile.

We brushed teeth in the CFA parking lot, got on pjs, and sat down for the remaining 3 hours ... we got into Auburn around 10:30, let the girls run around a bit, pet Ruby, I drank a homemade beer, and headed to bed.

The next morning we lounged around a bit then got dressed and headed for the 11:00 pick up for the shuttle service ... we parked the car, got on a bus, and were dropped off within yards of the alumni tent. Interestingly enough, when we asked the girls their favorite part of the trip, Lydia said with certainty, "Riding the bus!"

There were larger than life games of cornhole, a Midwesterner's dream!

And real life birds! EB and Lydia were in heaven.

And to top things off .. an Uncle Bob at the front of the Auburn bookstore.

We also ran into some old friends who introduced us to their friend's triplets ... wow ...

The girls got new Auburn stuffies, and Ashley got her picture in front of Stanford Hall ... PERFECT!

EB holding Auburn in the palm of her hand. If she decides to go to school there, I think we may move ... seriously ... maybe?

The best view of the day ...

... and proof that Lydia's first college football game was played in Jordan-Hare.

We technically only made it one quarter of play (which was twice as long as we made it initially the last time we went), but the girls got frozen lemonade for the walk down, and I got to stop along the way and watch parts of the second quarter.

Aunt Sarah let EB and I go and watch the halftime show from closer seats with Robbie, Bob, and Denise, and Lydia finished off the lemonade.

The whole crew then got a group pic and headed back to Sarah and Robbie's house for pizza.

War Eagle!

Weekend #2 - Jackson and Home

Weekend #1 -- Mobile Photos

These are the clothes that went on the trip that was meant to take pictures that fulfilled a Christmas present for Nona...

Very, very, very early on Saturday morning (September 13), we put the girls in the car still asleep and headed to Mobile. They slept until Biloxi then woke up and watched a movie.

The day was filled with art, playing outside, eating, and napping (for the adults on the trip). We all went to bed early.

On Sunday, we woke up and played around the house for a bit then got dressed and headed downtown for family pictures. The whole crew was there -- Sarah, Robbie, Ashley, Nona, Big Daddy, and our little family.

After pictures we ate brunch ...

Lydia REALLY likes bacon - even dipped in ketchup.

Then we hugged under the Conti sign (our neighbors are the Conti family) and got back in the car ...

At some point I remembered that one of my former students had sent me a message reminding us that the Slidell Little Theater production of Knuffle Bunny was showing at 2:30. We would be JUST IN TIME! So exciting. We surprised the girls with this stop, and they were beyond thrilled when they learned what we were doing.

The six-foot Knuffle Bunny was the hit of the show!

The girls were also impressed by Trixie's ability to stay in character the entire time (Trixie does not talk but only says "Waggle flaggle glaggle plaggle woogie mushie" until the very end of the play). Trixie is at least 20 years old.

I think we went to sleep Sunday night around 7 ... a long weekend, but fun for all!