The Big M

Here we are in McKinney, Texas, at my mom and dad's house. We are having a very nice time so far.
We were up early on Saturday to make the 6:45 am flight, and the hotel stay in Greenville went better than I expected it would.
The flights went well. I was able to change our seats to the behind the bulkhead on both legs and that made all the difference for me. You can't stow your luggage close, but John could wiggle and squirm all he wanted in the little well at our feet. The trade off was SO worth it. I hope we are as fortunate on the way home!

Middle sister Jenny picked us up on Saturday, and we went to her house. B-in-law Jeff and niece Naomi were out at the free comic book day (an annual Dallas event). John napped, Tony napped, Jenny and I went to the Colony Resale Shop (like Goodwill). Then Naomi napped, then we all went to a local park. Then after cramming all of us in Jenny's Jeep something (small SUV) we came over to Pa and Mimi's to get the Pennas settled and wait for the Horn and Vallentine regiments to arrive home from their cruise. After putting the kids to bed (after their dose of Maisie Mouse and Elmo DVDs), Jeff, Jenny, and I watched soccer, and Tony companionably graded papers. We whiled away the time by making various predictions about when they would arrive and what they would be eating. Tony stunned us with some very astute observations that revealed his knowledge about the family, but Jeff was the overall winner in the arrival time pools, in both the real-time and penalty-time adjusted categories. (Please infer the family whackiness hidden in that last sentence. You know what I'm talking about, I'm sure your family has its own weird rituals/quirky time-wasters that are difficult to explain!)

Jenny and Jeff and Naomi parted shortly after the big arrival, with sleepy kisses blown and farewell waves waved on Naomi's part. Then Mark went to bed, Pa (my dad) and Tony went off to complete the 26-step process to log Tony into Pa's unbreachable wireless network conglomerate, and Jessica and Mom and I covered the normal Horn girl topics involving reflexology, cruising, food, who said what when, household design, and other stimulating essentials.

Anyway, it's now Sunday morning. Pa is off to church, everyone else is asleep, and I've given WAY too much information about the minutiae of our arrival in Texas. Possible scheduled events for the week include a trip to the Dallas Zoo, a date for Tony and Juliet, a combined party for recent family birthdays and events, and bowling.

I'll try to get some cute cousin pics up soon!