We look forward to this week every year! Yay! It’s our trip to the cabin in Tennessee! But first, a few things to wrap up before we headed out. Griffin and I went out to Bobby E’s after his appointment for his flu shot. Even though the day previous he was diagnosed with Croup, they said he was still fine to receive his flu shot. We enjoyed a yummy breakfast to start the day and then I headed in to work late. That evening I took him to 3 vs 3 soccer that he had been doing this session. We ended up leaving a bit early as his chest was hurting. Probably not the best idea to take him after he’d been diagnosed with Croup; however, he hadn’t had a fever the whole time and seemed to feel up for it. That night he went to bed ok, but the next morning he came in to our room at 6 am and felt SO warm to me. I took his temp and it was 104! Yikes. We promptly put a cool washcloth on his head, gave him a Popsicle, some medicine, and he fell back asleep in our bed. We kept up with the meds every 4 hours and I called in to the doctors office to chat with the nurse. I was concerned giving him the flu vaccine when he was already slightly compromised wasn’t the best idea in hindsight. But as always, our boy is one tough cookie. I stayed home for part of the morning, long enough to feel ok with leaving him with Hannah. His fever hadn’t returned and we kept up with the medicine rotation. Poor kid, had to miss school that day and will be gone all week next week while we’re on vacation! But, his fever did not return and he felt better pretty fast so he was able to go to school on Wednesday. We also got his school pictures this week and his grade card. Though it is hard to read here, I wanted to have it in digital form. He did really well across the board. He has met year-end goals for math and is doing well with sounds and reading though he has a few vowel sounds to work on. We’re proud of our Kindergartner!
The weather was nice this week so Hannah and the boys got in a nice outdoor walk through the neighborhood. Finn rode his bike and Reid enjoyed the ride in his stroller. The bath photo isn’t the best but it captures the fun they have when they take a bubble bath. Clearly, they don’t get them enough – when Griffin asked me if he could have one and I agreed he thanked me profusely and told me how much he loved them. This boy usually gets showers! And yes, I edited out the portion of the video where Reid went under – yikes!
We left for our Tennessee trip after school on Friday. It was quite the drive – we got a late start as I’d gone to school to pick Finn up and they screwed up and put him on the bus. So I went home and still beat the bus, thankfully. We got all ready and headed out, stopping for some quick Taco Bell. A little while into our ride Griffin wasn’t feeling really well, which is pretty unusual for him. He was complaining that his tummy hurt. We got off the exit at a terrible place, with construction and nowhere to stop to use a restroom. When we attempted to get back on the highway they had closed the road for night construction so we had to take a totally different route. Then we were stuck in traffic. Ugh – it was no fun. It took us longer than usual to get there, but we arrived about 1 am. Needless to say the kiddos had fallen asleep but when we got there they woke up for a short bit and were in good moods before heading back to bed. Thankfully we have two good travelers!
Our first couple nights this year we stayed at a Holiday Inn Express that had a fun pool area with a few waterslides. We all enjoyed a lot of time in the water and also some nap time before we headed out for dinner at our traditional first stop to Smoky Mountain Brewery for pizza and brew.
On Sunday we decided to head to Cade’s Cove at Smoky Mountain National Park. We typically go during the week so it is less crowded, but the weather was a sunny and warm day so we decided to take our chances and go on Sunday. There was definitely a lot of people there but we had a great time and snapped some of our traditional pics of the boys in the open field with the mountains in the back. We always let Griffin help drive through the park and this year Reid was able to as well. They loved it. 
We love this trip for many reasons, one of which is we go with no agenda other than to relax and hit up some of our usual spots and perhaps find something new too. We spend lots of time together lounging and being silly. Check out Finn wearing my pj’s! We eat out for some meals and stay at the cabin and made dinners and lunches at home too. It’s a nice combination 🙂
We enjoyed the slow pace of a couple of cabin days too. I spent a fair bit of time in front of the computer playing catch up from previous blogs that I hadn’t gotten around to posting. I enjoyed my pjs and the couch with some coffee :). We had a nice hot tub too. For our 5th Anniversary Kevin made a lovely dinner – grilled cheese and a deluxe salad along with a taquito appetizer. Life is a little different with a 6 month and 4 year old, no fancy or crazy nights out. But that is just fine by me – we’re thankful for our blessings, our marriage, and our time away.
Another first for us this year was putt-putting in downtown Gatlinburg. Griffin got a hold in one! This course is up in the hillside and overlooks the main road in Gatlinburg. I walked with Reid in the sleeper for the first course and when they wanted to play another I sat in a nice rocking chair in the sunshine while Reid slept on me. I enjoyed that! 
We enjoyed more time at the Island. Griffin loved going on the adventure course this year and went on it a couple times during each of our visits. 
