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Catching up...Part One, Spring Break Family Road trip.

I started this post on March 25...If I had finished it then...it would have been over 3weeks since my previous post.  Writing/blogging have been on my mind weekly, sometimes daily.  But, I've pushed it to the side.  Unlike many wonderful blogs out there, mine is not income earning, nor my "career", it's just for fun...a little hobby.  I'm a working mom...a teacher.  And since my last post, I've been knee deep in test prep at school.  We just finished those tests (STAAR) last week.  Thankfully, we had Friday off for Battle of the Flowers, a part of San Antonio tradition, Fiesta.  It was a welcomed break as is tomorrow.  I have another day off thanks to my student teacher. She gets to experience the whole day by herself and I get a free day off!  I might even let the kids play hooky with me.  We'll see.

I do have lots of things to share and pictures too, of course!  We'll start with our first family road trip for Spring Break.  Wow, what a success!!  It was a great and memorable trip.  We traveled through 9 states and visited family in 3 different cities.  A lot of time was spent in the car for sure, but I made these cute entertainment baskets to keep the kiddos busy!  They worked...we only watched about 4 movies the whole trip (22 hours there, 18 hours home).    Our first stop was Gibson, Georgia to visit John's brother Eddie and his wife, Lori and their kids, Hagan, Emma and Alyssa.  It was a lot of fun and the kids were instant friends. 

Car activity baskets, made with Dollar Tree finds.  The metal cookie sheets worked as lap desk, magnet boards and dry erase too!

Ready to go...we left at 10:00 p.m. Friday night, March 8.  Everyone was freshly bathed and in comfy jammies/clothes.

Our first stop was Gibson Georgia!  We spent the weekend with Uncle Eddie, Aunt Lori and all the kids!

The Boyen cousins!  Lorelei was mad because we couldn't stay longer.

Still smiling!
 We headed out to our second destination...Rock Hill, South Carolina.  We were visiting the area because we are considering re-locating there.  Yes...considering.  No final decision has been made.  Unfortunately, our first morning there began with car trouble.  We spent most of the morning getting it fixed.  (*Side note...it ended up being a $400 temporary fix.  Two weeks after we got home, the trouble returned.  After a week at the dealer, all the lifters on all 8 cylinders had to be replaced!  Thank goodness we have an extended warranty.  It would have been $3700, but instead was $200.)

Bored at the car shop!


We had some lunch in the area, and then headed to the lake. 
She loved her "dog rolls"...AKA Hush puppies!

Lake Wylie, SC.

A great little park on the lake.


Jonas and Savannah couldn't resist putting their feet in even though it was quite chilly!
We definitely thought it was a beautiful area and are seriously considering moving there.  Wells Fargo has a center in Fort Mill that most of his team works from.  I'm looking into jobs in the area as well.  We'll see what happens!

Our next part of the trip was to head into North Carolina to see John's mom and dad.  We made a stop at one our favorite mountain areas...Chimney Rock.
Daffodils on the side of the road!

Beautiful mountain stream.

It was cold!!!



Chimney Rock, North Carolina
 We made it to Grandpa Boyen's just in time for more food!  Grandpa Boyen wanted Golden Corral.  The kids had fun and enjoyed dessert!  Cotton candy!
Yum!
Breakfast was more sugar!  We headed up to the mountain house to see John's mom.  
Krispy Kremes in Hendersonville, North Carolina

Visiting Grandpa Boyen
 We really enjoyed our visit.  It was great seeing Grandpa!

Grandpa Boyen!
 Now, we decided last minute to surprise my grandpa who lives just 2 hours away from Grandpa Boyen.  I texted my Aunt Tammy back and forth, hoping to catch Grandpa at home!  We did!  We surprised him by ringing the doorbell!  We had lunch and just spent some time chatting before we headed back home.
Last stop, lunch with Great Grandpa Johnson in Morristown, Tennessee
 We arrived back in San Antonio on Saturday, March 16.  We had a wonderful experience.  And I cannot say it enough, my kids are great!  They we such troopers on the trip...even dealing with a broken down car.  I was proud of them and can't wait for our next trip!!



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