The Rest of Tennessee and Home

 Monday was our last day of adventures in Tennessee. We decided to drive to New Found Gap so we could see a view of the mountains without a tricky hike and also so we could claim that we had been to North Carolina since it was right at the border. The drive was really pretty and so was the view at top. It was also significantly cooler which was a nice change. At some point Mike and his girls went off on a trail, thinking we were following them but alas, we were not. We were mean and made him come back.

On our way back down I decided we should randomly stop at one of the pull offs. Poppy really seemed like he wanted a hike and I could see the river close by and thought this would be the perfect little jaunt for all of us. It ended up just being our car load (my family minus Steven, plus Lillian and Poppy). It also ended up being such a nice little jaunt. There was only one other family there and the water was pretty, the rocks easy to climb around, lots of skipping stones for Tyler to collect (and Ruby to try to eat) and Ben found a perfect little offshoot with a bridge and more rocks to climb. He claimed himself the founder of the spot he found and dubbed it "Pond World". This was another one of my favorite moments from the trip.

After that we did one more stop so I could take a picture of scenic view and there were butterflies everywhere so I had to take some pics of them too- even if they were just fluttering around on asphalt.

    

Then it was back to the bnb to scrounge up some lunch and put Ruby down for a nap. After her nap I was antsy so I decided we should go to Wonderworks- it looked like a tourist trap but also like somewhere the kids could have some fun. I am not sure Mike really wanted to go but he ended up coming with Lillian and Matilda. And for some reason my dad wanted to come so my mom came too but I think they both regretted their decision. It was noisy and not any fun for them. The kids, on the other hand, seemed to be entertained by it. Some things were a bit lamer than expected- like the earthquake simulator and hurricane simulator- but the climbing wall, ropes course (which scared Penny), the bubble making station, the giant Lite Brite and the XD coaster were a hit with the kids. Steven also decided he wanted to spend his souvenir money on a machine that spit out Skittles. $9 for that cup.

And that was basically the end of our fun. We got back to the bnb, had some dinner and worked on getting some things cleaned up and packed up so we could head out the next morning. That night I sat outside with my mom, listening to the weird sounds of nature, watching the lightening in the clouds, and having a good chat. It was a perfect way to end our trip.

The trip back home Tuesday went smoothly. We got lunch at Buc-ee's and the food was good but we had to eat it in the car so that was not so fun. We hit some traffic in Cincinnati but that was about it and it was not even a dead stop so it wasn't bad. Ruby was definitely done with the car so we had to stop more frequently so she could get out and wiggle but I didn't mind the extra stops. Overall Ruby did really good for her first outing.

Wednesday morning the kids were all tuckered out but they had ym/yw's camp so they had to pack up and head off on a 3.5 hour trip to get there. I felt bad for them- especially Tyler since he had to be the driver. Lucy was also particularly irritable that morning, her ear was hurting her. For me, it was nice to just have Penny and Ruby. Things were quiet and I needed that after the trip. Penny got invited over to a friend's house so I dropped her off and then took Ruby to Kroger's to pick up a few thing. That turned out not so good. I had all these issues doing self check out. There was a conveyor belt and it kept spitting things back at me. And then I tried to get cash back to pay Reggie for watching our pets but my pin wouldn't work. By the time I got to my car, I realized that I hadn't paid for the cantaloupe that was sitting next to Ruby and while I was having that realization, a birthday card I had bought for friend flew out of the cart and into a puddle. Ugh. That's when I decided I was just going to be dishonest and keep the cantaloupe. Next time I go I can pay for it or something. I was much too frustrated to go back in. 

 

Thursday morning we stayed home and I cleaned everyone's bedding- my least favorite job- and caught up on life. That afternoon I had an ultrasound to check up on my bleeding. The results were that I still have that stupid defect from my c-section scar that is probably the cause of it. His suggestion was birth control because it might lessen my uterus shedding. Idk, I am not excited by the idea. Thursday evening Penny and I ran a quick errand and then we had a nice night watching "If" and eating TV dinners (her request). We also had some shaved ice with strawberry flavor for dessert. It was a perfect last night together before everyone returned.

Friday my friend Stefanie came over and hung out for a bit. It was nice to have a hang out where I didn't have to wrangle Ruby but also Stefanie kept interrupting our conversation to make goofy faces at Ruby and play with her.I felt slightly offended that she was giving Ruby more attention than me, lol ;). That afternoon Tyler, Lucy, Ben and Steven came home from their campout. They seemed less enthused by it but I am not sure if they were just super tired from all the things. It also seems like having the yw and ym together was maybe not the best because Tyler said there were a lot of girly crafts and then the girls were complaining that there were no toilets or showers. Girls and boys are different...

For dinner Friday I ran to Costco to get everyone some pizza, only to find the food court is closed for the next month. Boo. While we were leaving I saw someone from church. Her daughter has changed her pronouns to they/them and it's really weird to hear her talk about her daughter in the plural. I know she loves her kiddo and wants to be there for her but I don't know if that's the right thing to do. Such a difficult situation

Lucy's ear was still hurting her so Saturday morning I took her to the walk-in clinic to get it checked. She indeed had an ear infection. The drops were $58. That feels like an insane amount of money for ear drops. Hopefully her ear will get better quickly so she won't have issues on the plane with it. The rest of the day was nothing spectacular. Tyler spent the day trying to clean up all his camping stuff, Lucy had a hang out with her friend that she hadn't seen in forever, and I started doing some planning for the Arizona trip.