We had to head out the next day. My brother came by the hotel early in the AM, which worked out really well, because hubby need help getting all of our stuff back into the van. Somehow, we managed to have a whole lot more than what we came with! And stuffing it back into the van seemed a little bit harder and not nearly as organized!
Anyway, we had one more stop to make to visit my mom's side of the family. We were heading south to Madison to spend the day with them and have dinner. The drive was pleasant enough. And we were excited to see more family that we had not seen in some time. (Well, hubby sees them every year because it is where he hunts.) But, the kids and I had not seen my uncle, cousin and her son in about 7 years. My aunt and her husband came to our town last year for a fishing trip. But, it would be great to see them again, as well.
We arrived early in the afternoon and spent the day just catching up with family. The home we were in was gorgeous and it was on a lake. One of the things the kids got to do was walk on a frozen lake and see an ice fishing shanty. They thought that was kind of cool. I was a nervous wreck. I am sure the lake was frozen through, but it was just the thought of the whole thing.
There was plenty of snow and the big girls built a fort out back. Big enough only for a small animal. Oh well, they tried.
We had a fabulous dinner. And it was great to visit with family. Unfortunately, we had to leave that evening around 9 PM. Hubby had to possibly work on Tuesday and we knew we needed to get on the road early the next morning.
My cousin has a great family picture. And as soon as she forwards it to me, I will post it.
Our plan was to head out and find a hotel within an hour of Madison. But, as we started traveling south we quickly realized a place to stay was not going to be all that easy. The few hotels we were willing to stay at, could not accommodate all 6 of us. So, we kept driving and driving and driving. Until sometime in the middle of Illinois we were able to find a hotel. Around 2 AM our time.
We grabbed our over night bags, dragged the kids to our room, changed clothes and fell into bed. I was never so thankful to put my head on a pillow! Our plans were to get up early and head out first thing in the AM. We had two friends we were hoping to visit during our trip back. And maybe stay the night with one, if the timing worked out.
But, we over slept. So got a late start. So then we weren't sure if we should stop anywhere at all or just keep driving on through. After much discussion, we decided to drive straight through, which really meant not stopping anywhere. We had had breakfast at the hotel and ate convenience store snacks for lunch. We did stop for dinner (and was able to watch a little of the Packer game) and by the time we hit North Alabama, around 8ish we were just too close to home to stop again.
We bribed the kids, who had been doing fantastic but were real disappointed we were not staying in another hotel, with movies until we got home. Around 12:30AM. As the night wore on though, about 11, the DVD player had to go off. And everyone fell asleep.
We arrived back home around 12:30/1:00AM on Sunday night (Monday morning). We came in, changed clothes and all fell asleep on the couch in the living room. We woke up late Monday morning.
We spent the day unpacking, washing and cleaning. As it turns out hubby did have to go to work the next day, so it was nice to have a little time to readjust. We had such a wonderful time, filled with so many great memories. But, we were thankful to be home safe and sound. . .
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