Sweet Home Alabama...

For 3 more weeks that is. Yesterday, Lise', Abri and I flew back from NJ. It's sure good to be home.

I'm sure you're wondering how our trip went, and if not then stop reading now.

The four of us left a week ago Monday. We stayed at an Embassy Suites, which was nice for the room and the breakfast. Lise' especially liked the fountain in the atrium. Her day went something like this:

She would wake up and stand outside the hotel room waving good-bye to her Daddy as he left for work. A short time later, me and the 2 girls would head down for breakfast ourselves. Lise' especially enjoyed choosing her own breakfast. Pancakes and bacon was her choice most days. We'd then head to the fountain for her to throw money in. We'd then hang out while she put her hands in the water and played around a little. After a few turns around the atrium, we'd head back to the room where she'd play with puzzles or play-doh. Eventually, we'd eat lunch, take naps and look forward to B returning from work. Lise' sure loved being in the hotel. She loved opening the door and letting herself out (it didnt take us long to start flipping over that little lock at the top of the door), she enjoyed getting ice and especially pushing the elevator buttons. On the last night we were there, she got a little brave and ran out ahead of us. Rather than waiting at the elevator for us, she pushed the button and hopped on. I saw her independence and let the elevator door close just far enough to put her into a panic. Hopefully it taught her a short term lesson.

Overall, the trip was good. It was especially nice to be back together as a family, even if it was only for a week. I did have a car for 2 days, and I'm quite happy to say that I've conquered my fear of NJ highways. If you've never been there, there's absolutely nothing like it. There are just roads everywhere. If it wasn't for the GPS, I'm not sure I would have made it. Even with it, I found myself stuck on roundabouts more than once.

Oh, and I'm sure many of you are wondering how our night out in NYC went. Well, as a whole, it was great. However, if you've been keeping up with the news, the stage hands decided to go on strike the day we had tickets to see JERSEY BOYS. I guess my intro to Broadway will have to be postponed. We still took a limo into the city, so we were able to sit back and enjoy the views. Dinner was at Keen's Chophouse, and it was beyond delicious. B and I shared a 10oz piece of Kobe Beef that just melted in your mouth. There's just no way to describe how good it was. It momentarily made us forget about the fact that we weren't going to a show afterwards. If you check out the website, be sure to read the history. And, if you view the different banquet rooms, look at the ceiling. Those are a few of the 95,000 they have displayed from their collection. The good news is that we'll have the opportunity to return. That's part of the reason we jumped at the chance to live in NJ for a while.

Sorry for the rambling. I'm more than ready to go to bed, but wanted to let you know how our trip went.