I promised you the story of the drive home...

OK guys, you read the vacation story and are recalling the loveliness of the beach and the not-so-loveliness of princess Lil so here is part deux of the Parsley/Stevenson family gulf shores vacation. We decide that since the Huntsville Alabama space center is over half way home it would make a great stop for the kids to get out a stretch their legs. And since Noah is currently fascinated with all things space related it seemed perfect.

So we get to the space center and we are touring the museum. We head outside to see the outside "rockets" as Noah calls them when it starts to rain a little so we head back inside to peruse the overpriced gift shop where Noah proceeds to beg for a $55 polyester space suit...but that's another story...I'll try to focus...Anyway, they announce over the loud speaker that they need everyone to come to the IMAX theater room...uh OK...

So we get in the theatre and they flash the WEATHER Channel up on the IMAX screen. OK, have you ever seen an IMAX screen? It's enormous...so in huge huge letters we see that we are currently under a tornado WARNING and there has been a tornado spotted along with softball sized hail. Well great...

Then they announce that they want the families with small children to proceed to the restrooms on the underground section...OK it's a SPACE MUSEUM...everyone has small children...however I take a quick look at Lil and decide she is one of the very smallest so me and Nana dash with the children to the bathroom (We leave poor Daddy and Papa in the dust...the Mama bear instinct is kicking in you know.) Travis is not about to let us out his sight so he somehow catches up to us in the mad rush (there was a ton of people there). Basically we file into a huge public bathroom with about 200 other people and get this. Me, Mom, Travis Lilly and Noah have to share a stall. We're trying not to panic and here is what's funny about this situation. WE are wedged in that bathroom and lo and behold the toilets are on a motion sensor so anytime one of the 5 of us move, yep the old toilet gives a big flush! Let me just say that it gets hot in a bathroom really fast and a preschooler and a toddler don't take well to being squashed in like sardines in a can. Poor Lilly was banging her head against the stall before it was over. they finally announce that the danger has passed and we are released from the bathrooms.

But seriously, it did get very scary for awhile and I was very thankful that we were OK because it was the very same storm that then ripped through Murfreesboro TN and killed a young mother and her baby.

So after the excitement we made it back home without any further complications. So in the words of Paul Harvey I guess you've heard the rest of the story. This concluded my rambling on and on about gulf shores for this vacation!