How many hours?

That's the question of the day. It's a 12 hour trip. I know it is - I did it just last week. Of course that was all by myself.

Every few minutes Claire asks how many hours - it's the equivalent to "are we there yet?" Once I jokingly told her 5 minutes and then when she found out I was kidding she got all sad. :( poor baby.
I've incorporated several potty breaks into our stops so that I don't have to hear that scary whine I just heard on the forever long bridge in swampland. No exits - no rest stops - (pedal to the metal b/c there's nowhere to even pull over)

We tried to go to this diner in Baton Rouge with a cool looking rootbeer out front, but it smelled. Yuck. We were sufficient with a picture of said rootbeer left over from 1952.

We got lost & ended up in Capitol Park which was very pretty & a good time to let Claire run around and Katie to just soak up some sun.

We are still a long way from where I'd like to be - but we made a stop in Rayne, La for dinner. FYI - it's the Frog Capitol and they are quite proud of it. (More pictures to come).

I'm hoping that since it's getting later in the day and we're going to indulge in minimal snacking (and drinking) that we can get a lot further down the road.

Claire is doing really well. I'm super proud and I think it helped knowing that there was no way we were making it in 12 hours. Katie didn't sleep much last night so she's been cranky and sleeping off and on. Maybe she'll be able to drive on the way back.

Claire is soooo excited about seeing all her cousins. I know sheaks going to have a ball.

~Jen~

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The World's Largest Rocking Chair

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Waffle House

We've stopped for breakfast at Claire's favorite place. Little does she know but just down the street is the largest Rocking Chair in America. :)

This is also Katie's favorite too.
~Jen~
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The FBI

So as we're traveling from Pensacola, Florida towards Dallas, we decide to take the "scenic route" and as soon as we take the exit we immediately get pulled over by a cop. He informs us he's with the FBI and continues to ask if we have any firearms and/or large amounts of cash. He also asks why we pulled over so suddenly and we explain we just decided to take the scenic route. He says "Oh." and my aunt asks if that's bad or something. He replys with "Only that it'll take 30, 40, maybe 50....hours." You can safely assume that we quickly decided to get back on the highway....

~katie~
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Claire

Claire reading the title of one of the books I got her for the trip: The Berenstein Bears and the Messy Room.

"It's a book about me" - Claire
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Early Morning

I did not get as much sleep as I would have liked last night. The alarm clock went off way too early and I must admit, I hit the snooze button a few too many times.

But all is well. I'm on the way to pick up the girls - Claire still doesn't know ;) I cannot wait to see the look on her face when she finds out she gets to go to Aunt Zue's!

I've mapped out a couple of stops along the first part of the trip - hopefully that will keep her entertained and refrain from the ever-not-popular whine.

The first stop - looking for Entemann's to bring back for the family. And coke - need coca-cola!

Found out last night that my cousin, Ron & his family will be down the second week and that should provide oodles more fun and chaos. :)

Alrighty - see you down the road. :)

~Jen~
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On The Road...Again?

Ok - we tried this last year and Katie wasn't very supportive or participative. That made it kind of difficult since I was the one doing ALL the driving last year. :) So...whether she participates or not...you'll see posts from me at least half of the time.

Wish me luck - I am not at all prepared.

We leave very early tomorrow morning.