Reality sets in

Yesterday, Preston had his eye exam. To quote his optometrist, "He sees really well!" Yeah! No glasses for Preston! While we were in Effingham, we stopped by his ped's office to pick up a copy of his physical and his food allergy action plan. It wasn't until later that night that reality struck me like a ton of bricks upside the head. I"m not sending an ordinary child off to kindergarten next month. I'm sending a food allergic child.

This realization hit me as I lay in bed trying to get Preston back to sleep (hasn't been sleeping well with his ear infection). I cried. It's not like I haven't thought about this before, and certainly not that I hadn't realized his situation, but seeing that action plan was tough. I have to send him off with a letter expressing that he has serious allergies and MUST stay away from all of those foods. Along with it, is a sheet directing exactly what to do if he has skin/mouth (mild) reactions, and if he has throat/heart (life threatening) reactions.

I have to send him off to be with strangers all day. NEVER in his life, has this ever happened. He's never had a babysitter- only family. Aside from preschool and trips to the grandparents' house, he has never been away from me. At home, his risk of reaction is low, pretty much non-existent. At school, he'll be eating lunch with 100+ other kindergarteners, in a school that still serves peanut butter and milk. I have to send his snacks, his birthday treats, to keep him safe, all the while, he has to deal with the reality that his snacks are different. While some kids will enjoy a birthday cupcake, he won't be able to enjoy the same. I can't tell you how hard that is.

A whole new wave of fear set in, and I have to deal with it. I can only pray and trust in his teacher, the staff, and God, that nothing happens. I can't be a nagging mom and be with him while he's at school. I've had him here for just short of 6 years, and now I have to let go. Letting go is hard enough. Letting go with absolute fear is terrifying.

Blackberries, anyone?

Our blackberries are in full bloom- or maybe they're just really ripe. We've been picking at least a quart a day since July 12 when we got back from vacation, but today was just crazy! I filled one bowl and had to go back in for another! In all, just short of a gallon, enough for 3 very berry cobblers! There's still a ton on there that aren't ripe yet, too! Bad thing is, we won't eat them. So I've been trying to give berries away to anyone who will take them! Too bad the raspberries don't ever do that well- at least I'll eat them!

Preston has an eye exam tomorrow. I hope everything goes well. He's not too thrilled with the idea, but I think he'll do just fine. I don't worry too much about his vision, but I think I'll make an appt. for Kate in the morning to have hers checked out- it's been a while.

And remember my mentioning his ear last night? Yep, it's infected. UGH! Four weeks after his new tubes, and his right ear is already infected again. Part of me wants to scream, because I was hoping it would be like the last time he had tubes- we had 6 good, infection-free months until they fell out. What gives? So yeah, I'm a little ticked, but there's not much we can do that we're not doing already. He wears his earplugs and Ear Bandit in the pool, and cotton when he takes a bath. We're doing the drops for the next week (yes, I forgot how long and had to call and ask), and hopefully it clears up without having to fill his Biaxin Rx that's sitting in the cabinet.

Have you been praying for Stellan? He really needs prayers right now for his little heart. It looks like he's leaving for Boston soon for another ablation that will most likely result in him needing a pacemaker. Please pray for him and his family.

Camping?

After having the kiddos beg to go camping in our back yard for 2 week, weather not cooperating, we finally got a chance last night, so I jumped on it. Can't say I wasn't a little bit reluctant. Now, I'm a camper. I love to camp, as long as it goes with being somewhere away from home, a fire, and cooking over said fire. Nevertheless, we trekked out as far as possible away from the house with our tent and pitched it. Had a nice chat with our neighbor, Candy, who commented that it must be time for our annual camping trip again- we talked to her last year as we did the same thing.

With the tent up, we headed indoors to take baths and have our snack. Had I remembered to buy marshmallows at IGA, we could have had s'mores over the brush fire that Christopher started, but they settled for Oreos and goldfish. With all of our sleeping gear in hand, we go out to the tent, only to see bats flying low right over our heads! I let out a shriek, and run to get Christopher. I'd never seen bats in the wild before, not to mention nearly flying into us, so it was a surprise! Poor Preston was terrified, and stood there bawling, "I want to sleep inside!!!" Poor guy! Christopher came out and showed him that they weren't going to get us, and he settled down.

