Birmingham fun

We had a great time in Alabama last weekend. It was great to see family, look at old pictures, recall the "old" days, and laugh...a lot! Our family gatherings are a bit different now...4 generations - 22 people - and now the grandkids have kids of their own. I think the "elders" enjoy watching us deal with parenting and being able to walk away.

Here is a picture of my grandmother with her 6 grandchildren and 5 great-grandchildren.














We attempted to take a picture of "Mom" with her great-grandchildren, but it's hard to get 5 kids (ages: 5, almost 2, 1, 1, and almost 3 months) to cooperate! Of course our little one quickly tired of having his personal space invaded and that led to the littlest one chiming in...but at least we have them all in a picture!
















Our adventure was fun...a 3 car caravan with 4 children under the age of 5. A good friend and her daughter joined us on the trek so she could see her family for the weekend. The trip is normally 10 hours on the same interstate, but we made it in 12!!! The trip home became even more adventurous with the addition of a blown tire about 120 miles from home. After changing the tire, we learned a man had hijacked an 18-wheeler and was leading the police on a slow-speed chase around the metroplex. Needless to say, I-20 was shut down! We made it up to a highway that runs parallel to I-20 and worked our way home amidst the traffic with one car on a spare tire. We thought we were home free, but then ran in to construction! YEAH, RAH, improving the city!!! A mere 15 hours after leaving my aunt and uncle's, we finally arrived home. The children really fared well for the long drive.

We have been going to bed early and napping...and we are slowly recovering from this month of adventure. It is nice to know we will be home for a while. Now, it's back to the day-in/day-out of life. We welcome that simplicity after such a busy, but wonderful month.