Our big surprise!

For the first time in a couple of years, the Whelan sisters were together again! On Thursday morning, Heather, Amber, Kristen and I loaded up into the car and ventured out for our somewhat spontaneous trip to Kansas to visit Brittany. What was really great and quite surprising actually is that we managed to keep the trip a secret from Brit! She knew Kristen was going, but the rest was a surprise. Can you imagine four Whelan women unexpectedly showing up? Maybe a little frightening for everyone else who was there, but who cares, right? Brittany was holding a party at her salon so we all wanted to show our support. Good times!! The trip was quite a lot of fun. We went almost completely sans children, with the exception of Miss Mallory who was a bit too young to leave behind and of course, Brittany's children were around for some of the fun. It was a long drive but completely worth it to see the look on Brittany's face when we all showed up. So fun!!

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, things weren't going as well as I had hoped. The first couple of days were great. Lacey spent Thursday with Nanny who graciously took the day off of work so I could go and the rest of the weekend was to be with Daddy. The two of them were doing remarkably well. He was able to keep her on her schedule and handle all of the little mommy tasks like a pro. They went to lunch together on Friday, went swimming at the indoor pool, and were having a grand ol' time. Saturday was a different story altogether! Unfortunately, Mike's exhaustion caught up with him and he was down for the count. We're still not entirely sure what was ailing him, though we do know that it wasn't the flu, thank goodness. Nanny came to the rescue again and helped out with Lacey while Mike rested. Of course the course of events that day were stressing me out and making me feel quite guilty for going, but I'm over that and just grateful that Mike had the backup he needed and that everyone is well now. It was a great trip, one that I would have hated to miss. It was the first time Mike and I had been away from each other for more than one night since we met and I have to admit, it was a little hard on me... but we all managed. I'm happy to be back with my little family now and excited to enjoy the week of Thanksgiving. Hopefully we can avoid any further ailments!