While Mom is away, the boys will play......

I left Drew and Griffin home alone together for the first time ever this past weekend and hopped on a plane to go see Shasta and my newest nephew Owen. Although it was was really tough to leave my little family and comfort zone, I am really glad I went and had a really great time with both my sisters. 

Between my fun little session with the hypnotist, countless hours of online searching, education via pilot friends, etc...........I think I just might be on my way to a cure for my fear of flying. My trip was not anxiety-free, but I think I was leaps and bounds better than I have been in the past. 

this guy makes it hard to pack

smooth sailing between Branson and Chicago for the first leg

 Saturday we ventured out to Bethesda for lunch and famous cupcakes that I love (they have a tv show too) then finished the evening with a frozen treat from Rita's (might have to open a franchise in Cabool) and a late night movie without the little ones.

FYI, you don't have to see the Fast & the Furious 2, 3, 4, or 5 to be able to enjoy 6.....and spoiler alert, looks like there will be a 7th. Ridiculous! 

a ray of sunshine named Peyton

Mr. Owen

 On Sunday, we made our first Ikea visit, each spent $30+ and then contemplated how we would get all of our treasures home in our carry-on bags. We also saw the first of 3 traffic accidents that would transpire over the next 24 hours: a fender bender in the round-a-bout in front of the store where both parties sped off at 100 mph. The second was a very sad fatality/3 car accident  that closed a major road near Shasta's house, and the third involved my brother-in-law on the morning that we left, unfortunately. Thank God for insurance. I felt a sense of relief to NOT be driving home that day and flying instead!

of course, he's looking at his favorite Aunt

.....both asleep

you cannot "fly over thunderstorms" everytime, but you can go around them!
this was after taking off in a major downpour in Baltimore and thankfully getting up above the weather quickly

 While on my trip, I received these pictures. There's definitely a theme here:

"checking cows"

which led to this

and the next day.....

once again this

I took these next photos tonight to try to capture the remains of Griffin's first "shiner". It happened over the weekend of course, that would be Drew's luck. But, it makes him look tough. 

it looks a bit darker and bigger than this pic shows

side view