Flying by the seat of our pants

Greetings from the beautiful state of Missouri!

Yes, I did say Missouri. And, if you are not an regular follower of my blog--we do not live in Missouri! Shane woke up Monday morning and said, "Would it be crazy to go to Missouri this week?"

Apparently, somewhere in my flabbergasted stammering of "uh....uh....what?" he heard, "Yeah, we're there!"

Not saying, of course, that I didn't want to go. I was just a bit taken aback. I'm a planning kind of a girl. This flying by the seat of my pants thing kind of threw me for a loop--especially with something so major!

Enter some frantic packing, phone calls, and planning, and, now.....we're here!

We're having a great time so far, keeping busy doing tons of stuff. So far we've been shopping at this awesome place called the Landing in Branson (sidenote: Mom, I sooooo wished you were here with me when we went down there! You would have loved it....) and we've been to a great zoo here in Springfield--and there is, of course, more on tap for tomorrow, Friday, and Saturday--Silver Dollar City with the whole family included in there somewhere!

The family we are visiting and staying with--Shane's aunt and uncle--are like, the family that everyone wishes they had. If, you know....you don't actually have family like the one I am about to describe....

They are so laid back--um, can you say we called them Monday morning and said we are coming Monday night--and they were thrilled! Not freaking out like I would be like most people would be! They have a beautiful and amazingly spacious house for us to stay in--we have the entire basement floor, complete with family room area, game area, kitchen, two bedrooms and a full bathroom--all to ourselves! And, most importantly....they love us and love our kids--and it really shows. Talk about a vacation.....it really doesn't get much better than this. Seriously.

Oh, and a sidenote: I really am starting to think that there is something in Missouri that makes Ethan talk. I should've come down here sooner! I don't know what it is, but today he actually said (fairly clearly): Gam (Gram), drink, Ethan, okay, yes, sure, mama, daddy, dog, 'raffe (giraffe), one, two, please, daydoo (thank you), and I am certain that I am probably forgetting a couple more. Oh, yes, of course....there was also a lot of head nodding. *giggle*

So, I'll be home in few days and on a photo posting rampage, I'm sure! See you then....