Road Trip

The kids and I hit the road last week to go visit some of our friends who don’t live in Memphis.  Our first stop was Nashville where we stayed with Adrienne and Ainsley.  The kids loved all her toys and their dog Bella.  We had hoped to go to the pool and a splash park, but the weather didn’t exactly cooperate.  We found plenty to do inside anyway!

Such good little mommas!

Loved watching my kids make memories with Ainsley!  I have very similar early memories with Adrienne.  Looking forward to a lake trip with them in the near future!

We hit the road again and made it to Louisville for lunch.  It was the perfect break point in our drive to Cincinnati and even better because our buddies met us for lunch!  Thanks for the lunch date on such short notice Max, Slade, Allie, & Gracie!

Sweet “Miss” Ann has a way with these babies!  Jordan has always loved her lap!

Miss these girls so much!

And according to plan, the kids slept most of the rest of the way to Cincinnati!  Hooray for that working out!  Haha.

The kids were SO excited to see Kylie, Jackson, Will, and “Baby” Andee!  Cole really has missed his buddies.  You also may notice a pattern through a lot of these pictures… Will and Jordan were pretty inseparable and super cute together.  I wouldn’t mind a Hanauer son-in-law one day. 

This sweet thing has grown so much since we saw her last!  I know she is basically the same age as Jordan, but the change is still so crazy!

Poor Jordan didn’t get any attention…

We headed to a nearby park one afternoon to let the kids play.  It was really awesome, and the kids had a great time!

Silly faces!

Whole group shot…

I am so grateful for my time with Emily!  Surprisingly, we were able to have some pretty great conversations despite the 6 kiddos running around!  She is a wonderful person, and I am blessed to have her as a friend!  Just wish Adam would have found a Memphis job instead of Cincinnati! 

The next day we headed back to Louisville to hang out more with those friends.  Sara and Gracie worked hard to make their backyard a fun water park for us!  The kids had a blast playing in the water and sliding down the fun slide!

Adam and Emily’s gang made the trip down to close on their old house which worked out perfectly because our kids got to play together more!

That night we got to FINALLY see our DADDY!!!  There were some good snuggles for sure!  And the kids thought it was so cool that they got to sleep on a couch that transformed into a bed!

The next morning we had a few guests visit our room.  They have missed wrestling with Mr. Murray!

And then we found the pool!

6 Little Monkeys Jumping In the Pool… well 5 jump.  Haha.

I love this couple! 

Sweet babies all warm and cozy!

And for the real reason we were in Louisville this weekend… My dad’s awesome 1969 GTO Judge!  He had one in highschool while he and mom were dating, but sold it before knowing just how rare it would become.  For his 50th, mom surprised him with one that I assure you looked NOTHING like it does now.  Thanks to the creativity and talent of my dad and uncle, this amazing car was restored to better than new condition!  It has so many unique and custom details that have made it the talk of both car shows it has been in so far.  The National Street Rod Nationals were in Louisville, and my dad’s car was asked to be part of a display for what used to be Dupont paint.  I’m surprised we were even able to get a picture without someone in front of the car because it was surrounded by admirers constantly!  Very proud of all the hard work and planning that went into this car. 

Video taken and put on youtube by an random fan…

The kids (especially Cole) were so excited to see Poppy’s car.  We have seen it several times in the restoration process, and Cole was looking forward to seeing it now that it was all done. 

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Checking out under the hood!  Cole was really worried one time we saw it because it didn’t have an engine.  It has an one-of-a-kind one now!

Looking good dude!

Had to get my 26 week belly shot with the car.  Haha.

All the excitement wore them out!

Luckily those little cat naps gave them enough energy for a little late night trip to the Homemade IceCream and Pie Kitchen.  This was one of our favorite spots in Louisville, and we were glad to squeeze a trip in!

Sunday, we were able to go to our old church and see so many people that we love and miss.  They couldn’t believe how the kids had grown and changed- especially Jordan!  I know the kids both felt so special and loved being back there, and I am so grateful for just one more awesome family that loves them.  We are really blessed by all the surrogate grandmas, grandpas, cousins, aunts, uncles, etc we have there! 

After lunch, we headed back home and were so glad to have Daddy in the car with us for this part of the drive!  We had missed him, and Mommy was tired of driving!  The kids did so awesome in the car the whole time we were gone, but a little south of Nashville on the way home, they started getting pretty antsy.  Lucky for us we were hitting the Huntingdon exit right about dinner time so we called and made a dinner date with Mimi and PopPop!  Jo, Meg, and the boys came over too for pizza, playing in birdseed, and mower rides.  Just the break we needed!

We were really happy to get home and sleep in our own beds that night, but we are already missing everyone we visited.  Such a fun week with so many people we love so much.  Wish we could see everyone more often, but we are so thankful for the memories we made this time and look forward to the next visit!