We headed south for Thanksgiving! We had visited Alabama in July, but before that, it had been nearly two years since we'd last been able to make the trek (pandemic...having a baby...), so the girls were BEYOND excited at another trip so soon after our last one.
Brad was presenting at a conference in Texas right up until the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, so my parents very kindly offered to come up and drive with the girls and me. Bless them.
They arrived in Durham...
...and all the holiday fun began!
Here's a closer look.
We did the whole drive in one day (which is about 10 hours according to gps, but takes closer to 11+ with bathroom stops and whatnot), and the girls did a marvelous job. We ran into no traffic or bad weather, and everyone was in a good mood all day. It was a total WIN. And yes, we have a dvd player in the van that we do, in fact, use in moderation. We also listen to a lot of audiobooks and music and color a lot. Sometimes, I read out loud. A LOT of snacks are demanded. It's like having a horde of high school boys in the car.
And then we woke up in Alabama the next morning!
We then began squeezing in all of the Huntsville must-do's, beginning with L'Etoile. (Note: our beloveds, the Zurmuehlens, own and mastermind this patisserie, so we are obviously committed to them. That said: it is PHENOMENAL, and if you are to be in Huntsville for any amount of time, you must- I repeat MUST- visit and enjoy. You can thank me later.)
We love them so much.
And this one, too.
We also had breakfast at The Blue Plate Cafe, which is a non-negotiable for our visits (should I do a Huntsville visitor's guide? I know a lot of great things to eat. I mean do.)
Huntsville has a minor league baseball team, and over the past couple of years, they built a cool new stadium near my parents' house. They set up a really fun Christmas market of local makers at the stadium, next to a great drive-thru Christmas light trail, and we had a big time.
We were also in town for my cousin's son's baptism, which was a fun family event to be around for. I didn't get pictures of the baptism or with any of our extended family...but here are some pictures from that morning before all of the events:
The Tuesday before Thanksgiving, I drove 2 hours to Nashville to pick up Brad, and my parents and the girls drove 10 minutes to the Huntsville airport to pick up Amiee. They had time to have dinner, pick up Amiee, go drive through the light show again, and get home and in bed before Brad and me. Oi.
This gal was SUPER excited to see Brad when she woke up. It had been over a week since she'd seen him.
So excited about Bo, too!
Amiee had not been to the drive-thru safari (we Boswells had gone in the summer), so Mom and Dad sent Amiee, Brad, the girls, and me safari-ing.
This donkey would not stop chewing on our mirror. Jerk.
We were driving 15 miles per hour, so Brynnie came and sat with me.
We got our visit off to a grand start! And it got even better when Brad and Amiee got into town. More to come.
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