Halling Go To Alaska

Yesterday was a good day. It started off with blue skies. So off we went here. We came back home and showered and hung out for the rest of the afternoon. Dinner was this yummy pizza-y like stove-top, one-pot casserole. It was quite yummy and the girls ate it up. After getting the kids to bed, we watched Grease. I very nearly didn't make it through. So.very.tired. I was sound asleep by 11:45. Day 25 was a success. Let's hear it for day 26! Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Yay for sleeping in! The girls woke up around 8:30. They didn't want to head upstairs without me. I conceded at 9. Bari is awesome and brought me home a mocha. It was a pretty mellow day except for all of the attitude the girls were dishing out. I sorta wanted to smack them all at various times throughout the day. We ended up taking them over to the school where Bari works and let them play on the playground for an hour. During which time all three of them were in tears at various points. Woot! Go me! But I did get a few pictures of them happy. It was at this point that we decided to definitely do a run with her local running group. I needed it desperately. So we came home, Bari made some mac-and-cheese for the kids and we left her D in charge of the girls. And off we went. We met up with Pete too! And then we ran. Four miles. The last one I decided I needed to go full force. I needed to push and push hard. I ran my fourth mile in 8:25. It was hard and fast but I needed it desper...

Another early morning. After a horrible night's sleep. The kids didn't sleep well and so by default I didn't. I maybe had about 4 hours of interrupted sleep last night. So when I woke up at 4:45 with my alarm set for 5? I just decided to get up. We were out the door by 6 a.m. I'm nothing if not a well oiled machine. And off I go into the new morning light. I didn't take many pictures today due to my exhaustion. We stopped in Lexington for breakfast. Ten minutes after getting back on the road the sky opened up and we got poured on. I like rain. And it rained on and off in varying degrees for the next couple hours. I had my first meal at Panera. My broccoli cheese soup was quite yummy. I was quite excited to be seeing my girl, Bari, though. We shared some sweet tea vodka and hung out. I even got to meet the infamous Squirt. I may have been more smitten than she. Tomorrow? Not exactly sure what's on the agenda tomorrow. And I'm okay with that. I get to hang ...

This morning started out early. 5:30 to be exact. T's flight left at just shy of 7. After dropping him off I hit up Starbucks for coffee, breakfast for me and some chocolate milk for the girls. Then I headed back to the hotel to pack up the truck. We had to say goodbye to my parents, niece and Granny. Granny is the hardest one. The whole just turned 90, mortality thing hits her every time. She loves us and the little girls so much, the last few years she says goodbye like it may be the last. And it breaks my heart. She is an amazing lady. On the road again! But today, die to the change in plans mentioned yesterday, made our drive a nice and easy 5-hour drive back to Brooke's house. It was a lovely drive and I did get this one picture. The drive was uneventful and then we got back here. Jay grilled us chicken and potatoes for dinner. The girls watched the 5th Harry Potter movie and now are pretending to be asleep. Granted I'm heading up shortly myself as 5 am is going to c...

The day started out alright. T was up and out the door by 8 in order to get my oil changed for me. The girls were a bit grumpy as they wanted to play in the pool but I wasn't sure how that would all work. The 10yo needed hair cut so at just about 10 we headed over to the mall. It was a bit bizarre because at home the mall opens at 10 and every store front is ready to go no later than 10. Here? We stood outside Master Cuts until 1015 when they finally opened their doors...and they weren't the only ones. But we got the haircut done and headed off for downtown Charleston for lunch to celebrate Granny's birthday again with just her progeny. It was delicious. I had a berry salad with salmon on top. Though it was huge! After lunch with 15 adults and 6 kids we headed back to the hotel for some pool time for the kids. They burned some energy. I'm glad we made a point to let them have this moment. And I promised on twitter that I would get a picture of the family all spiffied ...

Today started out well. I'm not sure if this week has been too much stress, too much extended family, too long on the road, bad timing or what, but the overall feeling in the vehicle I've been in has been grim. Then again 20 days on the road is a long time. But now for a mini synopsis. We got up relatively early and packed up the cars and headed out to breakfast. It was very yummy. I had a sampler breakfast: egg, bacon, French toast and a pancake. It was perfect and yummy. Three-fourths of the girls got to ride with my aunt and uncle in their convertible to breakfast, which they thought was really cool. All thought it was a good time. It was a beautiful, if not humid, morning. T *might* be sold on the idea of a house in Calabash. (What dreams are made of.) After breakfast we headed straight to Charleston. My dad had bought tickets for the ferry ride out to Ft. Sumter. It was a lot of fun. I've turned into a history lover as I've gotten older. Here are the girls next to...

Today was supposed to be s mellow, boring day in the car. We got up and had some breakfast and leisurely packed up. My aunt and uncle said it was an 8-hour drive between their 2 places. We pulled out of the driveway at 9:30. This was a restaurant not far from their DE place and it made me giggle. Yes, I am a child. Heh. We crossed the Chesapeake Bay Bridge/Tunnel. Pretty cool! And then we were off. Anticipating lunch around noon. But didn't run into anything until close to 1 pm. And we ended up here. It was yummy. Or maybe I was just really hungry. And then off we went...figuring we had another 4ish hours to go. But still making it by 630. I love the tree-lined roadways. Very beautiful. At this point? This happened. My dad was driving my Granny's car with him, my mom, Granny, Sass and my niece in it. Luckily we were behind them and saw it happen. After pulling over, T got out and walked back to see what needed to be done. He helped my dad unload the back of the car to find n...

The nearing of day 20 is sorta freaking me out because I was so stressed the week before we left and now? Now we are almost on our way home. Crazy. Today? Today was peaceful and amazing for my soul. The ocean is like the mountains for me. Something about the expanse of the open water just blows my mind. The girls? They loved the ocean. I even got my Shrinking Jeans bootcamp workout done on the beach. This was my view. Listening to the waves crash in and the girls screeching? It was still perfect. Afterwards we came home and had lunch and rested. Then we hit the boardwalk in Ocean City, MD. We had Thrashers fries (yum!) Then we bought the girls shaved ice My parents also took them on the big ferris wheel at the end if the boardwalk. Now? Now we are enjoying delish pizza and red wine. I would have taken a picture of the pizza but I was hungry and it's gone. Buts here's a picture of the wine. Tomorrow we head to Calabash, NC for the night and then on to Charleston. Posted using B...