Christmas in the South

This year because of the school year calendar and Brad's work schedule, we didn't get to spend as much time as we normally do in the south. I was excited to get down to warmer weather and spend time with my family, but sad that we wouldn't get as much time as we would have liked.

We left at five in the morning on the 26th to drive down to Greenville. Did you know that nothing is open at 5 am the day after Christmas? and I mean nothing. Brad and I stopped at two Dunkin Donuts, a Starbucks, and even a McDonalds. We snacked until we were able to stop. Luckily, little man slept from the time we put him in the car with some milk until almost 10 am! That was a huge blessing and he seemed pretty fine with it too. This girl slept pretty late as well. Good thing the hubs is so good at staying awake while he's driving. I get in the car and pass out, mouth open, almost immediately. It's pretty pathetic. I am no help at all. We drove all day, with stops of course, and finally made it to Greenville around 9:30 pm. What a long day, but I do have to brag on my little bug. He was awesome in the car. I mean, way better than I expected. He doesn't use any type of electronics, so he had books, his doodle pad, a few toys, and music to entertain himself with. He was almost perfect. I think he only fussed one time. Seriously waaaaay better than I thought it would be!

reading his favorite book - "ABC"

We were pretty wiped when we got in, so we headed to bed pretty quickly. Sunday was a rest up day, which was needed for all of us. Brad and I ran a few errands, but came back quickly to help get Christmas dinner ready. My parents didn't cook a big Thanksgiving dinner, so we had our Thanksgiving/Christmas dinner while we were home! My dad smoked a turkey (Brad and I's favorite) and my mom made all of the delicious sides that I look forward to eating every single year. My sister made her home-made from scratch apple and cherry pies. I mean, these things are to die for. That girl has some baking talent! After dinner, we had our Brunner family Christmas!

As you can see (below)...no one is ever lacking at the Brunner household! Mom, sorry, but you went a little overboard! I know you love spoiling your only grandchild and he loves it too, but it's a little hard to get all of these gifts back home! Haha! Dayton got lots of books, puzzles, Clemson gear, a vacuum, and even a piano! I got my new camera lens that I've been wanting for almost two years plus quite a few monogrammed things and the hubs got quite  bit of the hunting gear that was on his wish list along with several books.

Since Sunday was such a big day, we spent time doing some of our favorite things around Greenville on Monday and Tuesday. We ate at our favorite restaurants, shopped at a few stores, and just relaxed. It was so nice to be home in 73 and sunny weather. I mean, it was so nice I had a tank top on!

Monday night we went to eat at my all time favorite place, Tupelo Honey. To die for. I had the fried chicken and sweet potato pancake. Yum! After dinner we were able to see the Christmas lights at Roper Mountain. Roper Mountain lights is a long path to drive through the science center on the "mountain" and it's full of large and small Christmas lights and shapes. Dayton enjoyed all of the lights and getting to sit on Papa's lap in the car. It worked out well because we stayed in the car and enjoyed the lights even though it was sprinkling outside.

Tuesday night, we went to Hollywild. Oh, Hollywild. I love that place. It's filled with exotic animals, a deer park, a petting zoo, and a ton of Christmas lights. The little kid in me loves to see and feed the animals. I knew Dayton would love it too! Monday night we ate at one of our favorite Italian places and then headed out to Hollywild. After you check in and pay, the drive starts with some Christmas music and lights. Since we were driving so slowly and you have to drive in a single file line through the park, so Dayton got to sit on Papa's lap again. I think he was pretty happy about it. We were in my mom's van, so we were able to roll the whole side window down so that Dayton could see everything easily.

After a few lights, we entered the deer park. The deer park is this large open area that is surrounded by fences and filled with hundreds of deer...and a few bulls with horns, a few cows, a few zebras, and a ginormous cow. You get a bag of bread when you pay and I cannot even tell you how much fun this park is. The animals, with no fear, walk right up to your car, stick their head in the window, and start looking around for food. Some people even open their side doors of vans to let the animals walk up and stick their heads in. The deer are a little more timid, but the cows are in your face. It's so funny! If you don't want an animal face in your car, you roll up your window or slowly drive away.

The "scary" part about the park is that you "enter at your own risk." This had never been a problem each time that I've come, but half way through our time in the deer park, we saw a few cows and the huge cow getting a little irritated. They were up in front of us, so we didn't think too much about it. All of a sudden, we heard this bunp/bang and my mom, who was in the back seat of the van, started freaking out. Brad and I were up front and didn't quite know what was going on. The hubs was watching the irritated cows up front and I was looking from front to back trying to figure out what the bumping/banging was. Finally, through my mom's and my sister's yells of "drive!!" I figured out that another bull was at the back of the van banging on it. I told Brad to quickly drive and we moved far enough away that the bull did not run or chase after us. Oh my lanta. Now that was an experience. We all thought it was pretty funny. Well, except for my mom. She wasn't too happy about horns hitting her van. Understandable.

After the deer park, we continued through the light tour to get to the petting zoo. It was a little muddy, so the hubs dropped us off. Dayton wasn't too impressed with touching or feeding the animals, but he did like to look at them. I think he was getting pretty worn out and tired at this point in the night. We spent a while in there feeding the animals. After we left, the rest of the drive was pretty quick and then off to home we went. Again, I love Hollywild.

Wednesday morning, we were up early and back at the long drive home to Iowa. Dayton and I slept until about 8:30 am, which wasn't too bad. For the next two and half hours, we didn't hear a peep out of him. He was just playing with things around him. It was a little odd, I mean, awesome, but I thought he'd want something to do. I guess he was enjoying the scenery. Again, even though we made some stops, we drove the whole day. It's a long drive but it's just easier to get it over with in one day rather than two. Dayton was even better on this drive than he was on the first! Thank you, thank you buddy! We did stop in the Quad Cities to see some old friends and spend the night at Brad's parents house. Wednesday afternoon, we were finally at our own home, sweet home.

Oh, I almost forgot this video. It's too cute not to post and it shows you how much Dayton loves his "Jayyyme." Melts my heart how much he loves her. Hard not to!

It was a wonderful trip, but it's always nice to come home to your own house and your own bed. Even if it is in eight inches of snow and negative degree weather.