So the trip to Grandma and Grandpa's was a success. Most notably I survived the car ride with Grace by myself. The key...keep a huge pile of toys on the seat next to you and toss them back to her as needed. I am sure people passing me thought I was drinking as they saw me tossing toys at a small child. Don't get me wrong there were a few meltdowns as Amanda called me on my cell right in the middle of one. But we made it with no real war scars. It was great to be out of the car and in the mountains. After unloading the 100 pounds of babygear that I thought we couldn't survive without my mother looks says "We never had all that stuff and we survived,". I think I replied with "Keep it to yourself". That was the nicest thing I could think to say.
My brother Hap and his fiance were also visiting so it was great to see them since they haven't seen Grace since she was 10 weeks old. Shame on you Uncle Hap. They played with Grace nonstop and she thoroughly enjoyed it. They talked wedding plans and Courtney asked me to be a bridesmaid in the wedding! Yippee!!! I have only been in one wedding and that was my own so this will be so exciting since it is my brothers wedding! Lot of good things happening in the Pritchard family. Grace went to sleep Sunday night at 8:00 like clockwork and then we all had a nice dinner. My parents went to bed and left the "kids" up to chat. That followed with some very strong gin and tonics and funny stories. We all crawled into bed around midinght. The next day I had one of those lingering gin headaches and a really dry mouth. I almost forgot what a hangover feels like. Except now my hangovers follow with Grace wide awake at 7 am. Ahhh reality....
Hap and Courtney headed out around 11 that morning on their way back to Charleston. My mom had comitted to working at their church in Greenville from 1 to 4 so I packed up Grace and we drove into town to drop Mom at church. Of course she insisted I bring Grace in to show her off. We got to see the minister that married Neal and I. It was great to see him again. Grace and I left Mom at church and headed over to my parents new condo they bought downtown. It is great! You can walk to Main Street and they have a great view of downtown. They finished renovating the kitchen and I wanted to see it. It looks amazing! We left the condo and took a drive around Greenville. I wanted to see the old neighborhood and the house I grew up in. It has changed so much. Grace took her afternoon nap while I drove and when she woke up we went to Main Street to do some shopping. Mom gave us $60 to shop with so the girls hit the stores. Of course I spent all of it on Grace but it makes me so happy to get things for her! We sat in front of the Hyatt at the fountain and Grace had a vanilla pudding snack. She made a mess and smiled at all the strangers that passed. She really is a friendly baby. :o) Then it was off to pick up Mom and head back to the mountains. Can we say full day!
And today it was homeward bound. We missed Neal so much. This was our first time apart as a family. Neal said the house was too quiet and he most missed Grace's smiling face in the morning. Needless to say Grace and I are exhausted but glad to be home.
And per Sally's request for your listening pleasure today is "Times Like These" by Jack Johnson. Enjoy...
