Back to our sweet and blessed reality.

Ah...vacation is sweet.

Jerry and I just spent a week celebrating our tenth anniversary. Our plans were really nearly undecided up until right before we left. Our real gift to each other was this...

Now, before your heads go somewhere that mine isn't, I'm talking about the bed itself. Who knew mattresses were such an investment? Moving from a queen to a king has been heavenly. I am dreaming again...haven't slept this good in years.

Jade just had to be in the picture...I think she may have been the "pillow re-arranger" culprit.

Anyways, back to our trip. By the time we were home from Michigan and had dropped the kids off at the grandparents, I would have just been happy to go sit on a curb. Anything other than the normal everyday.

We went further East to stay near the grandparents and ended up in the quaint town of Natchitoches, La.
It is the oldest town in Louisiana and happens to be where they filmed Steel Magnolias. It was perfect. Plenty of history for Jerry, plenty of shopping for me, and plenty of yummy food for both of us.

There are multiple old plantations that you can visit...we just visited one...so much history. I learned that my hubby really does know what he is talking about when it comes to history. I am still not sure how I sailed through all of that stuff with straight A's and can't remember a dern thing. Anyway, he could have written a dissertation on the differences between how the British, French and Spanish treated their slaves.

These slave quarters were some of the only ones not burned during the Civil War.

An old general store...

The trees were AMAZING.

These horses let me pet them...I had a brief moment of missing the girls at this time...thinking of how much they too would enjoy the "horsies", then I realized I was standing in an ant hill and ran away from them shrieking.

There were also tons of amazing historic churches to tour.

We loved this one...remember when it was covered in "blush and bashful", Shelby's (Julia Roberts) wedding colors of choice?

We didn't have even one stinkin' picture taken of the two of us...oh well, trust that I'm the one holding the camera...here is a shot of Jerry in the balcony...

we really were together. and childless. for six days.

Ahem.

Did I mention the trees were gorgeous?

We even tromped through old cemeteries.

I should have taken pictures of my shopping finds. I found a great new bag, a baby gift for a friend, some fudge for the grandparents, a Christmas gift for an uncle who is hard to shop for, a really neat "4 generations" picture frame, and of course too many trinkets and toys for the girls.

As far as food? Oh my. Diet starts tomorrow! Can you say meat pies? grits? fried green tomatoes? french pastries? Cajun seafood and all the accompanying fattening sauces?

We seriously indulged ourselves in every way. Ate what we wanted and when we wanted. Slept when we wanted for however long we wanted to. Not being on anyone else's schedule was truly delightful.

We both also finally finished some books that we've been reading off and on for an embarrassing amount of time.

Then we finished out the trip with some time at our favorite bed and breakfast, Fall Farm. I wanted to get some sun soooo bad, Jerry laughed at me out there with my swimsuit on dodging the rain drops. Oh well.

Then it was off to get our girls. I wish you could have seen their faces. We have never been away from them this long so I knew it would be good. I really wish I had my camera...I did think about grabbing it...but then thought about how rude it would be for your mama, whom you haven't seen in a week, to be wielding a camera when she comes in the door.

Let's just say they were a little excited.

I feel refreshed, rested, and a little more excited about life in general too. I am thankful to feel more patient toward my kiddos and more endeared to them also. I am always in love with Jerry, but getting to have multiple uninterrupted conversations over many days together...it just warms my heart. A break is good.

Vacation is sweet, but our blessed reality is even sweeter.