Day Four: Our Texas Friends

Dina was my best friend growing up. We lived bike riding distance apart and spent as much time together as possible. In fact she taught me how to ride a bike (I was tired of sitting on the back of her banana seat or should I say scared). So it was a must to stop and visit her and her family in Texas. We actually each have three kids and they are each only months apart. Jason was so excited to hear he would get to play with her oldest, Casen - a five year old boy and their names rhymed! Then there's baby Beth (Dina's working on not calling her that anymore, it's been a few years since we've all been together) and Kylee - both independent girls possibly too smart for their own good. And finally Adam and Camden - two cutie pies that will one day be married if we can get the papers in order :) I used to think Beth and Casen should get married but they may be too much alike, could be trouble! Anyway, we arrived at their place around 9pm and found Casen waiting up for us. They played until way too late but guess who was up bouncing on the trampoline at 6:45!!! Casen & Jason...that is super early for Jason with the two hour time change (he napped for hours in the car that afternoon). They also had fun in the kiddie pool, catching toads, playing on the swings, and just chasing each other around and around and around. It's exactly the kind of visit they needed 2/3 of the way through a drive cross country. Now there's only two more days, 12 more hours (according to the GPS, that won't prove totally true for us...) and one more hotel stay until we walk into our new home! From Texas we drove into Louisiana. There was a horrible accident right at the border that rerouted us off the freeway and along the frontage road. An hour later we were one freeway exit down getting back on. Although barely moving in a long line of semis while the sun set slowly behind us was not ideal, we did get this picture :) And we were able to stop at the border of Louisiana and make a big deal about going into this state because mommy has never been to this state. It's her 42nd state (and tonight as we cross into Mississippi, I'll be at 43!) We gave the kids maps of the United States to color as we drove into each state. I still have my map that I started back in college, and it was fun starting this tradition with them on this trip. Jason happily colored in North Carolina on the first day because he knows he's been there. Imagine his surprise when daddy told him he's also been to Wisconsin, Illinios, Indiana, Ohio, and Pennsylvania (when he was 10 months old for Thanksgiving and a wedding). I'd like to be shocked at Jason's love of geography but then as I said before, I still have my map that I've been coloring in state by state since college. Hmmmm....

Here's daddy coloring his own map :)