Monday I lounged around and went to lunch with Sara and talked to Angela on the phone during naptime instead of doing any laundry or dishes, etc. Then Waylon calls at 4:05pm and says "start packing, we are leaving when I get home." UMMM...I literally packed dirty clothes and dirty bottles because I didn't have time to do anything! Everybody knows we never leave on time but we actually left the house at 7:45! Waylon got home at 6:00 and packed his stuff and loaded the car while I feed Mackenzie and got Max ready (yes, he went too!).
We didn't tell anyone (except Waylon's co-workers and my friend Sara so she could check on the house while we were gone) and tried to drive all night. OF COURSE there was a storm all through Indiana while I was driving! I drove to Terre Haute and then Waylon drove to Effingham, Illinois and we decided to stop. It was around 2am I think.
We stayed at our Holiday Inn Express that lets Max stay (soapbox: so many hotels will let small dogs stay but won't let large dogs...so tell me that my 8 year old Golden will do more damage than a puppy just because a puppy weighs less than 20 pounds?? Max will just lay down; a puppy will chew and bark or cry. Stepping down from my soapbox now.)
Max in the car...he's not used to being in the very back...
Mackenzie did great in the car but once we stopped, it was time for her to eat so she woke up. I'm sure she was very confused as to why she was asleep "for the night" and then we woke her up. She was SO tired that she couldn't go to sleep. She just screamed and cried for about an hour. I'm sure our hotel neighbors loved that. She eventually went to sleep but I don't think she got "good" sleep.
Tuesday we got up and left later than expected (that's more like it!) and got to Sarah's house around 5pm. Travis was home with Carsen while Sarah had walked down to get Hayden from school. We thought for sure Sarah would see our car so we thought we were busted. However, she was on a work call so she came in from the garage and had no clue we were there. She never really looked up, she just went straight into their bedroom and started taking her shoes off and heading into the closet. I was following her with Mackenzie waiting for her to turn around! She finally did and said to the person on the phone "OH MY GOSH, my brother and his family are here...I have to go!!" :-)
COUSINS! Hayden and Mackenzie playing
We loaded up and drove out to Waylon's parents' house (about another hour away). We rang the doorbell and Waylon's dad answered. He just stood there and stared at us! I think he said "It's Waylon and Kelly!" I don't really remember because their flood light was blinding us all and we were yelling "turn the light off...we can't see!" haha!! Frankie had just gotten home from school on Tuesday also so it worked out for us to see him (I'm not sure when we were going to get to see him with our original plan).
Checking out Grandpa
We went to Bella Vista to surprise Waylon's grandma on Wednesday morning. Donna told her Frankie was going to stop by so she would be expecting someone. We rang the doorbell and Sarah waved at her through the window. I think she just covered her dropped jaw when she saw us! We got to sit and chat with her for a little while until it was time for her to go to church.
Can you see her face through the glass? Love it!
Just hanging out with Gramma JuJu
Then we went to Walmart (no visit to Arkansas is complete without a trip to Walmart!) to get a few things for Waylon's mom's birthday. (We got to see her on her actual birthday!) We went back to Sarah's and Waylon's parents and Frankie came over to hang out before dinner. Then we celebrated with cake! Happy birthday Donna!
Sleeping at Aunt Sarah's and Uncle Travis' house
After everyone left and Hayden and Carsen went to bed, Sarah had to get ready for her trip to NYC on Thursday so we went to see James, Hollie and Ella. It was really sweet to see how excited James was to see Waylon. The only bummer of the trip was that we didn't get to see most of our friends because they had already left for Thanksgiving trips.
Meeting Daddy's BFF James
On Thanksgiving Day we had planned to spend the first half in NWA and then go to Fort Smith. However, with Arkansas weather...that was not what happened! Wednesday, it was in the 70's. We actually walked out of Walmart and said "ugg, it's hot and humid!" Thursday, they were calling for ice. We didn't want to get stuck in a mess and so we opted to just go to Fort Smith in the morning. We actually had ice on our car when we started to load it up.
We got to my parents' house and we were trying to be all quiet so we could surprise them (they have a window that faces the driveway in the kitchen and I figured my mom would be in the kitchen and might have already seen us). I was getting Mackenzie out of her carseat and wrapped in the blanket when my dad came around the garage and surprised US! haha! Mom was getting ready to take a shower so she had no clue. I went into her closet as she was coming in from the other side and she yelled "Kelly! Mackenzie! I don't have pants on!" (sound familiar??)
Grandpa playing
Snuggling with Grandma under the magic blankie
My brother and uncle were coming over for Thanksgiving lunch so my dad called Bill and told him he needed help with something and to come earlier. So he did and he was surprised. He didn't even notice our car in the driveway. When Tom got there, he said he saw our car but thought it was one of Bill's friends.
Uncle Bill and Mackenzie
Great-Uncle Tom and Mackenzie!
We mostly just hung out at the house while we were in Fort Smith. I did immediately set up the Pack and Play in my mom and dad's room though! So we got a few nights of silence (Mackenzie does sleep through the night but the monitor is always next to my pillow and I always wake up and check on her). Mom and I did a little shopping but didn't really get much. And I, of course, managed to squeeze in all the places I wanted to eat: Mexican, Geno's (twice!), Braum's, Hong Kong... We got to see Bill's new house and Waylon went over to watch the Alabama/Auburn game with Bill and his friends (and then asked me to hurry and go get him when it was over, haha).
Grandma took Mackenzie to pick out presents. She picked the yellow and green teethers. (yes, she actually picked them!)
Mackenzie hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa
We left on Sunday morning at 6:40am. It was a very long day! Mackenzie did fabulous! She started crying when we got to Indianapolis and we kept stopping to change her but she just wanted out of her seat, which is totally understandable! She finally cried herself to sleep and we got home at 11:30pm.
All in all, Mackenzie did great the whole trip. She did good in the car, she slept good, she wasn't fussy... I was concerned because of the way she acted in North Carolina but she didn't act like that at all! I am very proud of my girl!
We had a great time. I'm glad we got to go, but I am sad we missed our friends!
**These are the only pictures I have...I don't know what happened but I guess we were too busy to take any...if anyone else has some, I'd love to see them!**
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