24 hr road trip...piece of cake!

Jarid & I were both pretty worried about the drive to Virginia seeing how it's a 21 hr drive from Dallas. It was my job to pack the things the kids & I would need for the next 30 days while we stayed in temporary housing. We knew we'd make an overnight stop in Nashville to see my BFF Julie & to rest before the next leg of the drive. We bought some new toys and books to tempt the kids with if necessary and got some new DVDs to watch too. The kids & i met up with Shana & Kerry for our last dinner with them for awhile and the Sugar, Papa, Goodie, Megan, Ruben & Pam came over for one final goodbye. (We're so blessed with these people!)
We packed the car on Thurs night and cleaned the house (we've heard about movers packing garbage - we didn't want that happening!) and finally got to bed around midnight. We got up at 5am to pack the rest of the things and got the kids up at 5:30 to head out. They literally didn't make a peep (they were awake but it was dark out and they were watching a show) until we stopped for breakfast at 8am in Arkansas. Awesome! We hit up Whataburger for the last time and headed back out. Both kids napped for a long time (best road trippers ever?) and were happy til we stopped for lunch. We let them play at the playground for a bit and got back on the road. They really didn't start getting antsy til we were almost to Nashville!












Memphis!








After a yummy BBQ (thanks guys!) and a great visit with Jules & Andy we all got to bed ready to start all over the next morning. Jarid packed the car and we got the kids up at 530 again. This time they were more awake (bright lobby, people talking, lighter outside, they were "onto us" about whet was coming) but still pretty happy til breakfast. We stopped at McD's so they could play too. Of course Owen fell asleep about 5 mins before we finally got to our exit (where are the feeders in the East??) so J held him while he ate but he eventually woke up to play.












The drive from TN to VA was gorgeous and I found myself watching out the window instead of reading. Not far from Nashville we changed over to Eastern time (I want that hour back still! Ha!) which was weird. Not too long before we hit VA - our new home state. Crazy!












VA has signs like these everywhere - Speed enforced by aircraft. Ha!








These from the car pics don't do it justice at all. We stopped at a rest stop around lunch & I made the kids pb&j and let the play in the gorgeous trees. I didn't bring my phone to take pics but I wish I had. There were these tiny little line ones that the kids were just soooo excited about! Then we headed all the way into Herndon. We were lucky & able to get right into our corporate apt w/out having to stay another night in a hotel. There is a yummy family friendly pizza place right below our place so we ate there. Once the kids (and Jarid! Ha!) we're asleep I unpacked and seriously just sighing because WE MADE IT! The kids did beyond awesome and being able to get into the apt mean we could focus on getting the few things done the next day to get J ready for work. The very next day (Sunday) my sweet nephew Samuel was born! I'm sad I won't get to meet him as a snuggle newborn but hopefully it won't be long til I do!




















So far things are good here in the DC area! We're meeting people, getting to know our way around and J is loving his job :) Grateful to God for how smoothly this has all gone and ready for this adventure!