Our Christmas Vacation Day 1 Part 2

December 21st Day 1 Part 2:

Where did I leave off....Oh yeah. I was about to shed a few tears and I wasn't the only one.

This was a very sad and happy day all together.
You all have read a lot about our neighbors Carson and Derek. They were our first friends here at Pope. It's very hard to get great neighbors and we lucked out. Not only did we get great neighbors we got great friends as well. As we were preparing for our vacation they were preparing to move. They left North Carolina for good today the 21st of December. After a few tears(thanks Carson) we were off to the doggie hotel. We dropped off Ashes about 10:30 and were on our way. Wait, we can't start our long drive without Starbucks. So, off we go to Starbucks, after our Grande Vanilla Lattes we were on our way to sunny Florida.

Half way into the trip Joe and I had decided that if the kids don't fall asleep on their own that we were going to drug them. Yep you read that right, we brought along some candy (chewable benadryl). We gave them both two and the waited for the magic to happen. We waited and waited and guess what...waited. They were both fighting it. Every time I looked into the rear view mirror I could see Carter's head moving down but his eyes were still fixed on the T.V. More like a gaze really. Both Joe and I thought it was pretty funny. Then finally about and hour later they fell asleep.
You would think that after eating two benadryls each that they would sleep for awhile. Well, we got a good 30 minutes out of them. That's it! Lets just say they were pretty drowsy the rest of the drive. The drive from Pope AFB, North Carolina to Hahira, Georgia took us 7 and a half hours.


I had mentioned before that we were on our way to Florida. I got a little head of myself and we were actually on our way to Georgia, I almost skipped a wonderful part of the journey. Another couple that we know and love John and Vicki Double had moved to Georgia in September. We thought since we were headed south toward Florida and Georgia was in that direction why not make a detour to visit them. I really hope they know just how much we wanted to see them because it really wasn't a short detour. Their son Nathan was Bryson's best friend and in his class up until they moved.
They also have another son that is four months younger than Carter so they were good friends as well.
The boys played and fought as usual and had a great time. We stayed the night with them and the boys had a wonderful time, we did as well. They have a beautiful home and did a great job of decorating. So well in fact that I think someone got a little excited. The deer that is!!
John said he woke up one morning and walked outside and this is what he saw. He said all he could do was laugh, I think its a great way to start your day. I mean the chuckle. Don't worry the deer are back to normal now.

I think the kids finally laid down around 9. Bryson in with Nathan and Carter with Colby.



Coming up...Did we burn the midnight oil? How did the kids do sleeping with their friends? Do we finally make it to Disney?