So tired....

Where to start... our 8 hour trip to Florida on Thursday turned into a 14 hour ordeal. We were supposed to land in Tallahassee shortly before midnight after a 3 hour layover in Atlanta. What happened instead was, we circled Atlanta for 40 minutes due to severe weather, then landed in the middle of a spectacular electrical storm. We were the last plane to land in Atlanta due to this spectacular storm and were forced to sit on the tarmac, 50 yards from our gate, because all ground personnel were forced inside for safety reasons so there was no one to bring the plane in. We sat (and socialized) for an hour while the storm raged and somewhat passed. Once inside the terminal we trekked 3 terminals to get to our gate. Now... if you've ever flown into or out of Atlanta's airport you know first, you never fly into and out of the same gate, hell you never fly into or out of the same terminal. So we landed in terminal A and we lugged ourselves; Grace in the car seat with wheels, Lily in the baby bjorn and a big ole carry on bag, to terminal C. And yes, I walked... We get to the gate and it says we depart on time. "Sweet!!" quick diaper change, splash some water on my face, back to the gate... we now depart an hour late, getting us in at 1:30am... Okay, it's fine... but 1 hour late turns to 2, 2 turns to 3... we finally get to Tallahassee a little after 3 am. However, it could have been so, so, so much worse than it was. Grace made friends with everyone at our gate. She provided the comic relief and eased the stress, anger and tension of the situation for more than a few people. As every deplaned in Tallahassee they all said "Good night Grace Elizabeth" ( Yeah, I must have sternly saidher full name a lot before Grace started entertaining the masses) At baggage claim I was introduced as the woman flying alone with two little girls, one of whom was a "singing, counting, peek-a-booing darling." Grace must have sang her ABC's 10 times if she sang it once. And all in the gate area watched and waited with the same bated breath as a parent, to see if she really could do it. Grace loved the attention and the applause, so she repeated that performance quite a few times. She sang Pat-a-Cake and Ring Around the Rosie, she played peek-a-boo with anyone and everyone. Counted to 16. There were a few people who wanted to know why '16'... And granted, it does seem like a random number, but once I explained that we have 16 stairs between the first and second floors of our house they understood. Everyone got a good laugh out of trying to get Grace to name colors, something we are still working on. And though it seemed a bit creepy, a few people asked if they could take pictures of Grace with their phones to email to their spouses who were hearing about her as they were getting flight arrival updates. Needless to say Grace kept the peace a the gate and I was grateful for the help and the entertainment Grace got out of it.

So we land at 3 get to the house a little after 4 and I get the girls to sleep by 5am. I was watching the neighbors wake up and get ready for work and my day had not even ended yet. But my in-laws would be here in a few hours. I got 4 and a half hours of sleep, a shower and a LARGE cup of coffee in time for Grammie and Grampa Hurley to arrive and the weekend began. Friday was pretty laid back we relaxed a bit, settled the girls in, visited with everyone and ran a few quick errands to prepare for the birthday party on Saturday. Saturday morning the girls slept in until 9am (6am AZ time) and I got to sleep (yipee!), so I caught up on a few of my missing hours of sleep, but it was time to prep for the party. So more errands, grocery, pick up cake and the entire family was here. Aunt Gaye (pronounced 'Ant' not Aunt down south) and her brood, Uncle Jamey, Pierce and Mallory, who would celebrate her 10th birthday with Grace. Aunt ('Ant') Jill and Uncle Gordon, Nana Gwynn and Papa Brian, Grammie & Grampa Hurley, Uncle Rory and My Grandma Dottie and Grampa Bunny. Uncle Sean and Auntie Kensley were not able to get here but will be moving in next week. And a few cousins, neighbors and friends. Grace had the best time, palying in the pool, eating a Tinkerbell cupcake cake and getting Dora's backpack were among her favorite moments. It was a long day but a nice party. Grace even sang "Happy birthday to me, Grace!"

Two days in and we are all worn out! It has been a good weekend so far and while Grampa and Memaw work the next few days the girls and I will try to recover and get ready for a weekend filled with College graduation events next weekend!

Today Grace joined Grammie and Grampa Hurley at church before they started the journey down south and we'll have a big chicken wing dinner with my brothers, Kensley and my Grandparents tonite... I love the chaos of family and love the quiet of living so far from family all at the same time, but so far it's been a GREAT visit!!

Picture to follow...