72 hours in Mississippi

Last Friday, the boys and I headed to the airport to catch a 6am flight to Mississippi. Thankfully, we had plenty planned to keep us busy over the 72 hours that we were down South, so that we didn't feel the lack of sleep from our early departure too badly (although I might have mentioned to my mom a couple of times that I would have given more than a few dollars for a Starbucks or Dunn Brothers to be in town).

While in Mississippi, we were, of course, able to see a lot of our family. I don't know what makes me happier--to see the smiles of my boys as they easily play, share and interact with their great-grandparents, grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncle, etc. or seeing our families' smiles as they sprawl out happily on the floor ready to start a new game or adventure with the two...maybe it's a little of both. :)

Here are some of my favorites:

...and just to keep it real ;) ...

...we hadn't seen my brother and his wife since the first of January, so when I found out on Thursday that they were going to be flying in as well, I was sooo excited!

This picture is a typical representation of the silly and adorable face that Cooper would make whenever his Aunt Fair was holding him or trying to get his attention.

As usual, there was a special event going on that gave me a fantastic "excuse" to skip to the South on this particular weekend. My dear friend, Ashley, is having Baby #1 (a girl!) so we threw a little shower for her (Terra, Mindy, and Mrs. Felicia...everything looked amazing. Great job!) We were all extra excited for this particular party because instead of the typical blue that we have had for almost every shower, we were able to decorate with pink! Unfortunately, I took so many pictures with Ashley's mom's camera that I hardly got any of my own, but the event was a huge success and so much fun!

Though I don't have pictures of the pink stuff, I do have a picture from my dinner out with some of the girls. I can assure you, we had a fabulous hour and a half catching up and chatting. To an outsider, our conversations, I'm sure, would have seemed comical. One half of the table (probably the 3 married with kids) couldn't seem to quit talking about bottles, new baby products, sleep schedules, toddler tantrums and other everyday things; whereas, the other half of the table (probably the 3 hot single girls who still have a social life and stay up past 10pm ha ha!) chatted it up about their recent international adventures, work, and not-so-serious relationships. Thank you girls for a terrific evening! You never fail to entertain! :) And thank you LaLa, Ashland and Papa for watching the boys for a little bit this weekend so that this mama could have a little girlfriend time! I really appreciate it!!!

And on the eve before our departure...Rassie got Parker in the kitchen for some simple baking and a Halloween craft. It was one of the highlights of the trip for him.

Proof that we did indeed sleep during the weekend...Parker probably better than all of us ;)

...and just like that we were back in Minnesota by 10am Monday morning. A little part of us ready to get back to our little routine but another part of us missing our family like crazy! Thanks to each of you for helping to make our trip so special and fun! We're already looking forward to the next time! :)