Sleeping outside, that is another story. Preston was the only one who slept the entire night without waking. Kate did OK, but woke up screaming at one point because a grasshopped on the top of the tent was chirping and was driving her a little nuts. So I had to get up and flick it away. Problem solved. I however, did not sleep well at all. I had a rock under me, and no matter how I tried to lay, it just didn't work. I was awake more than I was asleep. I came in this morning and took some Motrin because I was so sore, and I still am. Next time we camp, we better be somewhere else, and have the air mattress!

The kids were going to stay at my mom's tonight, but she called at 9:00 with Preston bawling and wanting to come home. Poor guy's been having some ear pain, and his right ear was bothering him, so I brought him home- only for my mom to show up with Kate just 2 minutes later. Sigh... I really hope P's ear is better by morning. I've been much more relaxed this go-round and know to expect occasional ear pain, so I'm hanging on to the fact that he'll most likely be better tomorrow.

Thank YOU Dr. S.

Remember my Surprises post the other day? Yesterday we got a surprise that touched us deeply, and really made Preston smile. It read:

Dear Preston,

I wanted to thank you so much for the kind gift basket that you gave to me and my family. We certainly will enjoy that. You are an excellent patient and a wonderful little guy to have as a friend. I am glad you are doing well with your ears and I cannot wait for you to come back and see me here in the next few months.

Sincerely,

Dr. S.

One little gift basket. A simple gesture of thanks, can come back around to touch so many people.

Out with the old

This morning, Kate and I had some quality time doing something surprising... cleaning her closet! Her closet has always been a mess. It's a dumping ground of sorts, and it was getting out of control. During this process, she did something surprising- the parted with her precious stuffed animals! She didn't get rid of all of them, but the ones that she never played with (she doesn't play with any of them, really). I am so proud of her! We got rid of toys, stuffed animals, shoes, clothes, and trash (yes, trash...). By the time we were done, we had 3 huge bags of stuff, just from her closet! Amazing! Tonight, the kids went fishing with my dad, Annette, and the girls, and while they were gone, I went through and fished out another big bag of stuff from her drawers! Miss Pack Rat's room feels so much nicer with less clutter. Now, to see how long it actually lasts!

Surprises

Surprises are always fun. They always make you feel special to be on the recieving end, and make you feel good to give. We got a very pleasant surprise today that really made us smile. Christopher's Grandma Lou called this afternoon to say that she was making some of her absolutely delicious homemade beef and noodles, and asked if we'd like some. Of course! She dropped it all off to Dee after work, who delivered us not just beef and noodles, but an entire meal! Beef and noodles, corn, and cherry delight! On a night when I wasn't sure what I'd fix, this was so nice to have dropped off! We had a very delicious dinner, and the noodles were absolute perfection!

Last week when Preston saw Dr. S., we made him a goodie basket. We stopped by Cracker Barrel and loaded it up with all of their vintage inspired candy. To say that he was thrilled, was an understatement. And in true Dr. S. fashion, he immediately started sharing. He gave the kids each 3 candy sticks, and let them know with whom he intended to share each item. He was so very thankful, and it showed. The kids felt great to give their surprise (which coincidentally, did not look quite as pretty once 2 kids had jostled it around), and it was nice for them to see that their gift was going to surprise and touch more people than just Dr. S.

Let's all try to surprise someone this week.

So I get the Directv bill today...

We've been going round and round with Directv since March, back when our one reciever blew up and took the DVR upstairs along with it. We were told we'd get a free service call, they charged us, plus the techs made a huge mess in our basement and broke some ceiling tiles. I call to complain, and they say they'll credit us $5/mo for 6 months. That didn't happen. Still to this day, they can NOT get our bill correct. It took 2 months just to get the service call off, and that's only after I called them fuming after recieving a statement saying they were going to shut off our service ( I was NOT going to pay that $50 service charge). So I get the bill today, and see that there's a $4.99 charge for a PPV adult channel on 7/14. How on earth did that get there? I emailed Christopher and asked if he cared to share why this charge was on there, and he calls back clueless. I'm skeptical, but he says he'll check our online statement. He calls back and says there's no recent activity/orders. So I call them. I'm not pleased at the charge, or the fact that they STILL have not issued our credits after four months!

