Special Birthdays

The first part of our road trip was back home to see my parents.   They both have August birthdays.   Mom celebrated her 80th while we were there, and Daddy celebrated 86 years yesterday.    They are doing great and it was fun to be there for a few days to visit with them.

Tyler and Mallory flew up on Thursday for the birthday celebration.   Mallory had never met Gram and Pop Pop and it was important to Tyler that they meet his future wife so they booked their flights to coincide with our trip.    Of course, flying to Huntington has its challenges.    They had a very early flight from Jacksonville to Charlotte, only to find out the Charlotte to Huntington flight was cancelled.   Tyler was quick to see that there was a flight leaving shortly for Charleston so he called to see if we could pick them up there instead.   They got seats on the flight to Charleston and we headed out to get them.

It was a great visit.   Mallory is very easy to be around and so are my parents so they were fast friends.   We picked up Stewart's hotdogs for everyone for lunch (Mallory needed a proper introduction to all things "Huntington"!)    Birthday dinner was at Huntington Prime.

Friday morning we went to Tutor's to pick up breakfast - Mallory LOVES biscuits so she was excited!   We spent the day together exploring a little of the Huntington Mall, checked out the garden in the back, and had dinner at home.   It was nice enough to spend time on the porch - with ice cream, of course!

They flew out on Saturday knowing that they had total grandparent approval.    We didn't do a lot of sightseeing in town, but we did drive through Ritter Park and to the Rose Garden.    We left on Sunday morning after breakfast - with wonderful memories.

ROAD TRIP!

Tomorrow we head out on a ROAD TRIP!   We'll drive to West Virginia to visit my parents and celebrate their August birthdays (Mom turns 80; Daddy will be 86!)    Even though I haven't lived there for 27 years it's still fun to go "home".    It isn't the house I grew up in, but it's a home where we've made lots of memories through the years.   We stop at my favorite restaurants, drop by familiar places, and when we have time - connect with dear friends who still live there.    

Tyler and Mallory are flying up just for two days.   She has never met my parents, and Tyler wants to introduce his bride-to-be to them so they can get to know her.    The timing is perfect because in addition to birthdays, we can also enjoy all the wonderful garden veggies from their backyard!

The next leg of our journey will be to Nashville to see Dan and Tanya and kids!  The movers arrived at the new house today so I can only imagine the chaos of five children and tons of moving boxes!   Fun times!   It will be a quick visit but I've packed my box cutter and Sharpies and plan to do a day or two of unpacking/organizing while we are there.    Have a few things to drop off.  Can't wait!!!

Then on to Asheville, NC for Jamie and Liz's wedding celebration!   I was flattered when Karen asked if I would help her with some of the details.   I've packed some things that are specific for the wedding weekend so thankfully we are driving up and not flying.   This is one of our favorite cities to visit - plus some of our closest friends - it's a win/win weekend!

I shopped today for our picnic supplies.   Whenever we take a road trip, I carefully plan something delicious that we can enjoy at a rest area along the way.    I stopped at Native Sun and picked up chicken salad, Whole Foods for heirloom tomatoes and Publix for everything else.   Tablecloth, paper products, bottled water are all ready to be loaded in the cooler.    It's so much nicer than stopping at a fast food restaurant and gives us a few minutes of calm in a day of driving.

You are probably picturing how full the car is at this point - and you are correct!   Thankfully we have lots of space.   Here is what it looks like so far - without the cooler or the luggage!

I will try to post updates along the way from my laptop!