Hotel Alabama

First things first, we’re in Alabama tonight! (And the post title should sound like “Hotel California” in your head, just to be clear.) And we’re on Central Time, and it’s late. So I’m going to mostly photo dump and leave the chit-chat for another day, because I’m on an unfamiliar laptop, on slow hotel wi-fi, and it’s just weird. (But you know when I say I won’t write much, I usually still do…)

Anyways, first thing this morning, we packed our car with a whole bunch of stuff, dropped off Emmie at school, and then Jeff and I worked a half day until noon. When we got off work, we went out to my parents house, transferred allllll the stuff to my Grandmother’s car, and then the 3 of us loaded up and headed to daycare to pick up Emerson from school. And then we hopped on the interstate for a little road trip!

She had just taken her after-nap-potty-break, and peed in the potty and was washing her hands, when we got there to pick her up.

She was SO THRILLED to have Grandmommie in the back seat of the car with her! And I know Grandmommie enjoyed it too. 😉

We needed a potty break, and to purchase some new wedding shoes for Emerson, so we made a quick stop to potty & stretch our legs in the Troy, AL Walmart.

Then we drove a little further, and found a Jack’s (never eaten there before tonight) and grabbed some dinner. The dining room was closed, but I had spotted some outdoor picnic tables across the street, so it was the perfect place & the perfect weather to eat our dinner! And we used “running around in the grass” to bribe Emerson to eat a lot of chicken, and it totally worked.

We only had another 30 minutes after dinner until we got to our Hampton in Calera, Alabama. And this girl was so excited about staying at the hotel! Just look at this little face!!!

Oh, and look at this army of cleaning supplies I brought with us! As soon as we checked in, I made everyone hand-sanitize (which we had been doing all day in & out of the car, and continue to do often), then Grandmommie took Emmie for a walk while I Clorox-wiped all the things, and Jeff Lysol-sprayed all the other things.

While we let the Lysol spray settle down in the room, we went back down to the lobby for some evening hot tea (plus hot cocoa aka chocolate coffee for Emerson) and warm cookies. (Followed up by hand sanitizer again in the room.)

Emerson had a bath after snack time, and was very chill just laying in the big bed, having some juice and another quick snack before bedtime.

She did AMAZING in the car today, and all of us were so very proud of her. We brought plenty of books and toys and snacks and all manner of entertainment, and she’s doing super well with it so far. Tomorrow’s leg of the journey from here to Missouri will be even longer than today, but I have no doubt she’ll do well. We just pray that she’ll sleep well tonight in her little roll-a-way crib, and then nap in the car tomorrow!

Oh, and she keeps calling it a “who-tel” instead of a “hotel,” and we’re purposefully NOT correcting her, because it’s just too stinking cute!!

And one more thing, I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned it, but just in case, we’re driving to rural Missouri for my cousin’s wedding, which is Saturday! Just wanted to make that clear 🙂