I call, and get some lady that I can't hardly understand, and have the following conversation:

ME: I'm calling about a charge for an adult channel on our bill that I know we did not order.
HER: Yes. You recently called and asked us to cancel one of your recievers.
ME: Nooooooo. We've never made that request, and both of ours are working just fine.
HER: Oh. That charge is from 2004. It was from when you had your reciever hooked up to a phone line.
ME: 2004!?!?!?!?!! And NO, we have NEVER had our reciever hooked up to a phone line because there's NEVER been a phone line anywhere near our reciever!

Long story short, and sparing more because I simply could not understand the lady, she dropped the charge. And she absolutely should have! She also credited us our $5, and promised to look into why it's listed on our account, yet never gets credited to our bill. Let's see if that one actually happens! I'm ready to just cancel them, but it's going to cost us $280 to do that before our contract is up. Oooooooh, I was mad!

Hair yesterday, but it's gone today

Can you guess what we did today? The kids got hair cuts, and they desperately needed them! Poor Preston was looking pretty shaggy. I tried to get him in before vacation, but our stylist couldn't squeeze him in, and by the time we got back, she was on maternity leave, so we had to have the other girl there cut their hair. Kate got a good 3 inches off, and it looks so much better, not to mention how easy it's going to be to comb, now! You can once again see Preston's eyes, but his hair being short makes him look so young! I need to do a before/after comparison, but I didn't take any pics today.

Still on a mad dash to schedule everything for Preston, but did manage to get his eye appt. set for next week. I so hope he doesn't have Christopher's eyes! We need to find a new dentist because ours doesn't take our new insurance, so I guess I'll just have to pick a new one and go with it just for the school deal, and then if we don't like him, we can go somewhere else. We did get his medic alert necklace ordered yesterday and I can't wait for it to arrive. Hopefully Preston will wear it without issues- he did say that he would. It will offer more peace of mind once school starts and he's away from me all day. It still scares me, though. I resceduled my ENT appt. for Aug. 7, which is still 2 weeks away, but much sooner than an entire month.

Weekend update

Wow! What a perfect weekend! Is it really July or did we just fast forward to October? I've been wearing jeans for two days, and been chilly! I'm loving this!!! The kids aren't so thrilled, because it means it's too cold to swim, but they're enjoying being able to play outside without getting hot!

Friday Preston had his post-op visit with Dr. S. and got a great report! He said his tonsils are already smaller than they've ever been, indicating that having his adenoids out has had a positive impact already. I got to see his new tubes, and they're huge compared to the old ones, complete with pull tabs in case they have to go back in and take them out. They're cute little things, though! He doesn't have to go back for 6 months, so let's hope that we don't have to make a trip to see him before then! I have an appt. for next month to see Dr. S., but I get home and find out that it's the first day of school, which is just a half day, and I wouldn't be back in time to pick up Kate. I'm going to call tomorrow to reschedule and hopefully get something sooner in Mattoon. My ear has been hurting a lot more today, so the sooner the better.

Saturday we went to lunch in Effingham for Grandma Shirley's birthday. Preston got a surprise and got to see his girfriend there! His aunt is good friends with her mom, so she invited them all to dinner and to Keith and Dee's for cake afterward. He was so thrilled to see Maddi Grace and get to play with her! He told me, "I didn't think I'd get to see her again until kindergarten!" They are soooo sweet! Still holding hands and wanting to sit next to each other!

This afternoon, Pa called and said that they were at the property, so we packed up and headed out to join them. The kids just love it out there! They ran around, caught tadpoles and teeny tiny frogs in buckets, jumped on the trampoline, and fished. Preston caught another huge catfish, and almost caught a "whopper!" Preston thought that the name of the fish was whopper, and kept saying that he caught a catfish and almost caught a whopper, becuase that's what Pa said it was! By the time we got back, they were filthy, so I sent Kate up to take a shower and put Preston in the tub.

