To grandmother's house we go...

After Stephen was done with work at 11:30, we packed (and I mean PACKED) my little car and started the 6+ hour journey to Shreveport Louisiana to visit Stephen's maternal grandparents and great grandmother (yes this does mean that our little Bennett has a great GREAT grandmother...not to mention three great grandparents!). Of course Bennett is a dream when it comes to riding in the car, so we weren't very worried about the trip. I wasn't able to calculate when Stephen was going to be able to make it home, then allowing us to head to LA, so I just had no choice but to feed Bennett when he was hungry which was about an hour and a half before we ended up leaving. We knew this would mean we would probably have to stop twice, and we did.
The first stop was in between Hattiesburg and Jackson, MS. We tried to let Bennett sleep it out a little past his usual three hour schedule, and when we hit 3.5 hrs he woke up and realized his belly was slap empty (and he let us know about it). Of course we were in the middle of po-dunk nowhere, so we drove for a good ten minutes before coming up on a half way decent gas station to stop at (a gas station we soon realized was not even remotely half way decent, in fact the word 'decent' doesn't even belong in the same sentence). So we stopped at this rank, vile, vagrant infested hole and fed our ravaged son. It was quite the ordeal. We were parked in the back of the place, not too much out in the open but not too far away from civilization so as not to be abducted, but random sketchies kept mosy-ing on by us and my little Bebe au Lait came in handy.
After a 45 minute feeding ordeal (thats how long it took to feed and change and rearrange and hide from the sketchies) we hit the road again.
We again tried to streeeetch Bennett out so that we could make it to Shreveport without stopping again, but little man would have nothing of it and we stopped at a Dollar General about 30 minutes outside of Shreveport for our second feeding. This one went MUCH better and we were in and out in no time.
Friday night we arrived Stephen's grandparents house to screams of oohs and aahs and a wonderfully yummy home cooked meal of spaghetti and meatballs. I think Bennett was a little fried from the trip, but he fell asleep OK in his Pack N Play in our room.
The next day started our day of visitors. (but only after a delicious must have breakfast meal of Southern Maid donuts - a Roe family favorite) They were lined up and in and out of the house all day - family, friends, and more. Everyone wanted to get themselves a piece of B. He was well behaved, overall, with only a few crying spurts that were quickly remedied by taking him outside. Or letting him stare at the vents in the ceiling...he is in love with the one in our den at home and I think he was thinking of it as he glanced up and saw it's cousin at his Mama and Papa Preston's (Stephen's grandparents) house. He was so thrilled that we even caught a shot of his elusive smile:
For lunch, the boys made a run to Hickory Stick BBQ to get take out for the fam...another Roe family 'must have.' BBQ isn't really my thing, but I thought it was pretty good. (I'm waiting for Stephen to read this post and get on to me for not giving his oh so precious favorite BBQ place ever the props he feels it deserves). We spent the afternoon visiting with friends and family and playing outside along the Bayou. Bennett recevied so many wonderful gifts while we were in Louisiana, including a precious quilt made by La's college roommate, Kak, some wonderful books, toys, sleep sheep, Pee-Pee Teepees (so smart - thanks Sarah and Jay!), burp cloths, and frames for his handprints and footprints. Thank you everyone for the generous gifts! Bennett loves them all! :)
Saturday night we had roast, rice and gravy, green bean bundles, rolls, grape salad, and beans. To say the least the food this weekend was wonderful! Thank you Mama and Papa Preston for letting us all invade (and take over) your home and for the delicious meals.
Our trip home on Sunday was much better than the trip over - we timed the whole feeding Bennett and leaving thing just right, so that we only had to stop once on the trip home. Oh and get this: Stephen and I were, again, trying to stretch out Bennett's feeding as much as we could without going overboard to try and tie into our lunch stop. I'm not much of a fast food-y and really judge my 'favorites' by their french fries. So I told Stephen I would want either a)Arby's b)Checkers c)Hardees. We drove until we saw an Arby's sign at an exit near Jackson, MS. Of course this wasn't one of your 'get off the interstate and there is the restaurant' restaurants. This was a 'get off the interstate and follow the signs around town and turn right at the second light and into the mall parking lot' Arby's. So once we drove all this way to Arby's, who do we pull up beside but Stephen's parent and brother Michael, who happened to leave Shreveport about 15 minutes before we did (and we had not talked to them since they left). What are the chances of THAT ever happening again??? It is still weirding me out. So we had a good Arby's lunch, fed Bennett in the car inthe parking lot, and then headed on our merry way home.

IT was a great (and exhausting) weekend! Especially for Mr. Bennett but I have to say he did a really good job handling all the attention and traveling such a long way. It's a good thing he loves his carseat!!!

Pictures below from the weekend (and there are a BUNCH so get ready)
With Mama Preston (Bennett's Great Grandmother)
With Papa Preston (Bennett's Great Grandfather)
With Mama Thomas (Bennett's Great Great Grandmother)

Five Generations





Laying on my quilt outside after I spit up all over the pretty day gown Mimi made me