Its going to take two days for this one!

Hello all!
Well, since the last time I wrote, so much changed.
So, since there is so much to catch up on, I am going to start, and then finish tomorrow.

First off, in looking at our travel itenerary, it was agreed that doing all of it was not financially affordable and Chris really wanted us home for some major decision making regarding his job situation and stuff.

So, we decided to cut the trip to Louisiana. Not because we didn't want to see Chris' mom or help her, but because we knew she would understand. She had a friend, Mary Carter, coming to visit and we knew that she would be taken care of.

So, we packed up the car and headed out Thursday morning around 8:30. Our goal was to make it to my cousin, Lorrie's for lunch and see baby Rowdy again. After a mix up on my part, we made it there around 12:30. Rowdy had already eaten and had a nap, so he was ready to go. My kids enjoyed playing with Lorrie's dog, oreo and entertaining Rowdy. Lorrie and I got in a nice "mother's " visit and then convinced the kids that they could pause long enough to eat. Lorrie had prepared roast beef sandwiches and macaroni and cheese. Rowdy played with his feet in the bouncy chair as we ate. After lunch, the kids wanted to see Rowdy in his swing, so they played with him their. Oh, and when we arrived, we had brought a puppy soft book for Rowdy, unaware that he LOVES to read. So, Nathan read the story to him and Rowdy was an attentive audience. I will have to post random pictures from the laptop later.
Anyways, then before we left, Lorrie offered the kids oreo cookies and milk. It was such a nice visit!!!
We then headed on to Mary's. We got there around 5:30, as we didnt' leave Lorrie and Rowdy until close to 3pm. Mary's town was really nice and quiet, so after seeing how her and Jon had made it up since the wedding, we planned a picnic lunch and walked up to their local park. We teeter tottered until it looked like rain and then headed back to her house. We did showers and pajamas and then put the kids to bed. Mary and I stayed up looking up weather and talking.
Friday, we walked up to her post office, Nathan riding their garage sale bike. We also walked to their downtown to see the train go by and then crossed the tracks to hit their grocery store so that we could get Hannah some allergy medicine and some ice cream sandwiches.
The kids were thrilled with the town. The small size, the friendliness and the railroad tracks. I told Mary, I could live there with no problems. We went home and watched a movie "Princess and the pauper" and then played some more outside on the bike. About bedtime, Mary found out that Jon and the kids were on their way, so we stayed up to meet Harley and Hailey. They seemed a little confused as to why these new kids were at their dad's house. But, after about 5 minutes, Harley decided Nathan was cool and said, "Come on , best friend. Lets play". They were having so much fun. Hailey was a little more timid, but Hannah was busy trying to talk her into not being shy. We got them to bed around 10.
Saturday was nothing but legos for the boys and the girls deciding that mary's guest closet was the best little house for them to play in. They played all day and had such a great time. We took them up to the park again to play and then brought them home for supper. It was a huge slumber party in the living room that night as they had all become good friends. It was sweet to see. Once again, pictures to come soon, I hope!! After the kids went to bed, Mary and I went to Walmart and left all the sleeping kids with Jon. It was nice to get to disappear and visit. We got some chocolate and sodas, which were so good for us. :-) I sure do appreciate the friendship I have with her and it was nice to see her interaction with the kids. They were sweet kids and I know that the love of God that Mary and Jon show them will change their lives. That is my prayer. Anyways....
We woke up Sunday and got ready for church. Harley decided to share his fire truck video with everyone. WE all learned so much, at least, I did. Then it was a decision the the boys would ride with Jon and Mary to Church and with me to McDonalds and the girls would ride with me to church and with Jon and Mary to McDonalds. That was fun. A chance to hear them visit with one another. Church was really great and the kids had a lot of fun.
McDonalds for lunch before playing a little and then heading on to Dodge City to see Karen.
It was hard to part the kids. Harley asked a couple of times when he would get to come to our house, to which I didn't know what to say. I just reminded him that when Mary moved to Great Bend after classes were over that we would visit her and that means we would see them at their home. That satisfied him, but they were still sad.
I truly love them like a nephew and niece, so it will be nice to see them again in the future. They really were sweet kids with so much potential.
AFter McDonalds, we headed out to Karens. It took a little over an hour, but we got there. It was good to see her and her house again. The kids were really excited about her cat, Marty. Which reminds me, at Jon and Mary's, they have 2 cats. Hannah wanted so much to be friends with Lycan, but to no avail. There were moments when Zeva let her pet her. Well, at Karen's, Marty was ready and waiting for a play friend, so they loved having him chase strings and chase after balls and all that.
Karen's church was having a picnic that evening, so we went to that. It was a lot of fun. Hamburgers, hot dogs, homemade ice cream and lots of games. it was so much fun. I wish our church was as kind and friendly and so much like family as they were.
There was a balloon race, a treasure hunt, a water balloon toss, a tiger chasing game, and a newspaper fashion contest. Karen got to be the female model and an older gentleman was the male model. Well, our fashion design was a bride and groom. Since Karen's best friend, Kim, is getting married this year, it was lot of fun to think about saving all the costumes for their wedding. Pictures to come:-)
The kids met some new friends and were having a blast with all that. Actually, when it was time to go, the friend who was playing with Hannah started crying because, "she was never going to see that friend again". I felt bad. We headed back to Karen's and got everyone to bed.
Karen had a full Monday for us as downtown historic Dodge had some neat summer activities. We went down to Boot Hill and rode a real stagecoach. If you asked Hannah about it, her reply was, "A real stagecoach with real horses. It even had a kind of palomino." She really liked that. After that, we took a picnic lunch to a park in Dodge that had a free zoo. So we ate there and then saw all the animals. For a free zoo, it had a lot of neat animals. They had a tiger, 2 bears, some wolves, buffalo, cougars, monkeys and of course, horses. I guess the people of Dodge adopt an animal and that allows the zoo to be free of charge. it was neat.
Well, after that, the heat got to us, so we went back to Karen's apartment and watched "Eight below" and rested. Karen had a double header game that night, so we were resting for that. She played third base the first game and the kids enjoyed cheering for her. they won 11-4.
The kids by this time were getting a little squirmy, so I took them over to play at the playground nearby. We played there for a little while and then went to watche the last of her last game. She was center outfield and they lost 15-13 .
the kids were really proud of her. WE then made a Dillons run. The kids got to ride in a Nascar shopping cart, so of course, Aunt Karen had to take them on a few laps around the parking lot. it was fun. We went home and then went to bed. Tuesday we woke up and went to another park close by. She drove us by her new duplex that she is now moved into as of today.
We played there and then went back to her house to eat baby pizzas and then play in her neighbors sprinkler. She had class, so while she was gone to that, we packed up the car and stuff so we wouldn't have to do that while she was there. When she returned, she had planned to take us to their local band concert that was outside. Some friends from her church play in it. So the kids got to see again some of their friends from Sunday afternoon. After that, she took us to Dairy Queen for a treat. We headed home and that was the end of that day.
I didn't realize that she had class at 9 Wednesday morning. For some reason, I thought it was at 10, so we all woke up at like 8:45 and she was pretty much leaving for school. I felt bad. It was an awkward goodbye. So the kids and I made her notes to leave behind. We headed to Mom and Dads via a long day that I will have to save for tomorrow.

Right now I am tired and need some sleep, so to be continued...................