Meet Me in St. Louis!

The boys and I arrived safely in St. Louis this morning at 6:45am! We left Greenville at 9pm last night and stopped once in Clarksville, TN, for gas and did not stop again. Not once. I had a few moments of sleepiness, but nothing that eating sunflower seeds wouldn't cure. I hated to drive through Chattanooga, Nashville and parts of Kentucky in the dark. It is such beautiful scenery! I guess the only eventful thing that happened during the drive was when I realized when it was too late that my Garmin was taking me through the backwoods of Western Kentucky and up the far Eastern side of Missouri north towards St. Louis versus taking me north through Illinois and through downtown St. Louis. I had to navigate very dark, foggy conditions on mostly 2-lane roads and several large bridges that I have never driven on before. Being the only one on those roads around 3am was a little unsettling and I was thrilled to see the small southeast Missouri town of Sikeston and the signs for "throwed rolls," which is where I finally regained my confidence and set back in my seat to relax.

I MUST share that my two sweet boys were ROCKSTARS! Blake was probably lucky to sleep 2 hours, Dane 6 hours - keeping in mind they usually sleep 10-11 hours every night. Neither one cried, fussed, complained or showed any other signs of discomfort or frustration during the entire trip. We used the DVD player for 45 minutes of the whole trip, using music to entertain for the remainder. I was so grateful for their patience and so proud of them for being such troopers! I hope the return trip goes as well.

So far we have enjoyed time with Grandma Sonya and have missed Papa Steve while he is away for business. The boys adore their three dogs and have giggled and played with them the whole time. The boys and I had dinner with great friends from college tonight and enjoyed hearing about what is new in their lives and realizing how much we miss being close to them. I guess I should add that my children always keep me on my toes and once they see me relax they usually have a surprise for me. Well, this time Dane decided to wake up from his nap this afternoon with stridor and a barky cough...a.k.a. CROUP! So, we have also been to urgent care since we arrived and he is now on a steriod treatment. I am crossing fingers that Blake stays healthy and especially clear of croup. That is all for now! We will keep in touch during our travels over the next two weeks!