I know we all had a great time this weekend! Here's to many more!

Catching up

After spending most of the week posting our vacation pictures, I haven't really updated on what's going on. Tomorrow is going to be a busy day, but hopefully a fun one. Preston has his post-op appt. with Dr. S. and we are making him a little thank you basket for all he's done for us. Hopefully Preston gets a clean bill of health after all he went through after his surgery- that bronchitis hung around for 2 weeks! I'm curious, too, to find out if his adenoids were enlarged at all. Dr. S. didn't say when he talked to us after surgery, but by the way he was talking, he didn't sound too positive that his adenoids played any role in his ear infections. He said he hoped that he could avoid a 3rd set, but told us to really play up the surgery and tell P it wasn't that painful or bad, in case we have to get him in there again.

On the subject of ears, I was in to get antibiotics for mine Monday, and got a referral to Dr. S. I'm going to make my appointment tomorrow when we go. I can only imagine what he'll say about mine, but at this point, something needs to be done. My ear is still hurting, and it's been like that for well over a week.

We finally got the dollhouse done yesterday after 7 months of working. What a relief! It still has no furniture, but the Blueberries are currently standing on the front porch, presumably waiting for their furnishings to be delivered.

I am lagging behind badly on getting things ready for Preston to go to kindergarten. So far, all I have in my presence, is his birth certificate. He's had his physical, but I haven't called the dr. to get a copy, and need to have them write a note for the school regarding his food allergies. I need to order his medic alert necklace. I need to schedule his eye and dental exams. He still needs his shots, and I really don't want to do that one... With a little over a month left until school starts, I need to get on the ball.

Going Home

Friday morning we were up early to head home. We all went out on the back porch and took a photo of all 8 of us with the mountains behind us, and said one last good-bye to that beautiful view. We were out the door at 8:00. Before heading too far, we had to do the one thing that I guess you have to do while in the Smokies, and that's to eat at a pancake house. I kid you not, we had to have seen at least 50 pancake houses during the week! We ate our pancakes and headed on our way.

The secret to our easy trip with the kids... the Nintendo DS. They knew that if they fought about it, I'd take it away, so there were no issues at all. The morning sun made it had to see the game, so Kate put Preston's jacket over her head to block out the light.

Preston patiently awaited his turn. Just like the trip down, the trip home was easy, but seemed to take so much longer. We ran into heavy traffic in Nashville because they had the interstate shut down for construction, so it took us about 20 minutes to go just about 3 miles. As soon as we were out of Nashville, it started pouring and poured until we were back in Illinois. We stopped for lunch at Shoney's and realized it was the same Shoney's we had all stopped at on our way home from Florida one year. Reid had a "hankering for some strawberry pie," so the guys all decided to get some. The pie turned out to be little more than canned strawberries plopped onto a tiny piece of crust, so it became the joke of the day!

We made it back home at 6:30, and we were all very glad to be back home! The cats were glad to see us, and I'm certain they thought they'd been abandoned. Luckily, we came home to find the house exactly as we'd left it. Nonni has a tendency to get a little mischievous and knock things over, but he did very well! We made a list at lunch of all the things we thought he would have torn up when we returned! We've been back for 5 days now, and we all still miss Gatlinburg. The kids want to move there. It's definitely a place that we all want to visit again, hopefully in the fall next time. I can just imagine the views with fall colors!

Gatlinburg Vacation Day 6

Friday was our last full day in Gatlinburg, and we were all a little down about it being over so soon. We went to Wonderworks early in the morning, and it was pretty cool. It was a lot like the Magic House in St. Louis, but had an earthquake and hurricane simulator, and lots of other really neat exhibits. After lunch, we all headed downtown to walk the main drag and stop in the shops. I really liked going in to see all the different things that they had, although the walking was long. After stopping in Smokey Mountain Babies, we stopped by a fountain and got a good photo of the kids (see above). One of my favorite shots of all!

