Abilene-Spring Break!

We left on Friday after school and drove the long trip through the night. It was easier with the boys who both slept the majority of the way, but was difficult for me to stay up to keep Neil company. We finally arrived a little after 3:30 and quickly jumped into bed. (It had been a long day but mostly had to do with the two previous days issues with Midas blowing up my car and having to rent a car to take...but that is a WHOLE other story...) Here is a glimpse into our trip to see Gumbea, Pop, Aunt Cole, Uncle Chris, Camp, Cash, Paka and Granna.

Our vacation started out with beautiful sunny days and lots of driving Gators and 4-wheelers. But it quickly turned "sickly" when Neil got the stomach bug for two days followed by Aunt Cole. That wasn't any fun! Pops, Cash and Camp all had touches of it while the rest of us took special "remedies" to ward off the ugly virus. Luckily it didn't get the rest of us but it was for sure in the back of my mind the rest of the week. I kept thinking one of my two littles or Gumbea and I were going to get it.
Here is Neil's grandparents, Paka and Granna and their fourth great-grandson. I think that it is super special for my boys to have three sets of great-grandparents and a great-grandfather still living.

It doesn't get much better than this when it comes to getting pictures of us. One refuses to look at the camera and the other has no idea he needs to look at the camera. They both get this picture taking quality from their daddy.

We had to charge the Gator and 4-wheeler every night because they rode, and rode, and rode, and rode these things. They had a blast and never argued over who was going to drive.

While we were there, we celebrated this sweet little boy's first birthday. It was supposed to be a "lucky 1" party on St. Patrick's day but with the stomach bug, Aunt Cole decided to postpone it a day. It was still so fun and the food was super yummy!

We visited the Abilene Zoo one morning since the weather was perfect. The boys loved all of the animals and getting to run around.

Jack kept telling me that parts of the zoo were stinky. I had to agree when we visited the Rhinos. They used to have elephants at the A-town zoo that stunk so bad it was hard to enjoy their "beauty".

I love him.

Of course daddy's favorite part was looking at all the ducks. Jack liked finding the green heads. A boy after his daddy's own duck-huntin heart!

Zoo time!

This little man has the best smile.ever. He has a permanent smile on his face all of the time. He has started that deep down belly laugh and it makes me laugh so hard. It is just precious. He has a little dimple that is a constant fixture on his chubby cheeks.

I promise the big boys weren't torturing Cash. Poor thing has had so many ear infections and just didn't feel very good. He wanted so badly to do the things that the big boys were doing.

Ugh. My heart melts for this little guy.

Best Cousins. Best Friends. Best Mess Makers.

He loved swinging and enjoying the warmer weather.

Oh my. He can build with the best of them and loves ALL kinds of tools.

Look at all of that drool and slobber. It is a constant fixture on his face these days. Maybe he's cutting some teeth?

While we were there, we met up with a sweet blogging friend of mine. She has known Neil's family for a long time and we have become friends through our blogs. We had to get our boys together because they are all pretty much the same age. Although my oldest talked her sweet oldest's ear off, I think that they enjoyed riding and eating some cookies. I think that we will be friends for a long time! It was so fun getting to see them for a while!