Exploring Brownwood

     Eldon's current contract with Brownwood Regional Medical Center only has 3 weeks left. It's hard to believe it's already almost over! We typically stay at Lake Brownwood State Park then drive 3 hours east to my parents in Hillsboro, Tx every other weekend.This has worked out well since we need to leave the state park every 14 days anyhow.
     We weren't prepared for the amount of weekend warriors that show up starting Thursday night and practically filling the park until Sunday afternoon. It is a highlight though, watching all the big rigs pull in and set up. The children also love having more new friends. Long story short, we didn't reserve online for last Sunday until all the reservations were taken. Most likely there would have been some walk-in sites still available but it wasn't a risk we wanted to take. My mother was also scheduled to have an ablation (heart procedure) done during that time. It seemed best for Eldon to drive down and stay in a motel the days he worked and the children and I would stay in the camper at dad's. I was able to be with dad at the hospital while mom was in surgery and also help pack eggs from his 20,000 chickens. Mom had an amazing recovery and didn't need my help as much as I anticipated so I decided baloney with this separation thing!
     The children and I packed up a few things and came to Brownwood with Eldon Tuesday night. I was a little leary of his $50 a night motel but I soon changed my mind. Gate 1 Inn may be old but it's by far the cleanest motel I ever stayed at and the rooms are BIG.
     I decided that we would just stay at the motel on Wednesday instead of taking him to work so I could have the Excursion. Yeah, I just willingly volunteered to pen myself in a motel room with 4 children for a day! It was fabulous. We took long baths, did lots of school work, took naps, made pillow forts, read stories, and only watched movies for about an hour. Dominoes delivered pizza for supper. What more could I ask for?! I told Eldon that we should do this every several months! It was good for me to not be able to do laundry, cook, or clean. My children haven't gotten so much one on one attention from me in far to long :( .
     This morning I did have to take Eldon up the road to work at 6:30. After we got back I started a movie for the 3 oldest and crawled back in bed with Ethan for awhile. Eventually we got moving and packed up. The library had story time at 10:30 so we went there first and played awhile.The train Depot was across the corner so we walked over to get a closer look. Much to our delight a freight train came by and we had a close up view. We did some thrift store shopping and then came to the park for a picnic. After several hours of playing we needed a break so now we are sitting in the Excursion with the a/c blasting. They are all 4 napping. I plan to go to the mall yet, just because I want to see what's there and also do my grocery shopping at Aldi. Eldon gets off at 7:15 (on a good day) then we'll drive back to dad's for the weekend! Now for some pictures!