After a small break back at the cabin, we all stopped down the mountain at the entrance to where our cabin was located, to pose for photos. Here are the four of us, and it actually turned out pretty well, even if Christopher was smiling his ornery smile! Then it was on to dinner at the Alamo, which was absolutely delicious! I left feeling SO full!

While leaving the restaurant, we noticed ducks in the parking lot, and they were selling duck food... OK, it was just corn, but the ducks ate it! There was a momma duck with a bunch of babies and she was sitting on them to keep them safe. The kids thought it was really neat, and we had to wait until the momma got up so we could see all the babies!

After dinner, I wanted to go back downtown to pick up a purse that I'd seen earlier, and Reid had to return Jess' wheelchair (her OB told her to stay off her feet), so Dee offered to take Jess and the kids back to the cabine while we ran downtown. We got downtown, dropped Keith off alongside the road to turn in the wheelchair, and dropped me off up the hill to get my bag. Reid turned around, met us, we jusmped back in, drove down the hill, and Keith jumped back in. There's no parking along the main drag, so we just had to hop out and do our thing before Reid made his way back around!

We got back to the cabin and Christopher goes out to the car and notices the bumper. "Mom, what did you hit with my car?" Of course, she didn't think she had hit anything, but Christopher knew that she had hit something. After a little prodding, she realized that when she went to turn the car around after returning to the cabin, she had backed into some railroad ties! Then she goes, "Maybe that's why the car wouldn't back up anymore!" With that little excitement out of the way, we got the kiddos to bed, finished packing, and relaxed a little with everyone before turning in.

Gatlinburg Vacation day 5

Thursday began with a trip to Sevierville to the largest As Seen on TV store. Keith and Dee were excited and told us it was really neat. We begged to differ. It was more like a Dollar General crossed with a souvenir shop, but also filled with every as seen on tv item there ever was. Seriously- Bump-its, Slider Station, you name it! We didn't buy anything. We stopped at a few other shops, including the Hillbilly Village where we bought some questionable pre-civil war era stone marbles and a wooden bow and arrow set for Preston. After that we went to Cracker Barrel for lunch since Jess didn't know if she'd feel up to going out that night. We left Cracker Barrel and headed to Davy Crockett's mini-golf, which Preston had been eyeing all week. It was fun, and something we do everytime we go on vacation. It did start pouring on us on the 16th hole, but we finished our game before heading back to the cabin.

Back at the cabin, the kids entertained themselves by shooting the suction cup arrows at the glass doors. Probably not the smartest thing to let them do, but it kept them happy. They especially liked going out onto the porch and shooting them, and luckily, no arrows went over the edge and into the woods!

We had our traditional spaghetti dinner in the cabin that night instead of going out. It's something they all like to do, but I much prefer eating out on vacation! The evening was relaxing and the rain did stop, and made for some beautiful shots of the mountain off the back porch. You can see why they call them the Smokey Mountains! This is one of my favorite shots from the cabin.

Preston's little accident

Preston had a little accident today and he's been pretty shaken up about it. Don't worry, he's perfectly fine. The toad, however, I'm not so sure. In case you didn't figure it out, the toad was the injured party, not Preston. Preston tossed a toad today. I watched helplessly as it flew, arms and legs flailing, then plummeted to the ground, and didn't move. Preston just stood there, unsure what had just happened, then lost it. He bawled uncontrollably. He had killed a toad. I ran to him as he sobbed. I walked over to the toad, and saw that it had begun to hop, albeit with one arm lagging behind it, but alas, it was alive. That didn't calm Pres, though, and he cried for the better part of an hour. He was SO upset. He stood by the back door and sobbed, "I'm so, so, so, so sorry," to the toad. Later on, after calming down, he came to me and said he was tormented. Tormented by the toad. Poor little guy! The rest of the day, he would just break out into tears over the toad. I bet, though, he will never toss another toad again!

