From Graceland with love

So what was supposed to be a quite Thanksgiving weekend at home turned out to be an 8000 mile journey to infinity and beyond. Well not exactly, but that is what it felt like at the time. It started when, my 88 year old grandfather who has not been feeling well, had a simply birthday wish to meet Adam, which he had never had the pleasure of doing, and hold his great-grand daughters whom he had only ever seen in pictures. So with little intention of purchasing tickets, I find a red-eye out of Seattle on Thanksgiving night for and unheard of price $250 a piece. With a prayer in my heart, I called Adam at work, asking him if he could take the week after Thanksgiving off with only two weeks notice. The stars where aligned, because we where going to Memphis. Did I mention the whole thing was a surprise? After Thanksgiving dinner at Adam's sisters house, we pack seriously what felt like the entire house, and away we went.

Rylee is only pretending to be tired.

Take a long look at these smiling faces. For they are the smiles of people who have no ideal that the next NINE hours of their lives are going to be hell to put it mildly. Because I don't like to dwell on the past, I will keep it short. Rylee and Lauren stayed awake the entire flight. They were not quite and it was not pretty. They stayed awake through our layover in Atlanta and the flight onto Memphis. In the end, we made it safely to my grandma's house. I called her when we got about ten minutes from her house and just made small talk until we pulled into her driveway. I then jumped out and ran into the house through the back door. The expression on my grandparents face was instantly worth the previous nine hours.

My grandparents houses was so different from ours. Everything is breakable and accessible. I even broke a figurine. While no one was looking, this is what Lauren did to my granddaddy's birthday cake. Don't worry, he got another.

Memphis is known for quite a few things. Eating tons and authentic BBQ being two of them. Adam was in heaven. I gained five pounds.

Large colorful hats. Yes, women really wear these works of art on their heads. My grandma has seriously a hundred or more.

Oops. Wrong turn. If only Adam would listen when I give directions.

The Mississippi River

And of course, GRACELAND!! Unfortunately , Graceland is not in the best of neighborhoods, and costs $48 bucks per person for a tour, so this is as close as I got . Just as well, I heard it isn't real kid friendly.

Is my granddaddy tiny or is Adam huge? Both. The week went buy so quickly I wish I had another week to spend with them.

Sad to see us leave, grandma and granddaddy, wanted one more photo.We aren't out the door, and my grandma is starting to cry.

Thanks goodness for smart people. The Atlanta airport had two play areas for kids. Rylee just ran and ran, but I don't think anything could have gotten all the ants out. Right before we boarded the plane home, she fell asleep. We were like, YES, thinking she would sleep at least three of the five hours....wrong. Once we where on the plane, we just sat for an hour before our plane even took off!!! After only and hour in the air, she woke up reenergized and ready to terrorize. I won't bore you with the details, but, warning. If your child is under three, any plane ride over and hour and a half, is not for you.

In the end we survived and the girls were happy to be home. I am so grateful that they got to meet their awesome great-grandparents. My granddady said it was the best birthday he had had, in a very long time. That alone is worth a plane full of crying, overtired Rylees.