And here are a few pics I forgot to include in the post from last week of Griffin chasing the chickens at Dixie Stampede, plus our official photos from that night. Sorry for the poor quality!
This guy is all football all the time. He chooses to wear his OSU summer outfit over top jeans and a long sleeve shirt on the regular. And here he is cradling Reid’s toy as if it were a football. Sports are in his blood. We really do not build up sports or talk about them much. Griffin regularly brings them up, often football, or he plays it by himself play calling and reenacting moves he’s seen on tv. 
Each year Griffin gets to drive through the Smoky Mountain National Park when we visit Caed’s Cove. He loves it and it pretty good at steering :). 
We ventured out on a half mile hike through the woods to see an old home (terrible but I can’t remember the name!). Griffin loves to run wild through the paths. It felt good to enjoy the fresh air though carrying Reid makes me realize how out of shape I remain!
Each year we take a photo of Griffin at this fence with the beautiful mountains in the background. We have him reenact his same pose and this year we had him hold Reid too. Afterward Finn and Kevin went down the path toward a stream and did some exploring. I stayed back in and fed Reid in the van. It was fun to watch them run through the fields and then see the photos Kevin took of their adventure. It was a beautiful and sunny day this year. It seems as though every year during our trip we have the perfect weather day to explore nature. 
Reid is quite the trooper. Just like Griffin at that age, we take him everywhere we go and he just rolls with it. He definitely seems to be more of a mama’s boy and has already started some separation anxiety or sadness. He certainly doesn’t like it when I pick him up and then shortly thereafter put him back down. He loves those snuggles!
Thankfully we took our stationary play rocker for Reid to have some independent time in the cabin. He’s filling it out so well now it’s hard to believe just a short time ago we had to put a blanket behind and in front of him. 
This year our cabin had a dart board which Griffin absolutely loved. He isn’t one to sit around unless there is a “show” on so he frequently was up in the loft playing darts. And he was quite good! He got several “bulls eyes” not long after he started. And this wasn’t the easiest dart board as there were little holes the dart had to fit into. He was so excited when he made hit the eye. 
As I said earlier, Reid wasn’t a very happy sleeper in his pack and play. I don’t know if it is too hard, or too low to the floor and perhaps cooler there, or what the dealio was. A couple of times I laid him on the bed and then sat on the love seat in our room while he slept. He did take a couple of good naps that way!
Each year we love spending time at The Island where there are plenty of outdoor games and rides as well as tasty restaurants. We had lunch at Poynor’s with tasty sausages and crispy fries and we enjoyed dinner at Paula Deen’s Restaurant one evening. It is just SO GOOD! Just writing this post makes me want to go there again. 
If there is ever a pretzel nearby – Finn will find it. 
This year at the Dixie Stampede it was a special treat! We were in the first row of our section and not long after we sat down our server started talking to Griffin and asked how old he was. Then he asked him if he wanted to go down and chase chickens during the show! Wowzer, how cool! Griffin and Kevin went down and Griffin along with a few other kids got to chase chickens in the arena. They asked him his name with the microphone and everything 🙂 He and the kids on his team came in second place, but they each got medals and a book from Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. What a memorable night. 
For the first time this year we hit up the outlet malls. What a madhouse! The parking and traffic was insane. Kevin and Reid stayed in the car while Finn and I ran into a couple of stores. I was super excited as I quickly found outfits for Reid and Griffin and then headed to Gap where I found coordinating shirts for Kevin and me. I am NOT a fast shopper as I am terribly indecisive. So I felt pretty great about our coordinated duds that I pulled together in record time. 
Here are a few photos from our week before we left on vacation. Debbie always does fun holiday crafts and this year for the thankful turkey Griffin wrote each feather himself! He’s growing up fast and is very curious lately about words and spelling. He regularly will say, “Momma, what does s-t-o-p spell” or whatever sign we pass by or something that catches his eye. 
I love getting pictures like this from Debbie during the day in the app we use. They bring a smile to my face.
Griffin has been going to weekly soccer lessons at Locker Soccer in Powell. I’ve noticed he’s becoming more outgoing and a bit goofy from time to time. He really loves Coach Aaron and the Sharks and Minnows game. 
On voting day we took Finn and Reid to the polls and then headed to Tim Horton’s for a very brief breakfast. There was a boil order in effect for areas of Powell Rd so we had to trek down Sawmill Parkway to the Hard Road area. It was raining and traffic was yucky. Blech!
And in other news I finally made an appointment at a dental office in Powell. It’s the first time I’ve gone to anyone other than my Dad in all my life! I survived, though I did have two cavities. 
And here are a few from a facebook post that I shared about Debbie. We are grateful to have her in our family. An acquaintance recently told me how lucky we are to have her, how she loves my kids so much and hugs and kisses them and loves them well when I’m not around. It warmed my heart! 