Gatlinburg Vacation Day 4

The kids had been excited about hiking to a waterfall for weeks before our trip. We pondered over guides and decided that Grotto Falls was the one we'd see because you could walk behind it. Keith said it was a 3 mile round trip hike, which didn't sound too bad. It was a moderate hike, and that meant that Christopher and Jess couldn't go, so Keith, Dee, the kids and I went. We drove to the trail head and started our trek. The path was rugged- rocks and roots everywhere, as seen in the above photo. We really had to be careful and watch our footing. But the morning was cool, chilly in fact, so we thought it was perfect. We hiked, and hiked, and hiked. It didn't take long for the kids to get grumpy and pick on each other. But we kept reminding them of the waterfall, so we trucked on.

We came across this huge boulder just off the path, so we had to pose for a picture to show just how massive it was. We were really in the wild! I kept my eyes out for bears, but didn't see any. We did see bear poop, though. Does that count? Preston, Keith and I saw a deer right on the path ahead of us, and that was pretty neat! Two hours passed, and we still were not near the falls. By this time, we were pretty far up the mountain, on trails that were literally on the side of the cliff. One slip and we would've fallen down the side of the mountain. We were convinced that the guide was wrong because we had hiked well over 1.5 miles, and there was no sign of a waterfall.

By this time, we were all exhausted. The kids were not happy. They could barely go on. We met a man coming down the path and Dee asked him how much farther it was to the falls. "You've got another good mile to the next trail head and then it's another 1.5 miles to the falls from there." We then decided to turn back. Kate lost it. She was bawling uncontrollably. Not because she was mad at not seeing the falls, but out of sheer exhaustion. Poor kid! We started walking and soon passed the man we'd seen. He was finishing a 10 mile hike and had camped under the stars with the bears at the top. How cool! We chatted with him on our way down and he was so nice! On the way, we picked up a few more rocks- sizeable ones at that, and carried them back. Still unsure of wether or not this was OK, we came upon a group of park rangers eater their lunch on the trail as I walk along with this big rock in my hand. They just smiled, and let me go! So what took us 2 hours to go up, took 45 minutes to go down, and we were never so thrilled to see our car!

So what was the deal? Well, we didn't know that in order to take the 3 mile round trip hike, you had to drive to the top of the mountain to start out. We started at the bottom. I should've known something was up when a guy commented to Preston along the way, "Man, you're good! I couldn't do this at your age!" We never got to see the waterfall. Dee wanted to try again the next day from the right trail head, but I put a stop to that! Funny enough, this was my favorite thing we did all week! I'd give anything to hike in the woods any day!

So after our long hike, we ate our leftover food from the Mill, took a nice shower, and headed out to see a few shops. Then it was downtown to eat dinner at Hard Rock Cafe.

Gatlinburg Vacation Day 3

Preston and I on the scrambler
Dollywood mill as seen from the train

Preston and I driving the car. He made me drive!

Bright and early on Tuesday, we headed for Dollywood, claiming Preston as our "bargain" because he could get in so cheap being 5! Dollywood was a hit! It is a must-see while in the Smokies! Everyone was so friendly (aren't they all in the South?). I bet 90% of the employees were senior citizens, so maybe that's why they were all so nice! The kids loved riding the rides, and we ended up spending the majority of the day riding them! It was nice that it wasn't too busy and the waits were short. We didn't even have to wait for the swings, we just walked right up and got on! The train ride was an adventure... a little boy had a seizure on the train while we were on top of the mountain. They stopped the train, and being in the front seat, we heard the engineer discussing with the first aid station wether it would be faster to send someone up the mountain, or for them to go on down. We ended up going down and dropping him off at the first aid station, then the train went on. The kids got to see a guy blow glass, which Preston loved, and we had to drag him away! We also got to go inside Dolly's old tour bus- that got a whopping 7 mpg! Talk about a way to travel! Nice! We did have a disappointing lunch at Apple Jack's Sandwich Shop inside Dollywood. I'm sure there are much better restaurants there. We just got a bad one.

