Eliana's Final Four Weekend

Well, since your mommy and daddy went to New Orleans to watch KU play in the final four game and of course the Championship, you stayed with your grandparents! :)

On Thursday your grandma met us in Garnett and you stayed there in Iola until Friday morning.

You talking on Grandma's phone and holding her purse!

Going on a walk!

At the library for the first time! :) There were so many books!

Tuckered out - time for a nap!

You had a blast with your Grandma and Grandpa Thursday night! Then Friday morning your Grandpa drove you to El Dorado where you met your Mimi and headed the rest of the way to Buhler!

You stayed in Buhler with your Mimi from Friday until Tuesday!  

You played in teh sand box for the first time. You weren't so sure about it at first - but then you learned to love it!

You loved playing in it with Bekkah!

Mimi said you would use your hand to put sand in the shovel, then use your hand to take the sand from the shovel to the bucket! :)

You and Bekkah watering Mimi's flowers! :)

Of course you had to earn your keep while you were there! :) hehe!

On Saturday you went on your first Easter Egg Hunt! You went to the Annual Buhler Egg Hunt! Mimi said you wouldn't pick them up, so she put them in your basket, then you took them out of the basket and held on to them!

I love this photo! You are just so precious! :)

Brushing your hair on the counter!

Reading your book!

Playing at the park with Mimi....notice you have no shoes on....Mimi doesn't like shoes, I don't like shoes, and you don't like shoes! :)

Bekkah pulling you around in the toy wagon!

You went to see Grandma-Great and Grandpa-Great!

On Monday Mimi had a reunion in Inman. This is Eliana from Ohio! The two of you finally got to meet! She told you to make sure you always stay true to your name! Don't let people mis-pronounce it! :)

You loved seeing your daddy and I in this picture! Your grandma had it her house too!

Tuesday morning Bekkah stayed to play - then Bekkah and Mimi took you to meet your grandma in El Dorado! It was time to head back to Iola.

Here are your bags that got left in your grandpa's trunk! But that's okay, your mimi just did laundry and alternated outfits!

You guys played in the McDonald's playhouse while you waited!

Then you stayed in Iola from Tuesday afternoon until Wednesday after school.

You are always so excited to eat!

Aunti M and Murphy came to visit too! You guys went on a walk! :)

Great-Grandma Sam went on the walk too!

Nap Time!

Wednesday after school you came and met me in Garnett!

I was SOOOOOOOOOOO excited to see you again!! I had MISSED you!

I know you had SO much fun in Iola and Buhler! :) As much as I missed you I am so glad you got to spend some time with all your granparents on your own!! I'm sure this was just the first of many weekends that you will spend with your grandparents! I know you will look forward to each weekend you get to spend in Iola and Buhler!

Love you Little Girl!

Mommy

New Orleans

Oh Little Girl,

I have not seen you in 6 days!!! Your daddy and I left last Thursday after school for New Orleans to watch KU in the Final Four Tournament!! Your grandma picked you up at the beginning of the day on Thursday, you spent the night with them, then they met Mimi and you spent the rest of the time with her. I will write about YOUR experience in the next post when I get all the photos from your grandma and Mimi!

So, your daddy and I headed out Thursday night with a friend he works with and his girlfriend. We drove through the night, stopping for breakfast at 7:30 a.m. We finally pulled in and fell asleep at around 10:00!! After a shower of course we slept until liked 2:00pm!! After driving through the night we were quite tired!

When we got up we headed out to downtown New Orleans. We visited Bourbon street and walked and walked!

The next Morning was GAME DAY!! We headed out again and enjoyed downtown, went to the aquarium, all in anticipation for that evening's game!!

The game was at the Superdome! It was HUGE! :) Your dady and I had GREAT seats! We were on the first level, on the Ohio State side.....which wasn't the best. We could see the court great, but I wasn't enjoying myself during the first half, because we were losing, and we were totally surrounded by the Ohio State Fans. So your daddy and I switched sides of the stadium. We sat in our same seats, just across the stadium, no one was checking tickets there so we slipped in! :) The second half was MUCH better! Mainly because we were with all of the other KU fans and we were winning! :)

Of course we pulled out the win in the last few minutes!!! :) It was SO exciting, your daddy and I jumped up and down and hugged!!

We were very excited, however, it also meant that we were going to stay in New Orleans until TUESDAY!!! TUESDAY!!! Can't believe I was going to be away from you that long!! Oh my, it broke my heart!

On Sunday we went down to the French Quarter and walked around. I broke down and cried so many times on Sunday. All I could think about was you!! I missed you so much, I just wanted to get in a car and come home to see you!!! But I knew you were having fun at your mimi and papa's house!

Then, on Monday it was Game day again! We again walked all over the city!! Then we got lucky and ESPN was getting ready to tape! We actually got on tv a few times!!! Then it happened....the storm rolled in!! We headed back to the car but got stuck in the rain....we quickly jumped in a stairwell under an awning to protect ourselves....it worked for awhile but eventually we made a break for it and we got SOAKED.....i mean.....SOAKED!!! It was crazy! We bought a poncho and an umbrella...even though we were already soaked. We killed some more time, ate dinner, and then headed to the stadium for the CHAMPIONSHIP GAME!!!! :)

We had great seats again. We were up one section but they were still GREAT! There were SO many Kentucky fans it didn't matter where we were sitting....I'm pretty sure we would have been swarmed by Kentucky fans. However, our entire row was Kansas fans! So that was nice. We ended up losing...we got within grasping distance....but we just did not win. Which was a bummer...but it was still a great opportunity!

Then on Tuesday we headed back to Kansas. We made it home in good time, not as good as when we headed there. And tomorrow.....yes tomorrow!! I get to see you!! Your grandma is bringing you to me after school...I....CAN'T.....WAIT!!!!!! :) I'm going to grab you, and hug you, and never let you go! In fact, I'm going to have Jenna N, drive us home so I can sit in the backseat with you on the way from Garnett to Ottawa!!

Oh sweet girl, I know you had fun with all your grandparens, and I know it's good for you to be away from me, but I don't know if I'll ever be able to do this again!! I missed you SOO SOO SOO much!! I'm dreading the thought of being away from you again....ever!!

Can't wait to see you tomorrow!!

I love you!

Mommy