Athens, Acorns & Aunt Lissa

What a fun week we had in Athens! Jack did great on the trip down (13 hours) and back (14 hours) and he warmed up to everyone there in about 3.5 seconds. He quickly remembered how much fun he has when we're there and how much he likes his Aunt Lissa. The minute she got there, he was attached to her at the hip and I was non-existent. I know you all think I am exaggerating, but I'm not. When he woke up from his nap, I went in to get him and he backed away and said, "Ayitta get me". When we went to Wal-Mart, I told him he needed to hold my hand because we were in the parking lot. He said, "Jack hold Ayitta hand". This went on for the 3 days she was there. I got a little vacation on my vacation. He has since realized that I am alive, although it took coming home for that to happen. When Aunt Lissa left, Momo Jo and Wannie were the favorites. Here are a few (ok, more than a few) pictures from our trip.

Sunrise at Meredith Hill.

Jack & Ayitta. She might like him a little bit, too.

Uncle Jr brought Jack a new TVCC cap. He's my little thug.

My cousin Lynne got teacher of the year for her area. We celebrated with a cake. Jack tested the icing to make sure it was good.

Jack still likes to snuggle with Popo.

Jack: "Where Ayitta?"

Me: "Aunt Lissa had to go home."

Jack: "Nooooooooo"

Wannie bought Jack a tricycle to play with at her house. He wasn't too fond of it right off the bat, so I decided to ride it.

So did the teacher of the year! Jack eventually decided it was fun to play on.

My cousin Brad is hardly ever there when we are, so I had to document the occasion.

We went to Dallas on Monday to visit my great Aunt Treville. She is my grandmother's (mom's mom) sister and will be 96 in November. She is one of the sweetest people I have ever met and I am so happy when we get to go visit her. She gave Jack a little stuffed horse and he named it Dallas Horse. Appropriate, I think.

It's not a trip to Texas without seeing the cows and donkeys. Jack wanted to go see them every day but he didn't want to get much closer than this.

One thing he likes to do with Poppa is help get the mail. He is taking notes from the Voter's Guide of the US News and World report magazine as he is still undecided on who to vote for. He told me today, he'd decided on Obama.

Another thing Jack likes to do with Poppa and Popo is pick acorns off the ground. This trip you could almost catch them as they fell of the trees. Jack likes to put them in his pocket. After gathering a few, he came running in the house and told me he had some "a-cwins".

I always look forward to our trips to Athens and am so sad when I can't make the trip (which isn't very often!) This trip, Wannie bought me a sewing machine and I made an apron (with a lot of help). I plan to figure out the ins and outs and start making all kinds of crafty things. :)

Here's Jack with Wannie & Poppa. He wanted them to come home with us. So did I. So did Popo & Momo Jo. Hey, why didn't they come back with us??

On Tuesday afternoon we went up to the Athens square and took some pictures. They had beautiful pumpkin displays set up on each corner so we tried to get a few pictures around those. Jack got a new jacket and wanted to wear it, despite it being in the high 70s. He was sweating by the time we got back in the car.

Here's one of many pictures I got of Jack with the pumpkins. You can't tell, but he's wearing his boots and looks like a true Texan.

Here you can see his boots better. He loves his boots, mostly because Ayitta gave them to him and they have John Deere on them.

Here's my dad, Wannie & Poppa standing on one of the square's corner's. Poppa said that when the soldiers got back from WWI, they planted pecan trees on the square for everyone who served from Henderson county. This corner has the tree that was planted for my great-grandfather (Popo), Poppa's dad. We weren't sure if this is his actual tree or if it's somewhere else on this corner.

Finally got a decent picture of me & Jack sitting on the steps of the courthouse. He still really didn't acknowledge me at this point, so this was a struggle.

One of our favorite things to do as kids was to go over thunder bridge. Over the years, thunder bridge has been repaired and patched and I think even blocked off but it is still a very cool bridge. As you can guess, the boards make a thunder sound as you go over it. Now, it is one of Jack's favorites, too. When we'd get in the car he would say, "Jack want go unner tundor bwidge" and then he's ask Popo to roll the windows down. (Funny, I just typed winders instead of windows).

Here's the beautiful sunset I captured Tuesday night before we headed inside. I take a picture like this every time I'm there and they're still beautiful!

A couple more funny stories:

Aunt Lissa brought and bought Jack a few presents while she was here and one of them was a John Deere tin bank. When she gave it to him, she cleaned out her purse and wallet of her loose change to show him what to do with it. Soon, Popo, Wannie, Mommy and even Uncle Jr. were cleaning out the wallets and pockets for loose change. At one point, he took Wannie's wallet out of her purse and brought it to her and said, "Jack need more monies, Wannie." With no change left in her wallet, she handed out the dollars.

A few days after collecting money in the tin can, Poppa got out his automatic coin sorter for Jack to play with. Now THIS was a cool toy and Jack's eyes lit up. I told him he better give Poppa a big squeeze and I think he may have given the biggest squeeze EVER and even gave him a kiss. Poppa just laughed and said, "Well, I guess I can find another one of those." Jack's played with it every day since.

All in all, I think Jack collected about $30 in change and $20 in bills. I think he should carry the John Deere bank with him on all trips! :)

We had such a great time and we are looking forward to the next trip.