road trip!!!

Last week the Bailey family took a crazy car trip to Texas to visit my mom & dad. They had planned on being in my home town visiting family for Thanksgiving. Since we weren't going to see them for Christmas or until next summer possibly, we thought it would be great to meet them in the middle. Well, perhaps not the exact middle.

So, we took three days to drive down south, and we stayed with family & friends along the way. It took Kate awhile to get used to the fact that we weren't going home every night. By the seventh night she was wanting to know why we weren't going to anyone's home??

We spent three days in McAllen, and got to visit not only with my parents but with my great girlfriends Jamie & Imee as well as all of our extended family. We stayed with my great aunt Clara, and the girls had a real ball getting to know her.

Over the past years, I have seen my usage of the word "home" in reference to south Texas gradually be replaced by "home" referring to Georgia. This transition was made more concrete as I drove around my home town & didn't recognize streets, shops, and restaurants. Of course, all of my major landmarks were there, my home, my elementary school, middle, and high school. My grocery store. My park. But there was a disconnect that made me a trifle sad. I even thought that I've been driving around Georgia longer than I drove around Texas. Weird!

It was wonderful to be with our family for Thanksgiving. We ate (a lot), and apparently, Josh thought the food to be right up to par with a Bailey Thanksgiving.

Kate, o shy one, did pretty well meeting all the various groups of people. She did best in small groups, so Thanksgiving Day, when she met most of her cousins, was a crazy day! She was quiet as a mouse, but they wanted to please her so they kept bringing her toys and really took great care of her. As people gradually trickled out, she became more friendly & talkative. It was a little bit hilarious. When she took her afternoon nap, all of the little cousins kept coming up to me asking, "When will Kate wake up?" Elizabeth, the 10 year old, did a great job being the "babysitter." Kate really liked meeting with Jamie & Imee since they were able to give her undivided attention. Her favorite! She did very well on the road with mom's special stash of books, coloring books, cds and dvds. Elmo DVD was high on the list of favorites. The DVD highlights parts of the body, and she kept showing me different moves from the movie. The one she actually learned how to do was hop on one leg. We also had a few potty adventures, too.
Rachel was so wonderful! She did great on the road. Unbelievable, in fact, when you think about the fact that she can't really entertain herself. So, she sat next to Kate and pulled off Kate's blanky, played with her toys, and took cat naps. She did great with all of the new people. She's just the right age for that. She also started scrunching up her nose when she smiles. I love when she discovers these new things about her body. Ah the joy of being six months new.

Day 1: Met cousin Ethan for the first time! Stayed with Jana & Ethan for a night. We had a lot of fun. These are two Johnson cousins of eight to be born within 12 months. Talk about a baby boom!

Day #2: We stayed with Imee & Phillip one night. Kate really warmed up to Imee very quickly & even did some reading in Spanish with her.

Yum!

Thanksgiving Day photo shoot. (Rachel had just been woken up)

This picture just makes me laugh. Cousin Elizabeth & Kate -- this is Kate's fake smile. I think I promised her an olive if she smiled.

Another day at the park with Jamie! Woohoo! Jamie taught Kate how to play I Spy!

Would I do it again? Not tomorrow! But, it was the golden time for traveling. To have this golden time again, we'll have to wait until these two are 2 and 4 yrs.