Texas Trip Day 9-Saturday

Today we had to leave for home.  Last night, Chris went to bed early, since he is typically the primary driver.  I stayed up to put the kids to bed, finish packing and chat with Julie.  In the end, we laughed, giggled hysterically, caught up on years we've missed and we never did go to bed.  Our leave time was scheduled for 3:30 am.  At 3am, I finished loading the van, made sure Chris was up and got the kids up.  We pulled out at just about 3:30 and I cried for the first 5 miles.  I really miss my sister.

Chris drove and the kids and I slept.  It was a great way to travel, too.  We had 12.5 hours of driving to do today plus any stops we might have to make.  The kids woke around 8 and I passed out breakfast and we made our first pit stop-10 minutes.  It was a work of art, I tell you.  The kids got into it and worked to get in and out as fast as possible.  They were brilliant.  Ten minutes included me digging them out from under a pile of pillows, blankets, stuffies, binders, pencils, books and Hexbugs and trying not to lose grip on plastic baggies littering the back seats.  We made one more pit stop later in the afternoon, this time, though the kids hustled it took us 12 minutes.  I blame it on the crowded gas station.  ;)

After 12+hours of driving and only 2 short stops, we rolled into St. Louis, MO.  The kids cheered when we saw the city limits sign.  The best surprise, though, was a free upgrade to the club floor upon check-in.  And so, we're relaxing, taking advantage of snacks provided and the History channel.  

Vegging out after a long day of driving.

Byron doesn't sit still and just watch TV.  It's like a full contact sport-bounce off the walls, hide behind the curtain, jump on Dave, peek at the screen, roll off the bed, peek at the screen...