I’m finally getting around to writing about our weekend. I posted some pictures already on my photo blog. Make sure you check them out.

Elijah’s party Friday night went well. He had fun, I think. He got lots of superhero presents. I had a good time, too. The guest list was really small, since we were going to Alabama the next day, so that took most of the stress away. We just ordered pizza, so, other than making his cake, I didn’t have to put much work into the food. It was a lot of fun.

Saturday, Chris had to take a test before we could leave. So, I hurried up and packed our stuff before Claire, my friend and neighbor who has been acting as proctor for Chris’ tests, came over. Chris took his test while the kids played with Piper and Collin and Claire and I visited. Once he finished, Mom came to stay with the kids, and we hit the road. My cousin, Ron, had given us excellent directions to Huntsville, but I was too busy talking to Chris to follow them, apparently. I let us miss our exit, and we went about fifteen miles out of our way before realizing it. So, we pulled out a Tennessee map, and followed a different route. We ended up getting there about forty-five minutes behind schedule. On the way there, I realized that I had forgotten to pack Chris’ belt to hold his suit pants up. We checked into the hotel, and were going to go and find a Walmart or somewhere to buy Chris a belt. Not wanting to have to do that, Chris was going to try on his suit pants to see if they would stay up without a belt. The only problem was, when he looked on the hanger, there were no pants. I nearly burst into tears right then and there. It was my fault, because I packed for him. I grabbed what I thought was his suit out of his closet, but it turned out to be just the jacket on the hanger…no pants. So, we took off to a mall, and got him a pair of dress pants and a belt at Sears. He went without a jacket, and everything was fine. In all of the rush, though, we didn’t have time to eat. We got to the concert hall right on time. Unfortunately, since we were running behind, I didn’t have a chance to get one of my aunts to take a picture of us. Sorry, Joy, but I have no picture of me in my pretty dress.

We got to the concert hall, as I said, right on time. We met my Aunt Bobbie (Ron’s mother) and my Aunt Sue at the door. We found our seats, and I told Bobbie that it was like “Ma and Pa Kettle Go to the Opry” for me and Chris and our series of unfortunate events on the way there. The opera itself was fantastic. I didn’t expect to enjoy it so much. I was fully expecting to enjoy the experience of getting dressed up and going, but I didn’t know how much I would like the opera itself. Going with an open mind, though, paid off. I really enjoyed it. They had supertitles above the stage translating what they were singing into English for us. (They sang in Italian.) It was great. It had some really funny moments. Ron was great. Who knew there was such talent in my family! He sang the tenor role of Arturo. He was hillarious. It was great.

After the performance, I got to meet all of the singers back stage. Susanna Phillips, the star of the show, was great. She is only two years older than me. She was phenomenal. We all walked over to the Art Museum afterwards for the gala. It was somewhat amusing to see Ron in his element. These people were just falling all over themselves to tell Ron how great he was and how proud they were of him. He is a celebrity among the theater people in Huntsville. I was really proud of him. He introduced us to everyone. We ducked out after about forty-five minutes and walked with my aunts back to the hotel. We never did have a chance to eat, but decided to just go back and enjoy our hotel room.

Speaking of our hotel room, it was great. The bed was awesome. It was the most comfortable bed I’ve ever slept in. I think that was the first time I’ve slept completely through the night in like five years. The comfortable bed combined with no kids in the bed was the perfect formula for the most restful sleep I’ve had in a long time. We had an awesome view of the park out our window.

Sunday morning, we met everyone downstairs for breakfast. Our breakfast came with our room, and it was fantastic. It really was! We had cooked to order omelets, plus lots of other good stuff. After not eating since breakfast the day before, Chris and I were ravenous. We ate and talked and laughed with everyone for a good while. It was so much fun.

After checking out of our hotel, we visited Redstone Arsenal. It is an Army base there in Huntsville. Chris was actually sent there after basic training for his AIT school. Now that he has a military i.d., he was allowed on base. NASA uses the base as well. We saw lots of cool things. We stopped at the PX and looked around, and he showed me the barracks that he stayed in years ago, where he played basketball, where he ate, and where he did PT. It was really neat.

After Redstone, we headed home, stopping briefly in Chattanooga to drive by the Tennessee Temple campus. Chris saw where the Seminary was located. Now, he knows how to get there when he goes for a modular class.

We got home about five o’clock Sunday. We were really tired, but so glad to see the kids. I can’t tell you how much I missed the baby. I missed the other kids a lot, too, but I knew they were in good hands. All of you breastfeeding mamas know how much I missed Owen, though. I’ll just leave it at that.

Yesterday, we had doctor’s appointments in the morning, and after that I tried to do schoolwork. I didn’t get much done, though. I took a three hour nap with Owen, and then spent the rest of the day feeling tired. I have lots of schoolwork to catch up on today. Mostly Algebra. I hate this graphing stuff. It’s so not my thing. Lori, could I pay you to do it for me? Just kidding!

I need to find a babysitter for this weekend, because I need to go to the Roane State production of Oklahoma. It’s required for Speech class to attend a Roane State event and write a paragraph about it. I would much rather go to a play than to a ballgame. So, I need a babysitter. Any volunteers?

Well, gotta go. Don’t forget to check out the pictures I added to my photo blog! Be good, people!