Good-bye New Mexico

Rachel and I had planned on leaving New Mexico early this morning. We just couldn't do it. The kids have so much fun together. When we finally pulled Marie and Mina away, after lots and lots of tears, it was about 1:00 in the afternoon. Here are some things that happened before we left Mike's house: Mike pulled out a birthday cake for Eve. We didn't have it on her actual birthday because we got there so late.

Eve's Cake

 Mina, Larkin, Parker, Blake, Eve

 Parker, Blake, Eve

Parker loves Eve. He calls her the baby. He takes great care of her. Parker is so stinking adorable. When you talk to him, he will look down and answer you with a shy smile on his face. He is this mixture of super shy, articulate, intelligent, and incredibly sweet. It is adorable. Blake loves, loves, loves his dad. He is always asking to play wiffle ball with him. It was fun to watch Mike with him in the batting cage too. What a dream for Mike to have someone who always wants to play sports with him! Larkin was so sad to see Marie go. They are the exact same age. I was talking to Larkin and told her how Marie and Mina move about every two years. One of the places that would be possible to move to would be Albuquerque. Her face lit up and she said, "Maybe we could be in the same class at school!" Wouldn't that be amazing!?! I came behind Larkin while we were trying to convince Marie and Mina it was time to leave. I gave her a squeeze and told her I would miss her. She whispered, "I really love you." Oh man. That girl! She can melt a heart. Skye was so kind to Mina. Skye had broken her elbow, just like Mina did, years ago. She talked to Mina about it a lot. Mina was sad when everyone was able to swim except her. Skye told her that she understood and said, "I remember watching my entire family run in the sprinklers, but I had to stay in the house." Skye didn't get in the pool with everyone else. She walked with Mina the entire time. Soon we saw that she had taken an ace bandage and bandaged up her own arm while she walked with Mina. No wonder these girls did not want to leave!

Skye, Larkin, Blake, Parker

 Skye, Larkin, Blake, Parker, Christen, Mike

 Stephanie & Mike

 Stephanie, Rachel, Christen

Photobombs by Larkin, Skye, Blake (well done!), Parker

We drove to Arkansas today. I can't believe we made it this far. We drove until 2:00 in the morning and Rachel drove the entire time. I kept asking her if she wanted to switch, but she would say that she liked driving. She told me I could go to sleep because she doesn't fall asleep when she is driving. She said that she would never fall asleep if Brett was driving. Haha! Must be a Millburn thing. I struggle driving long distances. One annoying thing that happened was my phone charger broke off in my phone! I couldn't get it out for a long time. (One reason I wasn't able to blog on time....) It was weird and annoying. We stayed at a Holiday Inn Express. It was super nice. It had two big beds and a pull out bed. The beds were way comfy too. Yay! Sleep!