Summer Hattiesburg Trip

So we just got back from our annual summer trip to Hattiesburg. We've always tried to get up there sometime between Colby's birthday in July and Maggie's birthday in August. Now with the kids being in full time school and that starting up the first week of August we mostly have been going up in July b/c of that. Our last trip to Hattiesburg if you recall was our camping trip in May. Ofcourse that was sort of different. We don't get up there nearly as much as we used to. Now with older kids and their activities and just life in general its hard to always find the time. We are always happy when we can and especially are able to stay for a few days. I know now we probably won't be returning until sometime this fall when we go for a USM football game. 
Anyway we left Monday after lunch. We had decided to stay home that morning and work on getting packed up and leaving the house in an orderly fashion. We also decided to eat lunch at home rather then have too many meals on the road. So after lunch we were ready to pull out. That put us getting into Hattiesburg about 3:00. We got to his mom's house and Wendi, Shelbi, and Maggie were all there. We just hung out around their house that evening. Austin and I tried really hard to get the kids outside and off their electronic devices b/c it was overcast and not super hot. Needless to say we really didn't succeed. We had a good dinner though of ham, mac n cheese, and veggies. We ate and then visited and then had cake to celebrate Colby's birthday. We stayed over there until around 7. At that point we knew the kids needed some type of physical activity since we stayed in that morning and they just played inside, then a 2 hour car ride, then mostly just sitting around his parents house. So needless to say we let them get in the pool for an hour upon returning to the apartment. I decided not to get in but I sat by the pool and read. Its great b/c Lindsay can stand in the majority of the pool and Colby is an excellent swimmer so Austin and I could mostly just sit and visit. After that we got them cleaned up and ready for bed. They of course were up late though due to not enough energy getting out and they keep each other awake when they sleep in the same bed. 
Tuesday we all slept in which felt wonderful! I think it was after 8 when we all got up. We got ourselves dressed and went over to his mom's house for breakfast. She had made cheese grits and bacon. After breakfast we decided to get out the house and run some errands. We first went to Target. Colby had gotten a Lego set from Randall and Elizabeth that he already had so he was anxious to exchanged it. He also had some birthday money from Austin's family. We had told him he could combine that money with the money he would get back from the exchange and buy a bigger set if he wanted. So after shopping we wanted to drive out to USM. We always enjoy doing this when we are up there for a visit. Its fun just to reminisce and walk around. We mostly drove around due to it being so hot out but we did get out for a little bit to walk around the book store. After that we went on to eat lunch at Newk's. I had heard great things about it but none of us had been. It was delicious. We loved it! After lunch we went back to his mom's house to hang out. We stayed for about an hour then Austin, myself, and Lindsay went back to the apartment for a bit to get stuff ready to head out to Wendi and Harvey's house. We then went back to pick up Colby and Austin's mom. We got out to the country about 4. The kids are always so excited to go out there. It was really hot though. The kids did a little exploring outside but it was just so dang out. We mostly hung out inside. The kids had fun playing together. That night they grilled pork chops and sausage and we had potato salad, tomatoes from the garden, and salad. It was all yummy. After dinner we did all go back outside for a little while to explore and pick some tomatoes from their garden. We ended the evening with playing some games. That was so much fun! I really did love that part. The laughing and hanging out was the best. We finally decided to head back a little after 8. We had to drop Austin's mom off then pick up milk for Lindsay. We finally got her to bed then we had a tiny bit of time to relax before going to bed ourselves. It was a very busy day. Oh and Colby spent the night out at their house that night. This was his first time to stay anywhere except my parent's house. They have been wanting him to do this for years but honestly it just never worked out plus we weren't sure he was old enough. We realize now though at 9 he's mature enough to handle it and with it being summer and us up there for a few days it just worked out. From what I hear he had a great time. They played Wii and I think he just enjoyed being out there. 
Wendi and Harvey both had work the next day so the kids had to be up and at em pretty early. Austin's mom picked the kids up from where she works and brought them back to her house. I think they got there about 8:30. We met them all over at her house by about 9. She made pancakes for the kids and bacon. We snacked on that then hung out for a bit and waited on time to leave for bowling. I had had that idea while we were home that we should go do that. With the girls being at her house all day I wasn't looking forward to dealing with another day of sitting around and watching them play on phones. So I told Austin we needed to do some stuff to get them out the house. I think they all liked bowling. Colby and Lindsay got a little bored towards the end but all did great. Lindsay actually got a STRIKE! Shelbi won the game though and Austin came in 2nd place. It was fun having some bonding time with them. After bowling we picked up lunch then headed back over to his mom's house to eat. We ate lunch and again relaxed for awhile before deciding to take the kids swimming. Again we had hoped this would get them all off their phones and doing something active...I swear I cannot just sit around like that. We went to the apartment to the pool. This time only Maggie came with us. I let Austin bring the kids into the pool and I stayed back in the apartment. It was super hot out and I had showered that morning so I really didn't want to get all gross. I read and caught up on laundry while they were all out there. Plus I really felt like I needed some downtime. I am mostly an extrovert but there are times where I just need to be alone and have "me time". This was one of those moments. So after swimming and we all got dressed we went back over to his mom's house. Again we mostly just hung out and watched tv while waiting to eat dinner. His mom was ready to eat by 3:45 but we were just not all ready to eat yet. We ended up waiting until 5. After dinner we stayed a bit longer but by that point I was really ready to go. Colby was cranky due to spending the night out and not getting much sleep, Lindsay was bored, and I was really tired of just sitting around. Austin ended up driving me and the kids back to the apartment at 6 and he went back to help his mom with some yard work. I was glad to have a early night in. I got the kids bathed and ready for bed by 8. It felt good to finally sit down and have some adult time. We relaxed and watched tv once Austin got in. 
We slept in again on Thursday. We got up and packed and got dressed and went to have breakfast at Panera Bread. We wanted something quick and didn't want his mom to have to go to a lot of trouble to make us something. We then went by her house to pick up Colby's bike and to tell her bye. We were home by lunch time. 
It was a nice visit and the first longer visit we have had in quite sometime. The kids got a lot of time with family and with their cousins which was nice b/c that's not always the case when we go. Now it will probably be fall and for a football game when we get to go back. I am looking forward to being home though and getting back into our summer routine for a couple more weeks before BACK 2 School!