Family Trip

Well, we saw our first nephew graduate from high school on Friday night in Arkansas. It was a bit chilly because I packed when it was 80, not paying much attention to the cold temps this weekend.

We traveled just over 1,000 miles this weekend. We left Thursday around 4 p.m. (ask Gene why it wasn't closer to 3:30 p.m.) We returned today around 4 p.m. We stayed at a Comfort Inn in Fayetteville, Ark.; a Super 8 in Jacksonville, Ark.; a Drury Inn in Springfield, Mo. We decided to make a mini-vacation out of the trip, so we drove back toward Branson on Saturday (ugh! I much prefer the other route, less hilly and all four lane).

We were "robbed" at Branson's Wax museum, which the boys were mostly scared of, but we did better at the indoor mini-golf course down the road. Remember, it was COLD and I packed us for 80-degree weather. We bought cheap hoodies/sweatshirts/coats at Walmart this a.m. before we headed to Fantastic Caverns, which both boys really enjoyed. A much better investment than the Wax Museum, but you live and learn.

A huge thanks to the Dunstans for loaning us two portable DVD players (the boys certainly had their moments on the trip, but these helped immensely.) Yeah for hotel swimming pools, the cheapest and favorite kid attraction.

And yeah for free breakfasts, especially when you have Jared in tow. Our little one LOVES breakfast, and he will eat and eat and eat. This morning he wanted to go back and get more (again), and I asked him where he was going to put it all. Without missing a beat, he said "plate" and kept eating.

The boys are already asleep, and I hope they will be eager for the final full week of school. Only 7.5 more school days until the joy/terror of summer vacation begins.