'Bama Time

Though you'll gain no helpful material out of this post, I still hope you'll enjoy. If no one else, Michelle, Amy and Emmy will read and relish it...hopefully :). I have needed a break, a getaway, talk time, girl time, and the list goes on...for some time now. So, a few weeks ago I schemed about what to do with all these needs of mine. After very little consideration about the possible pandemonium of taking an almost three month old and a 7 month old in a car for a freakishly long 10 hour ride, I called Michelle (who I don't get to see very often anymore due to her moving). She was in-another stupid brave soul. Here was the plan. Michelle's best friend Amy lives in Phenix City, Alabama and hadn't seen Michelle's newest bundle of joy, Lydia. I thought we could stay at her house for a girls' weekend. I would get time to chat with Michelle on the way down, meet a new girl, and take a break from my crazy beloved toddler. The bonus for me would be that I would be close enough to go see my friend Emily and her sweet 5 week old, Ellie, who lives in Birmingham. We left on Thursday afternoon around 2:30 pm. Here's how the next few days went.

Thursday: We planned on stopping in Greenville, SC, but decided to keep going once we got there since the babies were asleep. I was tired, but just wanted to get there. We rolled in Amy's driveway around 2:00 am and immediately crashed after unloading. Amy hooked me up with the guest room .Her home is beautiful and insanely organized and clean. Amy, your home truly inspired me to get my act together. Thank you for proving to me that my kids are no excuse for clutter and dirt.  This picture sums up the miraculous drive to 'Bama. Seriously, we maybe had 10 minutes of fussing the whole way.

Friday: After a cozy few hours in a king-size bed filled with comfy pillows and room to sprawl out, I was a little annoyed with Graham when he wanted to get up at 7:30. Then, the vivid memory of his previous all night party routine flooded my mind and I thanked him for the few hours. No one else was up in the house, so I went out to the kitchen and snagged a yummy muffin Amy had made. While feeding Graham his morning cereal mush, Amy's husband, who I had yet to meet, walked out of his room to find a strange girl (that would be me) sitting in his kitchen. I smiled and said, "Hi, I'm Stephanie." Such a weird feeling. Steve's a nice guy and after spending some time with him and his fam, I didn't feel so much like an intruder. The rest of the day was spent shopping and talking-two of my favorite things. Amy has a little girl who is only 2 months older  than Graham (even though my chubbers of child is bigger) named Audrey-she is ridiculously cute.

 For dinner,Amy made us delicious Manicotti and blueberry cobbler. Yum.  Here's a picture of the Lostroh family: Amy, Steve, Austin, Riley, and Audrey.

Saturday: We woke up and headed to Austin and Riley's soccer game. They were so cute! Watching these two boys made me so excited for Parker and Graham in the future. These two brothers and inseparable. They play together all day and genuinely love each other. I can only hope that my boys are as close as these two. I had never watched a 4-6 year old soccer league, but it was one of the funniest things I have ever seen. After the boys' game was over, we drove an hour to the Montgomery Zoo. I truly missed Parker during this adventure because I knew he would have loved it. The day was gorgeous and the Zoo was super fun. Graham was so chill the whole day. He sat in his stroller and I never heard a peep from him. Such a good boy.

Here's a few more pictures from the Zoo. The last one is my favorite :)

 

Sunday: I got up early and headed to Birmingham. I was so excited to see Em and Ellie. I hadn't seen Em since Parker was 3 months old. Crazy! Definitely too long. I got there at about 10:00 am and left at 7:00. The day flew. We sat on the couch for most of the time and just chatted-I loved it Em! I wished I could have stayed longer, but I had another 2.5 hour drive back to Amy's before getting in the car for 10 the next day. Graham was not super happy with me, but was quiet the whole way home. Though I hadn't seen Em in forever, it was like it hadn't been long at all- only there were two new babies between the two of us-haha. It was funny hearing another mom begin her experience with baby books, diaper explosions (sorry), night time rendezvous, and all the fun/ chaos of a new baby. Emmy, you are rocking it as a new mom. One of my biggest regrets of the trip was that we both forgot to take any pictures. I couldn't believe it. I am so upset. I guess we'll just have to figure out a way to get together again soon...not another 2 years!

Monday: We left by 5:30 am and hit Atlanta at rush hour. By the grace of God we never got stopped...the traffic flowed smoothly. The trip home was not as good as the trip down...but it could have been worse. Graham had been in the car for 15 hours between the two past days and Lydia had a stuffy nose. They were troopers...but let Michelle and I have it a little. We kind of deserved it! Here's what the kids were doing when we pulled in my driveway after 10 hours.

 

Anyway, Thanks Michelle for being my travel buddy! I had a great time. Thanks Lostroh family for all the laughs...and Dr. Pepper.