Kentucky Reunion

Wow, was it a trip!

We left at 10:00am on Friday morning after I spent all day Thursday doing laundry, packing and worrying (ha!). We arrived in Paintsville, Kentucky after driving down route 23 for about 4 hours with a stop for an hour. Lily slept a grand total of 30 minutes the entire time and was glad to arrive at the hotel around 2:30pm to finally take a nap. She did great during the trip though - I sat back there with her for about an 1 1/2 hours to keep her company.

We stopped in Portsmouth, Ohio to have a picnic lunch. We were looking for a place to kind of spread out and eat but couldn't find one. So we drove down this road with a dead end and, voila! there was a parking spot with a grass area that overlooked a gorgeous valley with the rolling hills of southern Ohio all around!

Here are the pictures - the entire photo album is posted on my facebook wall. There are way too many too post here!

That evening, we tried to go to a local restaraunt called Wilma's Place. Unfortunately, it was a total fail. So we all ended up eating at Bob Evan's.

The next morning we made plans to ride with my Grandpa around the hollows (pronounced hawlers) of Paintsville as he talked to us about his childhood. It was an awesome time! I sat with Lily in the back and took notes as Jordan accompanied my Grandpa in the front and would jump out and snap some shots. We learned so much about my Grandpa, his family, the people of that region and life 'back in the day'.

An old barn my Grandpa used to play in:

Look at they log cabin style construction!

A coal mine shaft , right off the side of the road that my Grandpa mined!

The high school my Grandpa attended

Lily and I chilling on the front entrance of the school

Remains of the Picklesimer homeplace - a chimney

Lily finally fell asleep at the end of our car ride around 11:00 - she had been up since 7:00am! (P.S. Granny does that romper look familiar? How cute!)

After a nap, we all went to a flea market in the hollows but the vendors had already closed most of their stores. We looked around and ended up leaving shortly thereafter. On the way back 'into town' we stopped at a fireworks store. Or I should say, Jordan and my brother Cyrus and Jaye did. Us girls stayed in the cool air-conditioned car. They ended up buying some fireworks without the tax - weird!

We then came back to the Ramada Inn and went swimming in their indoor, heated pool. It was such fun! Lily was timid at first but once she got into her Kiddie Cabin Kruiser floatie, she came alive! She started kicking her legs and moving her self about the pool. What a little cutie! Of course, all of her aunts and uncles wanted to play with her. We ended up calling her 'Water Lily'!

After the pool and another nap, we geared up for dinner and games with the family. Everyone just adored Lily! We heard so many "She is precious (praaaay-shus)" or "What a doll baby (Whutta dollbaybee)"

In the morning we packed and went to the last event of the reunion - the devotional. Jordan was asked to speak on service. He was slightly hesitant about speaking - especially since it's not even his family and we are one of the youngest peole there. But he gave a wonderful talk and even teared up thinking of his family and the service he gives to us. He said 'I thought I knew what it meant to serve but I think that you have to have a child to know the real meaning of service...'. We love him so much!

All in all it was a wonderful trip and we were so happy to be back home. Especially Lily! She just oooed and ahhhed when we got back and could not stop smiling until she was so tired and lost all coordination!