Day 2544. It was a rather rough night, going to bed late, then Emmy having some fears during the night, and both him and Tammy in bed with us. Sammy then got up very early again, soon the others were up as well and enjoying their last hours with their niece. When I woke up - after struggling to sleep with the noise going on - I was surprised that it was already after 9 am. I got up and started packing everything up. Once I was done, I went downstairs to have breakfast while Randy was loading up the car. The kids were still playing hard. Once we were all ready, we went outside where Tammy and Emmy headed to the trampoline for one last chance. Their half-sister then walked over there to give them a good-bye hug. The kids were all very said to say good-bye to each other. Just after 10 am we drove away.
But we stopped again at the bottom of the hill to say good-bye to Randy's Mom. We only stayed a few minutes, then we left to start our long journey to Arkansas. It was scheduled to be a 6.5 hour drive. We had a bathroom break at 11:30 am, then continued on. When we reached the south of Memphis, we tried to stop at a ministry from our network but they had moved. Everyone was hungry so we stopped at the Wendy's right there to pick up lunch. It was around 1:30. We then continued driving and ate in the car.
I got pretty tired at one point but only got to close my eyes for a few minutes before someone needed me again. We made quite a few phone calls as Sammy always asks to call different people. It was fun. Outside it was getting quite hot, and at one point the dash said it was 106°F outside which is 41°C.
We had one more quick bathroom break before reaching the hotel in Forth Smith just before 6:30 pm. We checked in and walked up the stairs to our room. The kids and I then waited for Randy to bring in the luggage. Then Randy left again to pick up a pizza and make a stop at the Walmart, both just up the road from the hotel. We had thought we didn't have a microwave or fridge which is why we chose pizza for dinner. He then also got some gas, and so it seemed to the rest of us that he was gone a long time. While waiting, I got the haircutting machine out that we had picked up in Mississippi and trimmed the boys' hair. Especially Sammy had really needed it.
We were glad when Randy returned after 7:30 pm. We all had our swimsuits on already and were ready to go swimming. Dinner could wait. Everyone - especially Sammy - was really excited that the pool was open this time. And we had lots of fun in the pool that we had all to ourselves. The kids kept jumping in and had me throw them, and Sammy did lots of somersaults in the water, including double somersaults.
Eventually we got out and returned to our room where it was time to eat pizza and icecream. Then it was high time for bed. It was 9:30 before they were finally starting to get quiet. I got my computer out and started working on it. Now it's 12:30 am, and I hope to make it to bed soon.
