Longest Post Ever (for me)

Due to traveling and technical difficulties, I'm tardy in posting these pictures from our trip to the South of France.  

This is a little park in Colliure (sp?).  Brady is talking to this French boy as if they speak the same language.  The concept of foreign languages is still foreign to Brady.

The kids weren't ready to be "tied down" for a pic.

 These boats have some historical significance.  I think they're pretty.  We also got to see the French navy doing drills in the Mediterranean. 

 Brady's new thing is taking a picture all by himself.  I let him hold the weight of the camera, but I'm holding tight to the camera strap behind his neck.  We took a lot of shots to get this, but I think it's absolutely beautiful...  I might have to print it and hang it in his room.  

 Since Brady's latest hair cut, he wakes up to crazy hair.  Poor little guy can't escape Mama's camera.

 On Tuesday, Grammy, Megan, the kids and I started our road trip to Josh and Kayleigh's wedding.  We left at 3:00 AM and stopped at this Chick-fil-a for breakfast around 6:00 AM.  These longer stops really helped keep the kids happier for the long drive to Akron, Ohio.

 Brady and Anna Belle squeal at each other with glee... so cute!

 The Missouri welcome center had an awesome playground that we visited about an hour before lunch. Meals are a nice break, but we felt like the kids needed time to be FREE, so this was a great little stop.

 Our favorite road trip restaurant is Lambert's, in Sikeston, MO.  This is the small town where my grandparents grew up, met and got married.  It's commonly known as "Home of the Throwed Rolls".  Brady was a little intimidated by having rolls thrown at us.

 Our table had a pic of Morgan Freeman (sorry for my poor photo quality).

 Outside of Lambert's the kids took time on some of the rides.

 We spent 2 days in Kentucky Dam Village, which was a favorite vacation stop for my mom's family when I was growing up.  It was a very nice break in the driving.  There was a lot of fun stuff to do, but Brady mostly wanted to stay in the room and play with Grammy's new Duplo Train Set.

Our hotel in Ohio was right on Cuyahoga Falls.  This is the room from our balcony.  It was really beautiful.

 We caught a glimpse of Josh and Kayleigh taking pictures before the wedding ceremony.

 If Brady was going to touch Anna Belle for the picture, he wanted to hold her neck... 

 He's not quite as cooperative with the camera.  With that said, he knew how good he looked in his blazer.  I said, "You're pretty cute buddy."  He said, "I'm not cute.  I'm soooo handsome."  Later in the night he also told me he's wonderful and amazing, but not cute.  He also frequently told Anna Belle that she was cute.  How did we get so blessed?

 Anna Belle LOVED having her picture taken in this beautiful dress that's been worn by Taylor's sisters and nieces.

 While the musicians practiced, we sat in the front row to get a good view of all the instruments.  The kids were particularly interested in watching the "pros" play harmonica.  

 Cute little guy...  I took Brady potty prior to the ceremony.  We saw Kayleigh in the lady's room too, and when she left, Brady whispered, "Mommy!  I saw a princess!"

 During the ceremony, I paced in the back with a very tired Anna Belle.  The foyer was pretty warm, and she started pulling on her dress and screaming.  I took it off promptly, and she ran around the back of the church with nothing by a bow and ruffle bloomers for most of the ceremony.  The photographers got a few shots of her... how embarrassing.  I also blew bubbles to entertain her for a good portion of the ceremony.

Brady's proud to drink his iced tea from a tea cup.

 Cute love birds centerpiece...  Somehow my living room has quickly turned into a bird theme.  It's funny how things can happen inadvertently.  Anyways, I took pictures of the bride and groom, but I was having lighting problems.  It was a beautiful wedding and I wish them the best.

 The restaurant at the Sheraton had a GORGEOUS view of the Cuyahoga falls.  We really enjoyed our breakfast there every day.  Of course, we also enjoyed a few meals in our room where the kids could play.

 On Monday, we started our drive home.  Our first stop was with the Kentucky Pucketts and Mammaw.  We went to this Chipotle near a nice outlet mall.  My baby girl doesn't shy away from pictures.

 On the other hand, Brady can't sit still unless he's strapped down.

 We got to visit Dave and Brenda's house for the first time, just south of Cincinnati.  Anna Belle really liked the ceramic dachshund... so much lower maintenance than our dogs!

 We stopped in Louisville to visit with some more distant relatives.  Ashley (whose children are photographed below with my kiddos) and I share our great grandparents.  My great grandpa, Elmer Walton Puckett, Sr. died young, but I remember my "Grannie Annie" very well.  Her name had some influence on Anna Belle's name along with my mom's choice to be called "Grammy Pammy".

 We got to chat while the kids played at Chuck-E-Cheese for close to 3 hours.  We really enjoyed ourselves.

 We stopped at Lambert's again on our way home.  Tuesday was our longest day of driving, so we were all grateful for the break.

We left Texarkana at 4:00 AM and got home at 9:00 AM this morning.  Taylor was awesome and went grocery shopping this morning and cleaned the house and made lunch and watched the kids while I went to clean the car (it was the worst I've ever seen it, particularly the car seats).  We REALLY missed him.  

On Tuesday TAYLOR COMES WITH US on vacation!!!!  We're going to spend a week in New Braunfels!