Looking back on November, it flew by in an instant but was loaded with fun. Griffin continues with Distance Learning and Reid remains home. He often gets to do fun projects with Lexi, including this cute book with a few things he likes. He absolutely loves pink!
We ventured up to Mansfield on a warm sunny weekend so we could help Mom and Dad button up the greenhouse before winter, and before we headed south for vacation. It was the warmest day that I can recall in recent years when we’ve covered – we were sweating by the end! Dad installed some new vents in the greenhouse this year so we had a couple of new cuts to make and secure. The kids and Grandma made some tasty chocolate chip cookies that we were able to take with us to Tennessee.
Our neighbors down the street, Jane and Bryan, are such fun hosts. They invited all of the neighborhood kids to join in an afternoon of rocket launching! Everyone masked up, as there were quite a few of us, and man was it a warm day! Each of the kids were given a rocket and they were able to shoot it off twice. Meanwhile, the other kids tried to catch the rocket as it parachuted to the ground. It was a fun, and quite hot, day!
Afterward once we were home the boys were playing around inside the house. After a bit I noticed how quiet it was and suddenly couldn’t locate Reid. Quite literally I was running around the house, inside and out, yelling Reid’s name and Griffin and I could not find him anywhere. I was really getting worried that he wondered off. I finally went into his room and turned the corner and found him lying in his room on the floor asleep, naked! Poor kiddo was exhausted.
The following morning we left on our annual road trip to Pigeon Forge / Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Before leaving, Griffin hopped on his morning meeting as he was the teacher’s helper for the day. He was able to help with the date, pick the character on the front page of the slide, and we’re not sure what else (lol) as I’m writing this post 9 months later. Miss Peacock was great with involving the kids, even through the virtual setup.
We arrived at our cabin and surprised the boys that this year our cabin had a pool in the lower level! We stayed in a new neighborhood for us just a short distance from where we typically stay. Our cabin was really awesome with three levels, plenty of games, space, and areas for everyone to spread out. Kevin was able to work from the basement lower level, Griffin did school daily from the kitchen area, and Reid and I moved around trying to stay quiet and not be a distraction to all the work that was going on.
In these Covid times we’ve been very cautious and have primarily dined at home or gotten carry out. Each year we visit Gatlinburg on the evening of our arrival and have dinner at Smoky Mountain Brewery. We decided to give get it delivered this year and eat at home. It wasn’t the same, but it was good nonetheless!
We ventured out to The Island and sat outside on the open air patio of restaurant for a short bit and then all of a sudden the power went out – to everything at the Island! Some things ran on generators, including the ferris wheel. It was weird to have everything go dark but also kind of fun.
Grandma and Grandpa sent us on the road with a fun book and car for Griffin and Reid. They loved them both and played with them a lot during our trip. One great thing about CDL (Committed Distance Learning) is that it can be done anywhere! So this year we didn’t need to fill out any forms and have Griffin miss school during our trip, rather he was able to do school on the same schedule each day! So while he participated in school, Kevin worked, Reid and I played and hung out, and once school was over we would venture out. “Recess” time was typically a quick dip in the pool or a lap around the neighborhood outside. Not a bad deal!
We ventured in to Gatlinburg and decided to dine indoors at Ole Red where we could take in some live music. I was rather nervous as we really haven’t dined indoors at all much, but it turned out to be ok and we all survived. Afterwards we walked around Gatlinburg and stumbled upon a chili cookoff event where they also had some live music.
It’s kind of funny looking back at these pictures 9 months after the fact, but when doing a load of laundry (located in a closet) I was closing the closet door and heard something fall. I opened up the door and saw that the iron had fallen out of the top door organizer, so I picked it up, put it back in, and when swinging the door closed it happened again only this time it landed on the bridge of my nose causing a bit of a bloody gash. Ugh. So for the remainder of vacation I had a nice mark on my nose.
Dollywood continues to be our favorite amusement park. It is so clean and there are so many things for young kids to do. We frequently slathered the kids in hand sanitizer after riding a ride and had fun walking around outdoors doing all the amusement park things.
We stuck primarily to outdoor activities, which is pretty normal actually during this trip. We played Hillbilly Golf and each of the boys did really well and had a lot of fun. Griffin got a hole in one!
Kevin made a really nice charcuterie tray as an appetizer on our Anniversary. It was devoured pretty quickly by big and little hands. Later that evening we headed to a later showing at Dolly Parton’s Stampede for the dinner show. Reid got to go down to “chase the chickens” but in typically Reid fashion, had a bit of stage fright and stubbornness and decided he didn’t really want to do it! Made for a good memory.
We went to Smoky Mountain Brewery in the late afternoon and enjoyed our traditional pizza dinner, dine in style this time. The restaurant did a good job spacing out guests and tables. And while I was a bit nervous, everything was fine. It’s kind of crazy how once you become accustomed to not going indoors places when you begin to do it again it’s kind of nerve wracking. At least it was for me!
More of the normal: mac and cheese, computers, school, computers, school, more computers and school…..
Our neighborhood this year was great for getting out and walking and also a bit of climbing on the huge rock. Each of the boys tested their fear-factor and made it to the top for the victor stance. They are strong and brave! It’s hard to really see from the pictures just how huge this rock really is!
Lexi stayed at our house with Brutus while we were away. She took great care of him and sent us pics while we were away 🙂
Once we returned home it was back to the grind of the everyday.
Sadly, we didn’t gather with family for Thanksgiving this year. So while we were home the boys and I made pecan and pumpkin pies. And we had a ginormous feast on Thanksgiving day. Leftovers for days. Thankfully, we were able to facetime with family later in the evening.
Here we have evidence that boys will be boys, lol!
During the nice fall warm days the neighborhood kids have been playing football games. Kevin took advantage of the warm to put up Christmas lights on the house this year. It looks great! The boys and I decorated for the Christmas season and got in to the holiday spirit. Each year Griffin, in particular, is so excited to help decorate! We went off on our annual adventure to cut down a Christmas tree but this year we struck out! The farm we typically go to did not have ANY tall trees this year, so we sadly left without a tree. Of all places, we ended up a Lowe’ to get a small tree for our foyer area. Then we decided to go the artificial route this year for our 12-13′ family room tree due to the tree shortage in general this year. First time ever for a fake tree. But it is a nice one and we added scent sticks to fill the house with the smell of a fresh cut tree. Not the same, but that’s ok.
It has taken us several years, 5 1/2 actually, but we were finally able to get our family headstone and Nathan’s headstone installed at the cemetery in Dublin. We are happy with how they turned out and are relieved to have them there to more finitely be able to find our plots.
Millcreek renovations have begun as we are converting our former shipping warehouse to additional office spaces. We’re removing the overhead doors on the North and South sides of the building and converting half of the open spaces into a conference room, new larger lunch room, a new growers office, and three additional private offices along with a new customer lobby. Bring on the construction!
