Friend And Work Time

This has been an unusual summer due to Covid-19. Since there hasn't been VBS or camps it really has just not felt like summer. I mean I guess in some ways it just feels like the never-ending quarantine. Thankfully we took the Tennessee trip...I think that felt the most like summer. 

My best friend Wendy has been gone a lot of the summer...usually she does travel a majority of the summer so time together is usually precious and we try to enjoy it to the fullest. So since our "last day" of school she left town and then I left town and then we were both finally in town for a bit. The Monday after we got back from Tennessee I asked her if I could bring coffee and hang out at her house. I really figured I would stay an hour or 2 maybe. Well 4 hours later...we were both sweaty and gross (We had coffee out by her pool thanks to corona). We had the best time though. It felt like we had a million stories and stuff to catch up on. We laughed and almost cried a few times. It was just so great to once again be together. 

The next week we had a meeting at my house for school to plan a graduation celebration for kindergarten and 8th grade. About halfway through the meeting though we scrapped the idea. Anyway it was Wendy, myself, Rebecca, and Marsha. Even though it was a "work thing" it was fun just to visit. Wendy got here a little early then she was the last to leave. She's truly like a sister. 

The next week on that Tuesday we did a ride around for the 7th graders. Once again it was Rebecca, Wendy, and I who rode together. I picked Wendy up though so we had a little extra time to visit. Between all the out of town trips and corona we really haven't been around each other a ton so each time we are together there is a TON to say. I also brought her home and went inside her house for a bit. I wished her well and goodbye as they were off the next day to bring her son to the Coast Guard Academy. 

So even though its been a different summer ---there have been some fun times thrown in as well. Oh and I also had lunch with Marsha one day last week. Its been nice to have some adult time during my summer. 

Tennessee Day 6

So our final day in Tennessee was a Saturday. After seeing the crowds coming into Gatlinburg the day before we decided we wanted to "get out of town" on Saturday. We opted to have a more "nature" day. We had researched some things to do outside of Cherokee, North Carolina. I had never been there before. It was about an hour and a half drive. We got into Cherokee and first found a place to potty. Bathrooms during Corona on a road trip are hard to find. Anyway after that we went to our destination which was actually outside of Cherokee and in Bryson City. We went into the National Park to hike a trail to see a water fall. There are so many hiking opportunities and now that the kids are finally big enough to hang we thought we would try one. Anyway the hike was about a mile round trip. It was mostly uphill though which made it slightly challenging. We got up there and just enjoyed the view and sights for about 30 minutes. After we went back down and found a quiet place by the creek to have our lunch. That was a sweet family memory. After we drove around a bit and went back into Cherokee. There the kids wanted to find water to play in. We found a lovely shallow river area. They played for about 30-45 minutes. I think our next trip we will be more prepared with swimsuits and such. Anyway after on the drive back we got ice-cream. The drive back was enjoyable. We got back to the cabin and rested a bit before cooking a big steak dinner. It was our final night in the cabin and we just enjoyed relaxing and being together. We turned in early and packed up our things. 

The day we headed back on Sunday...we got an early start. I woke up at 3am central time. I wanted to take a shower and get dressed. We left by 4am. The drive back went well and the kids were great. We stopped at about 6 or 7 for McDonald's breakfast. Another thing in the corona world we had to eat in the car. We made it to Hattiesburg by lunchtime. We picked up chicken and brought it to Austin's mom's to eat lunch with her. We visited and hung out for about an hour. It was nice just to break up the trip this way. 

We were back home by about 3. Our friends the Schifflin's took care of our pets and house while we were away. They left a beautiful snowball thing for our door. Such a sweet surprise! 

It was a wonderful vacation and so nice to get away! 

Tennessee Day 5

Our fifth day in Tennessee we decided we would spend the majority of the day in Gatlinburg. We have never stayed in Gatlinburg before. Therefore, we have never spent much time there. Well we were told about this park called Anakeesta that was on top of a mountain. You even had to ride a ski lift to get to it. We decided to do that. Well we waited in line just to get in the park for about 45 minutes. Once we finally got on the ski lift we were excited. The ride up was probably the most exciting thing! Anyway we arrived and we went first to the Mining Area. The kids loved doing that! Afterwards we went to check out the Tree bridges. We spent about 30 minutes climbing those. Well after that we were all getting hot and hungry so we went to find some lunch. The park wasn't very big so there weren't many options. Since it took us so long to get up we debated staying and having lunch there. We checked in with the restaurant though and they told us it would be a 45 min wait. We decided to skip out and just head back down the mountain. The ride down was fun. We went back to the cabin for lunch. We had leftovers and such to eat there. I was kinda glad we made this choice. We spent a couple hours just relaxing and hanging out. That afternoon we went back out and promised the kids we would play Putt-putt. We had a great time doing that! Afterwards we went and had dinner at a Mexican restaurant. It was really yummy. Afterwards we weren't ready to go back to the cabin though so we just did some driving around. Once we got in though it was Friday night so we let the kids stay up and watch a movie. We also enjoyed playing pool! Anyway it was another great day! 

