Amarillo by morning...

or by midnight. We took off after an ALL day field day with 21 4th graders and hit the road with the boys to head to my grandmother's 80th birthday party. I was so nervous about how the boys would travel and already worn out when we starting driving. Thankfully, Justin drove the entire way. I think he could see my exhaustion. The boys were WONDERFUL in the car. Best purchase ever? Hands downs it's got to be our portable DVD player...worth EVERY penny of silence. Campbell on the other hand slept 5.5 hours in the car and woke up as we pulled up to the hotel-love that baby. The down side was we forgot our playpen and Campbell has never slept in the bed with us. So after a 5.5 hour "nap" in the car, we had the next two hours of trying to get him back to sleep. As soon as we did and put him next to one of us in bed, he would pop up like it was a slumber party and just giggle. It was really cute but not so cute at 1:00 a.m. I don't think we'll ever forget a playpen ever again on a trip. The next night we tried to put him to sleep but again he thought it was slumber party time so Justin ended up sleeping on the floor and Campbell had the big bed to himself while I slept and got kicked by Nolan all night.

The party was a hit. My grandmother's name is Byrdie Mae Hogendorn so it was only natural that she have birdhouses at her party and she has them throughout her fabulous garden of Eden in her backyard. Nolan was a little disappointed by this and told her that he wanted her to have a "hippomus" (hippopotamus) party. He's all about birthday themes right now and let's us know daily what he was his birthday theme to be in September. And yes, of course, it changes daily as well.

I'm so grateful and blessed that my grandmother is so healthy and active. You would never guess that she's 80. She's on FACEBOOK! (No, I'm not kidding), just got back from a cruise, can out-garden you any day of the week, and is pretty much up at her church anytime the doors are open volunteering. What an amazing and beautiful woman.