Marion, IL

In a Hampton Inn about 500 miles into our adventure, listening to Evan whimper as he fights falling asleep even though he is out-of-his-ghourd-tired. His sister long ago gave it up. She is a smart one, that girlie.

Anyway, the kiddos did just great on the trip and we toyed with the idea of driving straight through but decided we were ALL just bored and could use a stopover. We went for a swim, and then enjoyed a complimentary happy hour in the lobby. We'll see if we are around in the morning for the hot breakfast. This morning we hit the road at 4:15 a.m. and we'll probably do the same tomorrow. With the early start, Evan and Rowan sleep through a good part of the trip. Quiet babies, less stressed mommy and daddy.

We hope to be at Scott's cousin Kristy's place by noon (in Little Rock, Brent...) Scott's mom, aunt and other cousin will arrive shortly after. We will have Kristy's 3-year old, 18-month old, and cousin Steph's twin 6-month olds in addition to our twosome. Should be a riot. The agenda calls for family photos on Thursday and boating on Friday (though I'll be staying back with all the kiddos and an additional two babysitters - too hot, and too long of a day for the babes to be out in it.) We return on Monday, though we're toying with the idea of driving overnight to return. It's a 14 hour drive, and if we did it overnight the kiddos would sleep through almost all of it. We'll see.

Evan's asleep now. We're not far behind.