A Bunch of Bices

We hit the road Friday afternoon for Huntsville, Alabama, to visit Grandma. We planned this trip a few months ago with my aunt and uncle and Oklahoma cousins as our Thanksgiving/Christmas get-together. Everyone was able to come except for my cousin Gef and his family. We missed them, but hopefully our next reunion will include the whole family!

We rolled into town about 6 on Friday night. Grandma lives in Decatur, which is about 30 miles away from Huntsville, but thanks to a kids’ soccer tournament booking up the hotel there where we usually stay, we decided that Huntsville would be a good place for us to spend the weekend. Everyone was pretty worn out from the drive, so we kept the evening low-key with takeout from across the street and some indoor swimming with my cousin Lisa’s kids, Kayden and Reed. They are so adorable. I just wanted to pack them up in my suitcase and bring them back to Jackson. :)

After we all changed into our comfy clothes, we had an impromptu room party where we watched some old family videos from when we all were kids visiting Grandma and Grandpa. My mom had our old home movies transferred over to DVD, and they are absolutely priceless. The first DVD is all old 8mm film with no sound. I was just a toddler in most of the clips. It’s a weird feeling to see yourself on video that long ago.

Saturday we did some shopping before heading to Buffalo Wild Wings for a late lunch and to catch the Alabama-Florida game on the big screen. Grandma has always been an Alabama fan and she wasn’t going to miss that game, even if she had to watch it at a loud bar. It was quite a sight. Here’s a photo of me with my cousin, Julie. She’ll probably post it on her blog, too. :)

After the game, we decided the best way to end the night would be with a nice, competitive game of bowling. It was fun for all of us. Poor Reed wore himself out and took a power nap on Julie’s shoulder before waking up with even more energy than before. And, just to re-emphasize how non-athletic I am, Kayden, the five-year-old bowling prodigy, beat me at both games. But I have a feeling I would have done better if I had had bumpers on my lane, too! :)

Here are some pics from our adventures at the bowling alley.

My favorite… Grandma with her two sons.

We had a wonderful visit and couldn’t have had more fun catching up with family. It’s really a shame we don’t get to see each other more often. But I guess that just gives us an excuse to start planning the next get-together! Love y’all, Bices! Let’s do it again soon! :)