Our Trip to KY

I have finally completed this entry! It is long but I wanted to go ahead and put it all together or I would never get it posted. I hope you enjoy the summary of our first road trip as a family of 5!

We were all excited for the trip. The van had been giving me trouble for a couple of days and Jeff tried his hardest to get it fixed by the process of elimination. Of course it was a holiday weekend so the only thing open was the auto parts store. Anyhow, Keaton had a well baby check up that morning so we started our journey late trying to get to his appt.

After the pediatrican's office, we found ourselves parked for 4 hours at a dealership.

4 hours + 3 kids + 1 dog = almost crazy

Austin discovered vending machines are the greatest and Keaton and I just wanted to take a nap. We finally got out of there and dropped Annie off at Gran and Joey's house. Off to the hotel we went.

We got up the next morning and hit the road. It was easy going from there. We finally arrived around 2 p.m. in KY. Yay! Over the next couple of days we got to visit with our family! All of the little cousins played and had a good time. Mothers and Daddy Bill probably needed a nap after we left their house. The kids were busy running around and ended their visit with a wrestling match. MamMaw got to meet Keaton for the first time and we tried our best to get a family picture with everyone looking but it was a challenge! Austin was feeling special riding the 4 wheeler on his own for the first time. I guess turning 11 means you're old enough for 2nd gear.

The 2nd reason for our trip: Kandess & Whitt tied the knot!

The rehearsal and dinner......Brayden did manage to stand with his pillow for a short amount of time, but spent most of it running up and down the ailes and on the floor. Kassie got a great shot of him rolling around on the floor. *rolling eyes* Thankfully Whitt gave the little guys a John Deere tractor at the rehearsal dinner and it kept them busy almost the entire time! Yay Whitt!

Fun in the sun before the wedding!

Before the wedding......After pictures were done, I banished Brayden to the basement. Luckily the nursery kept him busy most of the time. The wedding......Oh, he did make it down the aisle, but didn't stay long. He took off across the church when he remembered there were presents out in the foyer. Jeff went ahead and took him out and he got to check out the trolley outside the church that was awaiting the wedding party. The wedding was beautiful! Kandess's dress was gorgeous, but more importantly, so was she!

Time to party! Brayden was quite the party animal. He never stopped. He finally ate a piece of cake and then went off again. I don't know where he gets the energy! Keaton passed out and unknowingly had a dance around the dance floor with DeDe and finished his nap on auntie Vonda.

The trip home.....You can say it was miserable. Probably worse than sitting at the car dealership for 4 hours because it was alllll day. We didn't make an overnight stop and it made a big difference. Add a 2 hour detour around the side of a TN mountain and you get very tired of driving! Brayden lost his pacifier along the way. I asked him not to scream, but he insited on torturing Keaton, so out the window it went. It was time though. I already had plans to get rid of it when we got home and I think it helped that it was such a dramatic experience. 16 hours after our departure, we arrived home safely at 3:30 a.m.

Many thanks to my cousin Kassie for getting all the pictures that I didn't!