Boone!

Last week I took Jordan and Violet to Boone, North Carolina to visit my friend Elissa.  The last time I saw her, I looked like this:

Yikes!

I really miss her a lot and she has been inviting us to visit, so I took her up on it.  Chris and Shaun stayed home to have Man Time, whatever that is.  I think they both had a good time doing whatever men do.  Ha!

I was a little nervous.  Okay, I was really nervous about this trip.  I'm not a great driver and I have no sense of direction.  I panic a lot. I think Chris was a little nervous, too.  Thank goodness for "Lola", the GPS.  

According to Lola, the trip should have taken around 5 hours.  I knew it would take a little longer because I was going to be traveling with two children.  Things were going GREAT and then Lola didn't tell me to turn!  I was talking to Jordan...he didn't bring any sort of electronic entertainment not his trip because he wanted to "learn patience".  So I had to entertain him.  We were in the middle of a conversation while I was driving around a mountain and I wasn't paying attention to Lola.  She indicated that I needed to take an exit, but she didn't SAY it.  And I missed said exit and that mistake cost me almost 3 hours!  

It was a very pretty drive, but I really want to know one thing:  Why is it that mountain gas stations all dispense their gasoline out of these old things?

We finally reached our destination around 8:00 that night.  Right before we arrived, Violet got car sick and threw up.  That put her in a bad mood, but she gobbled up some of the lasagna that sweet Elissa had ready for us.  Then she proceeded to cry.  And cry.  She was SO tired and confused because she was in a new place.  Or so I thought.  She finally cried herself to sleep.

The next morning, she woke up crying and proceeded to cry for the entire day.  I do mean the entire day, save about an hour.  So not like her.  The rest of the kids played while Violet cried.

I tried to downplay all of the crying, but eventually I knew that something was wrong.

She fell asleep like this...coat on upside down and laying on top of some blocks.    

I thought maybe her ears were infected again, so I wound up spending most of that evening in the emergency room.  She cried and cried in the waiting room and the exam room until finally she pooped. And then, instantly, she was back to her old self.  I kid you not.

The next day was a fun day.  The kids played some more and then we explored Boone a little bit.  We stopped for candy and souvenirs and then went to this great antique shop that had a little bit of everything.

 I really wanted to have this horse shipped to my sister!

 My grandmother used to have records like this one.

 I'm not sure what this is about...A few days before our visit, Elissa posted a picture of this creepy mannequin on Facebook and promised to take me to meet him (her?  we weren't sure!).

"Mrs.  Erin, Mrs.  Erin!  You should buy this for Violet!"

This was a great trip.  We didn't have any big things planned.  We didn't have to!  The company was enough.  The kids played.  We ate.  We sat around in sweats with no makeup.  We drank too much coffee and talked about life.  

I'm so thankful for the friendship I have with this girl.  She gets me.  God knew what I needed when He put us together.  I miss her already!

On Saturday, after we were already back home, I was shopping with the boys and received this voicemail from Chris:  "I'm so glad you're back and that you had a good time.  You deserved it.  And hey, I'm really proud of you for making it there and back in one piece. I love you!  Thanks for all you do.  I appreciate you!"

I was SO flustered when I listened to this message...the youngest 2 kids were fussy and hungry and Shaun was moody because we couldn't find any shoes he liked.  The voicemail was right on time!  I laughed out loud.  Loudly, embarrassing my kids, but I didn't care.  What encouragement!

A perfect ending to our trip.