Any Excuse to Re-Arrange!

As I've mentioned before, I'm a compulsive re-arranger. Little Miss gave me a great excuse while we were in North Carolina to come home and completely give her room a makeover. The last few weeks we were in NY prior to our two months in NC, I noticed Little Miss was having a really hard time staying asleep in her toddler bed. I attributed this to the fact that she sensed the tour was coming up and just wanted to sleep with us. I think that was about a quarter of it...but once we got to NC she slept like a baby in her big-girl, twin sized bed. Hmmmm. I slept with her one night and noticed that in the middle of her slumber, she would wake up and turn herself completely sideways. (ie: she would practically prop her feet on my stomach, so that the two of us looked like we making the letter 't') If she did this in her toddler bed, she would end up in the floor...which is most likely why she would meet me at her door many nights and force her way into our bed. Long story longer...here is her new room!!

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Can you tell that both our kitties think the room is theirs?

I left her toddler bed in her room for her stuffed animals...and so she can use it as a couch. She loves that idea- especially since she doesn't have to sleep in it! And you can tell...Borat thinks it's his bed. He's slept on it almost 24/7 since the re-arranging occurred.

Little Miss's birthday present from Bub and Gran'Daddy arrived yesterday...she loves it! I'm hoping she'll cook dinner tonight. ;)

Horses + Ice Cream = Perfect Saturday

Ah, the weekend.

We spent most of our day riding through Manteo just like this...

Little Miss even took her afternoon nap atop Trouble. (Really, is there any better way to take a nap!?) After our ride, we met with some of my dad's truck-driver pals for dinner. Several of the guys he works with have October birthdays, as does my mom, so we all got together to celebrate. Honestly, I think my dad was just using that as an excuse to show off his grand baby. ;) She had a great time- especially during the dessert portion of our meal. She got to eat and hold her own ice cream cone! A first for her- and shockingly she didn't completely cover herself in it!

She wanted to share...;)

Cheeeeeeeze!Kisses to Grandaddy!
Shopping in the gift shop with Grandaddy- and of course, they both went right for the toy cars!

It was a wonderful day...and I'm totally tuckered out! I wish I could've napped on Trouble this afternoon too!

Tomorrow we are going to take the horses to Nags Head Woods. It's gorgeous back there- I might have to stop and grab a disposable camera for the ride. ;)

City to City

Whew...the last few days went by too quick! 

From Chicago we went on to Milwaukee, Wisconsin...

• I got a speeding ticket...on guess what highway? Eden Expressway...right after paying a toll at Eden Spur. (80 in a 65...if you must know.)
• We spent the night in the hotel where Jeffery Dahmer killed one of his earlier victims. I slept surprisingly well- although I felt like all the workers in the hotel were creepy and robotic. (They had Aveda shampoo...I was particularly thrilled about that.)
• Ate TGIFriday's in Miller's Park/Brewer's Stadium.

From Milwaukee to Detroit, Michigan...

• I drove the exact speed limit for the entire 7 hour drive. I cursed as literally every car zoomed past us.
• I sneezed through 3 states.
• We ordered the best room service dinner I've ever had in my life- after the show. Homemade French Onion soup like you wouldn't believe!

From Detroit to Cinncinati, Ohio...

• Again, I drove the exact speed limit for the entire 4.5 hour drive. And again...cursed as literally every car zoomed past us. (I hope they all got speeding tickets too!)
• We stayed at a gorgeous hotel...that must've been 100+ years old. I was sad to be informed that it would only be open for another 2 weeks.
• I finally ate at a Steak'n'Shake! (I know...the whole no red meat thing is kind of off. Eh well.) It was incredible! The burgers...the shakes- Oh My God. It's a good thing we don't have one anywhere near us or I'd eat there for literally every meal.

From Cinncinati to the OBX...

• I woke up after only 2 hours of sleep...and seriously considered switching my flight to the next city on the La Coka tour. The thought of seeing Little Miss in roughly 7 hours made me get out of bed...
• The rental shuttle dropped me off in the Cinncinati Airport terminal for US Airways...but there were no signs directing me where to find US Airways. There were also no people in the airport.
• While I looked around, praying for someone to come help me...my duffle bag's shoulder strap broke on both sides. How does that happen at the same exact time!? After I gathered my bag, I finally found out where to find US Airways.
• My flight to Charlotte was uneventful...except for my ears filling up and refusing to pop until this morning.
• While I was waiting for my connecting flight to Norfolk, my mom called and informed me that their neighbors doghouse had caught fire...and if they hadn't been getting up early to come get me from the airport- the flames could've caught fire to the neighbors house, as well as my parents house. (The dogs are fine, thankfully!)

I think that's about all the fun stories I have from my trip!

Oh...and since I failed to mention how incredible La Coka's shows were (it really goes without saying)...here are a few pictures-

I'm An American

Today Little Miss and I spent the morning at the aquarium with my daddy. It was lovely. :)

"Does anyone else see the giant alligator behind me"

"Kisses to that adorable baby!! Oh, that's me!"

Check out the octopus hat...how cute is Little Miss? We hoped to find an octopus in the aquarium but were sad to find that he'd just passed away a few days ago..:(

Happy Birthday, Uncle Seth!

Happy Birthday, Big Gully!

While we were in NC we were lucky enough to be able to celebrate my uncle's birthday with him. Since I was little, I've always called him Big Gully- Uncle Vernon was a bit too hard for me to say, I guess...and Little Miss has continued on the tradition. Since his birthday party on Sunday afternoon, I must've heard "Gully! Gully!" a thousand times. I'm not sure if it was the chocolate birthday cake or all the stuffed animals (real stuffed animals- bear, dear, geese) that come along with visits from him, but I think it's pretty safe to say he's her favorite uncle. ;)

Little Jenni & her Gran'dad!

Aunt Karen, Big Gully & Jenni

"Gully! Hold!" *little arms up*

Big Gully and Aunt Karen were also kind enough to drive us to the airport early Monday morning. Mom came along for the ride and for most of the trip, Mom and her brother shared stories from their childhood. I found myself wanting to write down all the stories they were retelling- some of which I'd heard before and some I had not. (Many stories included their pet raccoon, JoJo...which is an entire blog post in itself.) It was a wonderful way to end our trip.

Love you, Big Gully!