Travel Down South

Well, I (Jason) found the camera. Thought I'd upload several photos of our trip to the Heart of Dixie. (That's Alabama, for all our friends from the Upper Midwest.)

We left on a Wednesday afternoon after Wyatt got out of school. I drove, Kelli rode shotgun, Sadie, Callie, and Granna took the middle seat. Papa was in the back seat with Wyatt, and Shika was in the back with the luggage. Things were a bit snug, but we all fit.

Driving through the night, we made it to Nashville, Tennessee Thursday afternoon. We ate a late lunch at Chick-fil-a (yum!) with Papa's brothers, and then went to Uncle Carl's house. Friday was a day of resting. We mostly just hung out and visited, and the kids got to go to a park for a while. Our friends Snotter (Scott) and Vanessa (who's great with child) drove over from Chattanooga for a quick visit, and my parents drove up from Birmingham to spend the night.


Here's our family with Snotter and Vanessa.

Then, on Saturday, I ran my first ultramarathon. I'd never run 50 miles in one day before, but I did then. Kelli, the kids, my parents, Uncle Carl, Aunt Suzie, and their daughter Elizabeth spent the better portion of the day driving all over Nashville to see me at aid stations. What great support! It took a little less than 12 hours, but I felt really good when I finished.

Wyatt got to run the last 100 yards or so with me, so he was pretty excited about it.

Here we are crossing the finish line together.

After supper, a shower, and supper again, we hit the road to Birmingham, Alabama. We all slept late on Sunday. That's a lie. I slept late. Everyone else got up on time. Sunday afternoon we went to the thriving metropolis of Ohatchee, Alabama for a Medders get-together. We saw aunts, uncles, and a thousand cousins. The Medders clan make for a big bunch of folks, you know.

On Monday, we went to Montgomery to see Kelli's sister and her husband. While there, we ate lunch at a little place called Pizza Perfect. If you've never eaten at Pizza Perfect (it's part of Montgomery "culture," so you probably should, you know) just imagine a low-cost pizza buffet in a filthy building. Seriously. The building was filthy. I felt like K-Mart would've been a cleaner environment to consume approximately 73 slices of pizza. It was tasty, though.

Also, we caught a possum while in Montgomery.

Here I am taking a self-portrait while holding it's tail. Don't ask me why. It just seemed like a good idea at the time.



And here, I've got the possum on a pitch fork. That's just how cool life is in Alabama. You can stand on your sister-in-law's back porch with a possom on a pitch fork, and nobody even thinks anything of it. :)


After a couple of days in Montgomery, we returned to Birmingham (and got to change a flat tire on the way - yippee!). We spent an afternoon at Aunt Sandy's house. What's it like at Granna's sister's? Imagine opening a Southern Living magazine and stepping inside. That's life at Aunt Sandy's.


We made our way back to the hilltop where I grew up. My parents have turned the place into a carnival of sorts for the grandkids.


We tended the honeybees. Wyatt got the only almost-full-body coverage. The rest of us could only cover our heads and hope for the best.

We played with sparklers.

We rode a zip line.

We went on a hayride.



We rode a battery powered jeep.

And we laughed and laughed.

The trip back took an eternity, but it was worth it. All in all, it was a great trip!

Catching Up

We just got back from a great trip down South. We got to see parents, grandparents, siblings, in-laws, aunts, uncles, cousins, and assorted friends. It was quite the adventure - Jason, Kelli, Wyatt, Callie, Sadie, Papa, Granna, and Shika the dog all piled into one vehicle, along with enough luggage for a 10 day trip. And just think - it's only 1300 miles. One way.

As soon as we find the camera, we'll get some pictures and narratives uploaded. There's some good stuff to share. Unfortunately, our photos are currently lost in the abyss that is our stack of items to unpack. Since the camera is still in hiding, here are some non-related photos from a few weeks ago that never got uploaded:


We use cloth diapers - the Bum Genius brand. We're big fans. They were all hanging on the clothes line in the back yard a couple of weeks ago, and we thought it would make a cute picture. The diapers come in all different colors, and really are quite simple to maintain. If you ever want to hear a sales pitch for them, just let Kelli know. Bum Genius should hire her as a marketing person with as much as she promotes them.


Just a quick photo with Jason and his favorite two- (almost three-) year old. She's come a long way since November 2007.

And even though we're obviously biased, we still think Sadie is the cutest baby in the world.

Yep, she's pretty stinkin' cute...

Oh my...

My son ate a rock today. At school. During naptime. One minute it was in his shoe. The next minute it was in his stomach. Supposedly, all the other details are a bit blurry. The only explanation I could get was "I didn't mean to swallow it." Hopefully the GI issues he is currently experiencing will keep him from ever magically getting a rock in his stomach again.