After the long day walking around, we went to the Old Mill in Pigeon Forge for dinner. YUM! If you go there, go HUNGRY because you get a TON of food! Included with every meal is corn chowder, corn fritters (the best!), salad, dinner rolls, mashed potatoes, green beans, and desert! I had chicken and dumplings, and had enough left over for the next day. We all left with a box full of food! Their food was a close second to the BBQ we had the night before! They were definitely the two best places that we ate! By the time we got back to the cabin, we were exhausted from walking all day, so we all just crashed! We had a hike planned for the next day, too, so we had to get plenty of rest!

Tune in tomorrow for our Grizwold hiking trip. It's a good one!

Gatlinburg Vacation Day 2

Mountain view from Smokey Mtn. National Park
Kids by the river

Kids in front of Ripley's

Our first full day in Gatlinburg was a busy one. They all were, really. We headed downtown to the Ripley's Aquarium in the Smokies. It was neat, but really, it disappointed. If you ever think about going, don't waste your money. Seriously. We were expecting it to live up to the Ripley name, but it was no different than any other hole in the wall aquarium. But we didn't let one bad experience ruin our vacation!

After going back to the cabin for lunch, we decided to take a drive through the Smokey Mountain National Park. It was really neat! Lots to see and great mountain views. The road ran along a river that ran through the park, and we stopped several times to get out and explore the water. We came back from the park with more than a few rocks, and we hope that it wasn't illegal. Shhhhh! We didn't see any bears, though, although I looked very thoroughly. I really wanted to see one!

After our Smokey mountain drive, we headed to Bennett's for some authentic Southern barbecue. When in the South, you have to eat like you're in the South! It was wonderful!!!! I ate lots of BBQ during the week, and some good homestyle Southern cooking as well. My tummy was happy!!! We spent the rest of the evening exploring outside around our cabin, and hanging out on the back porch. The porch swing out back was one of my favorite things, and the cool mountain air was very relaxing!

Gatlinburg vacation Day 1

View from our cabin balcony
Rain

We made it back! We had a wonderful vacation in Gatlinburg, much moreso than I thought we would. I loved being in the mountains, and so did the kids. It was really hard to leave yesterday!!! As much as I loved the mountains, the mountains didn't love me equally, and of all people, I got an ear infection from being in the high altitude. Mr. Preston did just fine! So tomorrow I have to go get some antibiotics and make an appointment for me to see Dr. S.! This is number 3 for me since January, and my hearing has gone downhill, so I may be the next one getting tubes...

Because our internet is so slow, I'll be uploading pictures from each day of our trip, on a different day. We have close to 300 pictures, so I'll have to pick my favorites!! Here is a link to the cabin we stayed in. That way it saves me time uploading mine, plus, theirs are better! ;) The kids had the queen-sized bunk beds upstairs and they thought they were the coolest things they had ever seen!

We started out at 6:00 a.m. last Sunday, with Preston crying because he was "worried to go on vacation." Once on the road, though, he calmed down and the rest of the trip was smooth sailing! Seriously, the kids were as good as gold the whole 8 hours! We made excellent time and arrived in Gatlinburg around 5:30 p.m. We had a heck of a time finsding the cabin, but we finally did. We unloaded our cars into the cabin, then ran to Food City to buy groceries. Right after we unloaded the cars, it started pouring and storming really bad. I have never heard thunder so loud before, but considering we were on the very top of the mountain, that was why! We ordered Pizza for dinner, and called it a night.

Taking off

We're off bright and early tomorrow morning for our vacation. Just spending a quiet day at home while it pours downs rain, finishing our packing, and going to Granny's for dinner. So glad I get out of cooking! I doubt I get back on until we're home.

Not much in the mood

Don't really feel like blogging much today. Haven't really felt like doing much of anything at all today, in fact. Yet, here I sit, doing this, just as I've done everything else today. Can you tell I really need this upcoming vacation?

Preston is doing much better today. The codeine has really calmed his cough, and I imagine the antibiotics have as well, so I think we're finally on the road to recovery. At least he better be! This whole situation hasn't slowed him down one bit! Surgery? Piece of cake!

My sister-in-law, Jessica got confirmation today that she is having two girls! How sweet is that? I can't wait to meet these little girls! Hopefully they hang in there for a few more months- at least until September. She's not due until November 8, so they still have a lot of growing to do!