Arkansas Road Trip

A couple of days after Christmas, we loaded up to take a road trip to Arkansas.  The night before there were lots of severe storms and damaging tornadoes in the Dallas area, and we passed lots of damage and debris as we headed out.  Pretty soon after, we hit wave after wave of heavy storms.  There was a tire issue (low air) that made us turn around once to have that looked at and fixed, then we got back on our way.  Technology note:  (Apparently, we didn't take any iPads!!)  We had two tv screens that hang over the seats for the boys to watch on road trips, and only one was working on this day.  Also, we had never used headphones before.  Mom just listened to the movie as she drove.  Luckily, they had put in a 2 hour movie of 10 stories of the Bible.  Beau did lots of sleeping on and off, Lincoln was absorbed in the Bible stories, and Mom was doing lots of praying that we would stay safely on the road (that she couldn't even see during the storms).  We stayed behind a big truck for almost 3 hours because he had enough back lights to give us a path to stay in our lane.  With about an hour left, sirens started going off in the distance, the phone was yelling alarms to take cover, and the radio was discussing a tornado in the vicinity.  After lots of talks with Bubbles, who was monitoring the storm on tv and radar in Malvern, we plowed through as fast as we could go to drive east just before the tornado could intersect us.  It was the scariest drive ever!!!!!  (FYI: we voted to keep driving away instead of pull over and assume that the roof of a gas station would provide any cover in the event the tornado touched down.)   

Longest trip ever, but we made it to Minnie and Bubbles house!!!!  Lincoln wrote Dad a letter when we got there.  It is the best letter and perfectly describes what he was thinking. 

"Dear Dad, We got thar (there) at 5:33.  It rained a lot.  I hope you are not lonely.  Love Lincoln"  The pictures are of us driving in the rain, us pulling up to Minnie and Bubbles house, and Dad sad and alone.  Hilarious!! 

All calmed down and safe, they boys did some playing before dinner.  It was delicious and our favorite: pork loin, broccoli, and roasted potatoes! 

After dinner, we hit up Wal-Mart to update our travel essentials.  Two sets of headphones and one portable DVD player were first on the list followed by a few extras (I think a hair dryer and brush??).  We inflated the boys beds when it was time for bed and popped in a new movie, Inside Out.  They were enjoying it on the newly purchased mini DVD player.  They totally love the idea of sleeping on the blow up beds.  They settled down with the movie and slept really well. 

The next morning we headed to Dumas to visit lots of relatives.  It was a pretty peaceful drive with our extra technology!  We stopped at Auntie's first.  Of course, she had made everything that anyone could want for lunch.  The boys loved hanging all over Bubbles! 

Auntie scored with individual ice cream cups, and the bonus was that they each had little wooden spoons.  It's the little things in life, right?  Best picture of Beau and Minnie ever! 

Auntie always has more tricks up her sleeve, and she surprised the boys with a sewing lesson.  They were in awe!  They finally got a taste of how she's been making them cute pjs for years! 

Over-stimulation, maybe?  Beau was not ok with a group picture.  Lincoln did his best to make up for it! 

Picture stolen from Allyson's FaceBook page.  Love Auntie!  (We are short but look like giants!!!!) 

We stopped by to visit with Patsy and Julia Ann, and the boys were getting a bit rowdy.  They calmed down a bit and took a turn in the rocking chair.  It was great to have a quick visit with some really cool aunts. 

Truth: no more pictures are available of our Dumas visit.  So sorry!  We went to Memama and Poppa's house next.  Aunt Sarah was there, and she had the amazing sense to take the boys outside to check out the property.  They were getting a little stir crazyafter being shuffled around.  (No wonder she's a great Kindergarten teacher!!)  We definitely took pictures, but they are missing from the record.  (If they are recovered, that would be great!!!)

We made the drive back to Malvern to crash in our beds.  It is weird sleeping in the same room with the boys.  The sounds they make, their sleep styles, the closeness . . . they crashed!!!

We headed back to Dallas the next day and enjoyed a sunny and silent (thanks to headphones and the extra DVD player) drive.