Trip to Savannah

We just returned from a trip to Savannah to see my brother, sister-in-law, and niece (who you may remember is only 3 months older than Audrey).  We had a great time and before I forget, I wanted to write a little about our visit.

I should start out by explaining that David was scheduled to be out of town and Audrey and I were going to go down by ourselves.  He was in Israel (yes, again) and wasn't due in for another week.  We knew this when we made the plans, but decided that I could handle the drive alone and it was either go now or wait several months.  So, I had psyched myself up for 10 hours in the car alone with Audrey (round trip) and starting shopping for portable DVD players.  Then, God answered a prayer the day before we were set to leave and David was able to come home early!  We actually picked him up at the airport on the way down!  Talk about perfect timing!

So, we left Friday morning and had a very peaceful and uneventful car ride down despite AJ only napping about 20 minutes.  We got to their house, got the car unloaded, and watched the girls play and interact.  After a trip to the store, we ate dinner and put the girls to bed. We didn't stay up long after they were down.  Poor David was just coming off a 7 hour time difference, a 12 hour plane ride, and a 5 hour car trip, after all!  (I don't have as good of an excuse.  I was just tired.)

After a really restful night's sleep, we got up the next morning feeling much better.  I snuck in a little one-on-one playtime with Annelise while Audrey slept in (apparently Annelise has her Grandpa's early rising genes while Audrey has her Nana's late-sleeper genes).  She is so good with her building blocks and we made quite the impressive tower.  After everyone was up, we ate a delicious breakfast my brother cooked for us.  Audrey and Annelise played, read, and rode on Annelise's little toy trains.  Annelise would push Audrey around, stopping to pick up her cup for her whenever she dropped it.  Precious!

We got ready and headed to downtown Savannah for a children's book fair.  It was crowded, but the weather was gorgeous and it was awesome just to be outside seeing the sights.  After meeting and petting some "reading dogs", we made our way to a big playground.  We helped the girls on the slides (approximately three hundred times) before packing it in and heading back to the house.

We all lounged around while the girls took their (great, long, and peaceful) naps.  When they woke up, it was time for more playing, including fast laps around the house on the train, pretend tea pouring and drinking, and musical concerts on Aunt Kimmy's old toy piano.  At one point it got quiet and I heard myself say "Girls?  What are you up to?"  As I did, my mind flashed forward to seeing them in 4-5 years as they come running in giggling and explaining their latest game.  Hopefully Carson will be right behind them offering a male's voice of reason!  I pray that all three of them grow to be close over the years.

Before we knew it, it was time to feed them and put them to bed.  After they were down, we ate some yummy beef stew that Kim made for us, watched the Mentalist (okay, Kim and I watched while Brian and David dozed off) and went to bed.

We woke up the next morning, got ready, and packed up our stuff.  We ate our yummy pancakes and sausage balls and hit the road for a quick trip to the beach.  (It's about a 15 minute drive from their house.)  Audrey and Annelise had a blast chasing the birds and we took a ton of pictures.  Of course, I think there is only one of them both smiling at the same time, but such is the case with two at that age.  We strolled and talked and soaked up the beautiful weather and company.  We slowly walked back to our cars, stopping to take one more picture on the pier and point out a butterfly to the girls.  We hugged goodbye, exchanged plenty of blown kisses and "I love you's" and got on the road.

Audrey did great on the ride back, though she only took one very short nap.  We only stopped once for lunch and gas, but, as always, the trip home seems to take longer than the trip there.  We had to swing by the airport to pick up David's car and then the grocery store for a few must-haves.  Six hours after we left the beach, we pulled into our driveway and unloaded everything.  As we walked in the house, Audrey asked (for the millionth time since we left) "Bian?  Kimmy? Lise?"  Poor baby missed her buddies!

I'm thankful she (and we) had such a great visit and we appreciate our sweet hosts, especially the littlest one.  Getting to see how much she'd grown, how smart she is, and what a beautiful little girl inside and out she is becoming was so special.  We hope to do it again soon!  The memories we made and the pictures we captured are priceless.  Check out the gallery to see for yourself!