Tennessee Day 4

So on day 4 which was Thursday, we had to get up and get going fairly early. We had tickets to the Titanic museum for 10. We had breakfast and all got dressed. We got into Pigeon Forge and arrived just in time for our tour. We loved the museum. This was our second time to go. Last time we loved it too, but Lindsay was 4 and she did not love it! Well this time she was totally into it too! After the tour we weren't quite ready for lunch yet and the kids had been wanting to do a mountain coaster so we decided to find one of those! OMG it was so much fun! Colby and Austin rode together and Lindsay and I partnered up! I was really surprised at how fast that thing got going!! After riding the coaster we went and found a Firehouse for lunch. We had a quick lunch then went back to the cabin to rest a bit. This was the earliest we really got back to just hang out. The day before we were gone all day and the other days we would be gone about all day as well. We got to the cabin to relax and rest. My friend Wendy called me and I chatted with her for about 30 minutes. I had missed her so! She had been in Tennessee herself for about 2 weeks and then we left. Plus she and her daughter were taking care of things around our house. Anyway we got up and cleaned up about 4 and headed out for an early dinner at the Old Mill. We only had to wait about 10 minutes. It was a yummy dinner and we just enjoyed the family time. After we shopped and found some souvenirs in the store. We then drove back into Gatlinburg and walked around some there. We then retreated back to the cabin for our usually resting and hanging out before bed. 

Tennessee Day 3

So day 3 was our first full day in the mountains. We decided to use this day to go ahead out to Cade's Cove. Lindsay has been asking about riding horses for years! I think the last time we went she was too young. Anyway there was a slight chance of rain, but we decided to go ahead and risk it. It was about an hour's drive from our cabin to Cade's Cove. So I think we got there around 10:30 or so. We went right to the riding stables and got signed up and pretty much jumped on a tour right away. I must admit I was a little nervous. I don't think I have been on a horse since I was a young child! I ended up loving it though! Colby was also nervous, but he loved it as well. We went on about an hour ride through the woods. We saw a bear, a deer, and a coyote! Anyway watching Lindsay she was a complete natural on a horse. I was so glad we could make this dream come true for her! It was about an hour ride. Once we got back to the stables it started to rain! It was perfect timing. We hopped in the car so we could continue our tour of Cade's Cove. There was terrible traffic so it was really slow going. We got out at the first Baptist church and then decided to eat our lunch in the car. We skipped several cabins b/c of the rain. We did hike out to one. There was a lot of bear out! I think we saw 6 total. We really didn't get out the car as much as I would have liked, but between the rain, traffic, and the hour horse ride, we were all kind of tired. We did enjoy the few stops we made though. On the drive back to the cabin we stopped at a place so the kids could get out and wade in the creek. They loved this! They found some river rocks to bring home as souvenirs. Since we spent most of our day outside and we were all pretty spent when we finally got back to the cabin...which was near 5 or so. We decided to order pizza and have a night in. It was nice to chill out and just hang out. We also watched church. Colby also did YouTube and Zoom with the youth. While he did that I read my book and Lindsay and Austin got in the hot tub again. The evenings were about the same every night...the kids would shower and then crawl in bed and watch tv and Austin and I would watch tv downstairs. It was nice and peaceful! It felt good resting up for another busy day ahead! 

Tennessee Day 2

Tuesday we were up bright and early to get on the road. We stopped and got Chickfila for breakfast and ate in the car. We stopped a couple times between Meridian and Tennessee for bathroom breaks. We got to the TN state line and decided we would get Subway sandwiches and take them to the Rest Stop to eat them. It was a nice sweet picnic lunch. After that we were well on our way again. We decided to take the scenic route. We stopped in an outside town at a Walmart to get our groceries for the week. We then had about an hour left until we got to our cabin. We got to the cabin around 4. We unpacked and got settled in and started cooking dinner. The first time we had chicken tenders, mac n cheese, green beans, and cookies for dessert. It was quite yummy. After dinner we took a walk around to check out the cabin community then Austin and the kids got in the hot tub. The kids had a blast in the evenings playing upstairs in the cabin. The cabin was nice and spacious. They had the entire upstairs to themselves. There was a pool table and game system so they had plenty to do. That night we were pretty tired so we got settled and went to bed so we would be read for our first full day in the mountains! 

Tennessee Trip Day 1

So we just got home from a family vacation to Tennessee. The last time we were there was 4 years ago. It was neat to return with the kids being much older now. Colby has been 4 times and now Lindsay 2. Anyway we left last Monday. We left actually in the midst of a tropical storm. That Sunday a tropical storm made landfall in Louisiana. We stayed in all that day and worked on getting packed. The weather was never really all that bad, but then on Monday when we got ready to leave came a HUGE downpour. We didn't leave until around lunch which was nice to have the morning to get ourselves together. With flying we usually leave at the crack of dawn so it was nice to not be up early. We picked up Subway for lunch and ate a quick bite before hitting the road. We had to stop by my parent's house to bring the kid's special stuffed friends to leave at their house. We then drove to Hattiesburg to drop off Ruby with Austin's mom. It was nice to stop and stretch a bit. We visited for about 30 minutes and got Ruby settled then we were well on our way again. We drove to Meridian, MS. This is where we would be spending our first night. We had some good friends recently move there. Andrea and Beau Bredow we have known since before we were married. They have 2 boys around Colby and Lindsay's age as well. They have lived in Florida though since Colby and Blake were both 1. We had connected with them a couple times in Disney World and probably seen them a few times when they passed through NOLA. Anyway we stopped and checked into our hotel first. It was a super nice Fairfield Inn. We cleaned up and went to Mugshots to meet them for dinner. We probably stayed and visited about 2 hours. It was so great catching up! After dinner we tried to stop to walk off dinner, but everything closes early there. So we just went back to the hotel and watched some tv then turned in early.