The Florida Chronicles Part 6

Today is the day we head out for home!  It's amazing how time has flown and yet stretched out a bit as well. Weird how that happens.  I was still very tired from Disney as well as from a little boy who woke up several times to nurse for long periods of time.  Ok, it was only 2 times but it seemed like many.   rofl!  He didn't have protein food before he went to bed - always happens.  Anyway, I awoke to my hubby making some eggs and toast.  I had a leftover burger from yesterdays lunch and had some of that as well.  Very good breakfast!  We are in a rush getting things packed, cleaned and ready to head out of this sunshine state.  After I had gone through the rooms, I walked out seeing some very bored kids.  I thought, "hmmm, I should give them a job to do."  Jon especially feels very important when he has an "important" job to do.

"Hey Jon, I have a very, very important job that needs done.  Are you able to help me with something like that?"

"Sure mom!" was his reply.

So, I had him double check the rooms, closets, etc... looking under the beds, on top of things, etc... I don't know why I hadn't thought of this before.  His sister joined in and not only did they help us, but they felt like they were doing a very wonderful and important job as well.  Everybody was happy :)  We didn't end up leaving till about 8:30 which you'll find out hurt us later; that's for sure.  Oh and a little funny for you, my husband had made hard boiled eggs for Jon and was cooling them in the freezer.  Unfortunately, he ended up forgetting about them.  He wondered how long it took the cleaning crew to find a pan of eggs in the freezer.  They probably thought that "those Michigan people are really weird".  rofl!

I started out driving and boy was I still tired.  About 1 hour from exiting Florida, we found a shop that sold oranges, orange juice, nuts, gator heads and more.  I ended up taking Jon in with me since he needs to get wiggles out from time to time.  We came out with a small (real) gator head, 2 containers of orange juice, a Florida magnet and some salt water taffy.  It's so hard to find true, blue salt water taffy anymore.

"On the road again..."

Around noon we ate lunch at somewhere I had been dying to eat at for the whole trip, Chick-fil-a.  We don't have any around where we live, so needless to say, I was geeked!  Matt got a spicy chicken sandwich, I got a homestyle sandwich, Lyshie got a homestyle sandwich and the boys shared some nuggets.  We all also shared waffle fries.  Mmmm, mmmm, mmm!  And once again, it was an easy on and easy off.  We spent maybe 5 minutes getting our lunch and jumping back on the road.  I didn't drive much further till Matt and I switched off for him to get gas then drive.  I was so ready for it!  By this time I was VERY tired!

Can I just say I love holding hands with my hubby.  We've done more hand holding in this trip and in the car than we have in a long time.  I'm so thankful for that!


We were planning on stopping in Georgia at Lane Orchards again but it just didn't happen:(  However, we did get some cool pictures of the Atlanta area.

We had to stop around 4:30 to fill up on gas.  I thought, "hey, since we are already stopped, we may as well get dinner".  We found a Cracker Barrel right across from the gas station and stopped there for a bit.  I love how they have their gift store with all kinds of fun goodies.  Hubby asked me if I had found anything I wanted and of course I did; but nothing I needed to get.  So, I passed on this one.  He got himself some sasparilla which is very yummy!  I had just a tiny sip.  He also got a couple other goodies; one being Goo Goos.  Fun times.  We all got our bellies filled and got back on the road once again.

I had missed the Welcome to Tennessee sign on the way down so I told hubby we HAD to get it on the way back.  He's so sweet and obliging!  He kept track of where we were and when he had to slow down to a stop along the side of the road just to get a picture.  We were laughing and giggling about it (being stupid) the whole time.  I'm so glad my hubby has a good sense of humor and doesn't mind giving in to some of my silly whims. And guess what, I got the picture! 

We had talked about stopping off and doing some more things in the Tennessee area before we go home but now that we're on the way home, we don't want to stop.  This drive was the hardest on Joshua.  He screamed and cried on and off for the last hour of driving :(  Breaks my heart when that happens.  He was asking for his "mama" and pointing to me and making a motion like he wanted me to hold him.  My poor baby.   

But, finally we arrived here at Holiday Inn Express in Knoxville, Tn at exit 373 off of I-75/40.  Our room is lovely!  This is a different color scheme than we're used to.  It's mostly blues and greens with brown accent.  Very pretty!  And yes, they have a pool which the kids just got back from and a free breakfast.  That's why we LOVE Holiday Inn Express.

Well, my Jon is having a hard time tonight and Joshie needs to nurse.  It's already 9:22 and I know if I don't get the nursing marathon started, I'm going to regret it in the wee hours of the morning.  I'll see you all tomorrow!  Lord willing, we'll arrive home tomorrow evening and find everything still in it's place, safe and all in working order.

Till tomorrow.....

p.s. My parents told us about a big storm that hit everywhere in the U.S. just a few days before we left. It left Georgia and Tennessee roads a mess!  Thankfully, they are all mostly clear and we had no troubles at all traveling them today!  God is good!