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. 

Tennessee: Day 5, 6, 7

Friday we went to the Titanic Museum. This was our day to wear our matching shirts and the museum also gave us all matching stickers. It was very clear we were the Brady Bunch. At the start of our visit the museum gave us each a short bio of someone who was on the Titanic and at the end we were to find out our fate. Spoiler alert- I survived. Not too surprising since I was a first class passenger. The museum was very interesting with facts about the ship and the people. It also had a replica of the ballroom stairs, a place where you could touch water to feel how cold it was when the Titanic sank, a man playing the piano with bios on the musicians and a massive lego replica of the ship. I think my dad really liked it because he took the longest to go through it. It was his birthday so I really do hope he had a good time. 

After the museum I had picked a burger joint for us to go to- Cookie Dough Monster- but it wasn't quite open yet. Some of us killed time by shopping at Nine Line which was nearby it, while others sat in their car. Tyler was very happy to get some shirts at Nine Line, he loves their stuff. I am glad we decided to wait it out and eat there. The food was fantastic. I got a chicken burger- I think it was called the Chick-jita. The sauce on it was so yummy and I would love to eat there again. I spent the rest of the day at the bnb. At one point Mike took Lillian, Penny, Lucy and Emmy to the Ripley's Museum and Tyler went to Walmart to get charcoal for grilling. When Tyler came home with the groceries, he discovered the bear was back, pawing at the front door. He quickly retreated back to the car until it went away. I failed to answer my phone and therefore failed to help rescue him. I was definitely in trouble for that. That evening we had a BBQ for my dad's birthday and we celebrated with a ice cream cake that I had made. It turned out pretty good- I had put a middle layer of caramel and fruit.

    

Saturday morning we went into the Smoky Mountains and hit up the Gatlinburg Trail. We walked a short ways and then the kids played in the river. Tyler almost immediately slipped while walking with Ruby and they both ended up wet. I think pretty much every person who played in the water ended up more wet than they had expected. We probably should have brought towels. There was also a butterfly that kept fluttering around a particular spot and it was pretty fun to watch but it never sat still enough for a good picture.  

    

After a bit, my dad needed a bathroom. There was a visitor's center a short drive away and Ruby was napping so I figured they could drive and I would walk with the kids down to it. It didn't seem too far and the trail had been fairly flat up to that point and right by the road so I figured it would be fine- if we got tired they could just pick us up. That was a poor idea. The trail decided to give us some inclines and veer far from the road. With the humidity and stroller and kids...the short walk started to feel like an eternity. When we finally met up with a road I called Tyler to see if he could find us. It took longer than I would have liked but he did find us so thankfully we didn't have to do the full trail. I'm a wimp in the heat.

On our way back Tyler dropped me, Penny, Lillian and my mom off at the Salt and Pepper Shaker Museum. It was fun to see all the different sets there and at the end I bought myself dinosaur salt and pepper shakers. It was funny how many people came in thinking it was shop and became disappointed that they would have to pay $3/person to go through it. The nice part was the $3 counted towards anything you bought at the end.

After Ruby's nap my family (minus Steven and plus Grams and Lillian) did some shopping in Pigeon Forge. We hit up the Moon Pie General Store since Tyler loves Moon Pies. It had a variety of flavors and everyone was allowed to take one free sample. I got salted caramel and was going to save it for later but Ruby got a hold of it and managed to break it open. It was yummy! After that store we hit up Simply Southern where I bought me and the girls some shirts and then a We the People Trump Store which had some funny conservative shirts and banners.

 

After our shopping it was time for the Pirate Dinner Show. I had always thought it would be fun to go to one of these, especially after seeing one on Veggie Tales ;). Poppy didn't join us for this event and I think he missed out. The story was mid but all the acts and tricks were cool- lots of gymnastics/ dancing,  aerial tricks on swings/ ribbons/ diving boards, fire breathing tricks, pet tricks (parrots/sea lion/dog). It felt kind of like a circus. The food was pretty good too. It would have been even more enjoyable if I didn't have a squirmy baby on my lap who kept trying to grab all my food. Ruby certainly makes these things trickier. I don't know how I'm going to survive a plane ride with her here in a couple weeks. She does not like to sit. 

Sunday we went to Parrot Mountain. This was definitely a favorite because by the end, everyone seemed to be having fun with the birds. When you walk in, there are parrots on perches everywhere which is so cool. One was dancing for us and another professed that it loves us. Then we saw some really cool birds- the toucans and kookaburras were my favorite. 

After that we hit up an area where you are allowed to hold any of the birds. The smaller ones were fairly easy to get on you and often didn't want to get off- climbing on shoulders and heads. Ben had brought some change so he got some bird seed and that made him even more popular. But one bird tried to pierce his ear near the end and I think he was done with them after that. A man helped Penny,Ben and I hold a big macaw parrots but it was tricky to get it on us. I finally got it to come to me and then it hopped off me onto another perch that wasn't it's perch. The man was not happy with me letting it do that but in the moment I wasn't sure what to do. I was worried it was going to hop off me onto the ground and I know their wings are clipped. I got reprimanded which made me less excited to hold anymore birds. 

    

Our next stop was to feed the Lory birds some nectar. They were like addicts and swarmed us as soon as we walked in and the nectar was gone quickly. Ben really liked the one in Lucy's pic that was bald- he affectionately and creatively named it "Baldy".

After that there were a few more birds to look at, and then the last stop was the nursery which was also a lot of fun. These were all friendly, baby birds that I would not mind buying because they are totally comfortable with people.

For lunch we went to the Corner Diner. Since it was Tyler's birthday I tried to pick a place with breakfast foods since they don't usually get stuck in his throat. The food was ok- I got a chicken pot pie biscuit- but I still regret not going for a more dessert entrée- the banana pie pancakes. Those sounded so good. Tyler got something equivalent to a breakfast chimichanga and really enjoyed it. After eating lunch, we hit up a couple stores again to get a few things we had missed and then stopped at the Three Bears Store. I thought this would be cool because it has live bears you can see. I did not realize that they cost extra to see and have times where you can't see them. That was a bust. But the store itself had a lot of great things and I ended up getting a gummy bear candle (that was our nickname for Ruby when she was in my tummy) and a super soft sweater for the winter. 

Sunday evening Tyler attempted to BBQ chicken and the bear came prowling again. Thankfully he got back in the house safely and even managed to go back and save some of the chicken. Those bears really like our house. After that fun, he went off to Dollywood again with Ben, Lucy and Mike so they could ride some more rides and eat cotton candy. It seemed like a good way to celebrate his birthday. He said they had hardly any lines and they were able to ride ALL the rollercoasters- which was fun but also reminded him of his age. I wish I could have gone but somebody needed to watch Miss Ruby and I probably would have been done after a couple rollercoasters.

Meanwhile the rest of us enjoyed an evening in the bnb out on the balcony with the view of a double rainbow. Sitting outside with Rebecca and my mom and whatever kids came to join us are some of my favorite moments on the trip. Even if at one point Ruby attempted to eat what we thought was a leaf but was actually a bug. That was so gross!