The Tree House: Unexpected Vacation!

When Brian gave turned in his resignation letter at SNB, they asked him to get to a stopping point on all his deals, turn them over to someone else, and then pack his things. Instead of letting employees give a two weeks notice, they want them out so they won't take any of their loans to another bank. For this same reason, they told Brian they'd pay him for another two weeks if he agreed not to start working at his new job for another week. So, basically they asked him to get paid to stay at home! Yes! We took advantage of the free time and started planning.

There's still lots of little things that I've been wanting to do around the house, so I recruited Brian's help for the first few days. Then, after that we made the trip to Stillwater to enjoy OSU's Homecoming weekend with Brian's family. (Below are pictures from the infamous "Walk Around" celebration they hold every year.) We also enjoyed playing cards, bowling, running errands, relaxing, and letting the kids enjoy their grandparents, aunt, and uncles.

Those banners in the background are made up
of millions of little pieces of tissue paper. Crazy, huh?

Even though Brian could start his new job after one week, he was getting paid of two. So, we decided to postpone his start-date a little longer and add another little trip in the mix. This time we headed to northwestern Arkansas. Brian went there a few years ago without me and has wanted to take me ever since. So, we did a quick wash from our trip to Stillwater, repacked, and headed out on Monday morning.

Fall is my favorite season and I'm a sucker for the changing leaves. So, the drive did not disappoint! Unfortately, I was too busy admiring them to take any pictures. The sad part is this was probably one of the highlights of our trip. We were so excited to spend some time together and do some fun things, but as evening came on, things quickly turned from bad to worse!

1) I forgot my cell phone (not a biggy, but inconvenient)

2) Brian forgot his toiletries (had to make a run to the store!)

3) Our hotel room was cruddy (but we managed)

4) Chyler was sick (this was the killer)

One room, two adults, one light sleeping baby, and one vomiting sick child is not the best of circumstances for a good night's sleep! The next morning, we were tired and Chyler still didn't feel well, but we had plans to go on a train ride. We loaded everyone up and started our one hour drive to Eureka Springs. On our way there, the GPS' battery died and when I went to plug it into the power outlet, it didn't work. (Can this trip get any worse?!) We turned to our map to help us, but it didn't show enough detail to help. With a frustrated driver, a crying baby, and little girl dry-heaving in the back seat, we almost turned back. We kept at it though and after stopping for directions, we made it to the train ride just in time. The train went slow so we could enjoy looking outside, our guide told some interesting stories, and we were able to get off the train and put quarter down on the track for the train to run over. It wasn't much, but it was the best part of our trip. Even Chyler, who still felt terrible, enjoyed it. When we got back to the hotel, Chyler and I took a nap while Brian and Jackson explored the University of Arkansas' campus a bit. By night time, Brian and I were dreading another sleepless night all in one room, so we finally changed out plans and decided to just leave. My mom and dad live about 2 1/2 hours from Fayetteville, so I gave my mom a call and told her we were on our way. We arrived around at their house around 11 pm and enjoyed a very restful sleep :) Chyler took a few days to feel better, but she definitely enjoyed the extra lovings from Grandma and Grandpa Lewis. In fact, when we got home, she started crying because she wanted to go back.

So, our trip didn't turn out quite as expected, but I guess that's life. And especially, I guess that's life with kids :) Good thing we love 'em.

Jackson & Brian on the train ride

Mom & sick little Chyler
(She stayed like this the whole train ride. For those who know my daughter, this is NOT normal. While I don't like it when she's sick, I enjoyed the little snuggles.)