On the way back to the hotel we passed Barnes & Nobel. I'd been trying to conserve cash on this trip, so I hadn't had any coffee except that in the hotel room and at the Waffle House with breakfast. I decided I needed a distraction. And a trip through Barnes & Noble ending with a big cup of coffee would be a nice way to do it. Anastasia made it to the parking lot before she started having a meltdown. She didn't want anything, she didn't want to get out of the car, she didn't want to eat, she didn't want to go back to the hotel. Normally, my very hormonal 9 year old, Michelle, would be doing this...not Anastasia. I sat down with her and told her she could be as sad as she wanted and cry til she couldn't cry any more. Heck, I'd cry with her. I told her I was so sad I was afraid to start crying again because it might not stop and then she started crying and then I started crying and my mom and Michelle walked off a bit because I think they were afraid to start crying too. Tasia and I cried for a good five minutes and then sniffled through another conversation about missing Mike.
After that she thought it might be ok if we went into Michael's to look at craft things, since it was right next to Barnes & Nobles we could go there next. We went in Michael's and I guess I was looking pretty down because my mom made me pick out some jewelry materials for me to make some jewelry to keep me busy that night. I spent 30 minutes looking for something red, white and blue but I finally decided on some cool blue beads and some wire to make a bracelet. All the patriotic stuff was plastic or too huge for jewelry.
After that we wandered through Barnes & Noble and then got coffee/tea/cookies for later. We went to dinner and then back to the hotel where Michelle passed out right away and Anastasia stayed up playing Webkinz til she fell asleep.
I tried doing something productive online but it was useless. So I busted out the wire and beads. I made a bracelet that's really pretty neat and that will remind me of that awesome weekend forever.
The next morning we got up, packed up and got on the road. We went to US Cavalry right after breakfast. I got a US Army Mom sticker and a Cavalry sticker for my van. I also bought an all weather notebook. (I'm a notebook junkie, I couldn't help it!!) I wanted some stuff we saw on Saturday but I was obviously not remembering there were a thousand other parents there for graduations/family days so I missed out...everything I wanted was gone. The girls wanted hats, but they couldn't find hats that fit. Then one of the people there suggested dog tags and oh boy! That is the greatest thing we could have bought. They wear them every single day, and they show them off to anyone who stops moving long enough to see them. Tasia got a few stickers, a big "ARMY" and "Humvee" sticker that she wants to put on everything she can....her window, her notebook, my window, no wait...the fridge, no! the TV! They are still sitting on the book case until she can think of an appropriate place to put them. Michelle also got a camo (digital/desert) tshirt.
After US Cavalry we headed for Lincoln's birthplace. The boys didn't want to do that stuff so we did it on our way out of town. I somehow missed a road and ended up making a 16 mile trip take an hour. It was all good though, we got to see some backroads in the Kentucky mountains. For two little girls who have lived on the very flat Gulf Coast of Florida most their lives, that was very exciting.
We saw the birthplace of Abraham Lincoln and that was pretty neat. We also saw the house he lived in next (actually, that was first on the road trip as I was getting unlost). The girls liked the whole Lincoln sightseeing thing. I thought it was great too. We'll have to go back when I'm not lost and wasting time driving around looking at distilleries and goat farms in who knows where, Kentucky. LOL Getting lost got us there about 15 minutes before they closed the gates to Lincoln's birthplace. :P
After that, we were Florida bound. At 5:30pm instead of 12:00pm like I planned. I wasn't too worried about it though. I only had a 16 hour drive ahead of me. What was a few hours that ended up being spent laughing and being silly (and lost, I did mention that, right?) with my kids and mom? It was worth getting home later than planned.
I think we got home around 10am Tuesday. The next two days was spent sleeping and medicating the kids who now have the Ft. Knox Cooties. Now Mom has it bad and the girls are almost better. I'm not going to tell Mike that though, he doesn't need to know that we took his cold home with us. :)
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