We had an impeccable weekend!

Whew:-) It has been a long but amazing week. Seriously. We got up on Wed and drove. There were tears and there was sadness but there was excitement as well. We drove all the way to St. Louis and saw the arch. It was pretty cool. We took photos on my (old-fashioned) camera so we'll post them when they are developed. We took the ride up into the arch and walked through the park. Way cool.
On Thursday we drove all the way through Dallas to Ennis, Texas. We did over 600 miles each day - 2 very long days! But we did it. And we got into Bryan, Texas (home of Texas A & M University) at 12:30pm on Friday, to my cousin Jamee's house.
We have had a great weekend - very busy but so fun. We went to Lake Conroe (an hour south of here) Friday night with Jamee and her husband John and her two kids, ages 2 & 3.
The lake. Vacation. A condo with 4 adults and 2 children. Fun times, seriously! The first night was great - once the kids were asleep (12:15am) we ate some low-fat poptarts and enjoyed some What Not to Wear. Then came Saturday. We did it all.
We made pancakes. Regular pancakes, chocolate chip pancakes, blueberry pancakes. We walked out the front door of the condo and into a swimming pool. ("It's okay with me if I don't wear my life jacket," - Hannah Bean, age 3.)
Then we grabbed sandwiches and headed out the back door of the condo and got on the pontoon boat and went out on the lake (my legs are a bit red but not bad!).
Then we ate some BBQ, some brownies, some of everything.
There was more swimming, there was an E! True Hollywood story episode with shark attacks, then there was some yoga (3 legged-dogs done by children and adults alike) and then the kids went to bed again. Earlier this time.
That's when the men went next door and got the poker table and Texas Hold 'Em began. We held in there a long time too - some of us more then others. But the end result brought Jamee the Champion out to win it all! Woo hoo!!!
David, age 2, was the first up this morning (the adults had a total of 5 hrs sleep) and though it was a very slow morning, we managed to make French toast (well Angela made it, we all ate it), go swimming and clean out the condo by 1pm ("We have 7 minutes to turn in the keys!" - Aunt Kat.)
Then we began the long trek home, this time with James and I in the kids' car. David slept after a cup-throwing incident but Bean, she held her own with the adults in conversation. ("Mom, how do you cut up a fish?" "So, Mom." "I'm hot, so hot!!" - as her hands are covering her face. It was a major meltdown at this point.)
Oh - here's the highlight of the drive, we drove by CHUCK NORRIS' ranch. Yes, Chuck Norris. And there's no security system, just a sign that says "Chuck Norris doesn't need ADT."
We did arrive home and we all, adults and children, managed to sleep for a couple of hours. Pass out actually. That good sleep after you've played hard all weekend. Where you can't wake up for anything.
We slept right through the body flow yoga class we had contemplated going to.
We slept through 95% of the movie we had put it.
We slept hard.
And then the kids woke up.
We topped the night off with a trip (THANK YOU Grandma) to Johnny Carino's for some good Italian food - a night for the girls: Jori, Jamee, Angela and I. Cousins back together again.
It's been a good weekend. A very good weekend. The kind you don't want to end. But then I do want to get back home. To exercise, to eat regular food, to unpack. To just be. Well for a minute anyway.