Wouldn't you love to sit here and think for a while? This pictures makes me want a glass of iced tea and some blank journal pages.

Kate and I have been back from Mississippi since last Thursday, and I have meant to blog every day since then, but somehow, I just don't have the energy to write anything. This could have to do with plenty of things, including the partial sleep boycott Kate scheduled for almost every night of our trip. (Side note: How do babies know when would be the worst possible time to refuse to sleep? HOW?)
So until I get my writing mojo back, here are a few things I learned on the trip, and then some pictures.

Fact No. 1: It is nearly impossible to travel with a cute baby without having to talk to every single person in the airport. And the airport bathroom. This is fine, because it's not like it pains me to be told that my baby is cute. But seriously people. Leave me alone in the bathroom.

Fact No. 2: The new Southwest Airlines "family boarding" policy makes me want to write a strongly-worded letter. Because it turns out that "family boarding" is a nicer sounding way to say "Oh, you have a stroller and a 40-pound diaper bag and a baby and you're traveling alone, so you'd like to chance to pre-board so you don't have 65 antsy airline passengers breathing down your neck while you try to get all that onto the plane? Well too bad, lady!"

Fact No. 3: In my absence, Mississippi has apparently embarked on a widespread public awareness campaign regarding the criminal consequences of statuatory rape. I know this because on the drive from the airport in Jackson to my parents's house near Hattiesburg, there were these enormous, tacky billboards every five miles or so that featured the mug shots of people apparently convicted of the crime in question, and the catchy slogan "STATUATORY RAPE IS A CRIME." It was rather jarring, in part because not two minutes before I saw the first billboard I had been marveling at a statue of a bucking bronco (Correction: It's a bull. I got my animals confused.) that someone had thoughtfully placed alongside the highway. It had been painted school bus yellow, and on its flanks were the words "JESUS SAVES" in black spray paint. These are the moments that make me realize I will never amount to anything as a fiction writer, because I could not invent anything so odd as the reality you can witness just driving along a highway sometimes.

Fact No. 4: It's good to be home. But we had a really good time on our trip and these pictures alone make all the airline hassle worth it. More pictures soon, I promise.

My brother Ryan telling Kate about the art of being a ninja.

My sisters, Hannah and Audrey, helping convince Kate that she is, indeed, the center of the universe.

My brothers and sisters. Hannah, me, Audrey, Aaron and Ryan. We have a lot of fun together.