Assuming WordPress isn’t lying to me, this is our 100th post on this family blog. Fitting I guess that this one is all about a trip we took in late June / early July to visit our family!
Weary hikers with limited tolerance for photographs
Our vacation started, as Woods vacations are wont to do, with a bit of trouble. Sean stayed up really, really late either on the phone or trying to finish things up for his job before he left town for the week. This forced two outcomes: 1 – Sean only slept about 1.5 hours and 2 – because I was doing all the packing and kid-wrangling work, I think I only managed about 4 hours of sleep. On top of that our connecting flight was delayed for about an hour and a half out of Charlotte, so two tired grownups had to try to entertain a couple of rambunctious kids for an extra hour and a half at the airport.
Either way, we eventually made it to Knoxville, TN, where most of Sean’s extended family lives. Our AirBNB house was nice enough, and we could all comfortably spread out and not get in each other’s way. Lolli and Pop and AP and Steele came over and we all had Pizza Palace for dinner.
Steele (4), AP (9), Maya (6), Ian (4)
The next day we went to the family reunion picnic at Sean’s cousin Cathy’s house. This was our primary reason for visiting, or at least our primary reason for the timing of our visit. The kids had fun playing in Cathy’s pool. The grownups had fun sitting still and idly chit-chatting with each other. The kids managed to have such a good time that they conked out during the short drive over to Sean’s Aunt Glenda and Uncle Jerry’s house. After a quick visit there, the still-tired grownups had leftovers for dinner back at the AirBNB house.
After we woke up and had a pre-breakfast, we hit Duck Donuts for our vacation doughnut fix. The kids talked Lolli and Pop into buying them little rubber ducks, and we all enjoyed our doughnuts. They had an out-of-this-world good texture, and the flavors were interesting enough.
Lost Sea Adventure
After letting the kids blow off some steam at the park, we drove out to Sweetwater, TN to check out the Lost Sea Adventure. Unlike our cavern adventure in Texas, this cavern was blissfully cool. We took a fairly easy walk down, down, down through the caverns and then had a brief boat ride on an underwater lake. It was fun watching the fish swim around down there, and I got the impression the kids had a good time.
We enjoyed the country buffet for late lunch / early dinner at a place called The Dinner Bell on our way back to the house. We indulged in a bit of relaxing on the couch before heading into Knoxville proper to test out ice cream from Cruze Farm Dairy and taking a walk to the Sunsphere to go up and see the city.
The next morning we had breakfast at Rami’s Cafe, where I think I would happily eat breakfast every day of my life. We had a slow start that day, but we eventually got the kids out to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park for a visit. Sean wanted to take them on the Chimney Tops Trail. It’s one he remembers fondly from childhood, but it’s pretty long and difficult for little kids, and it turns out forest fires had destroyed some of the trail and it hadn’t been fully restored yet.
Maya and Ian hiking with Lolli and Pop!
We chose to try it out anyway. Those kids covered 3.7 miles out and back with a 1400-foot elevation gain on the way there, easily their longest hike to date. Ian was carried just a tiny bit. Maya chugged through it on her own. Both have requested that we go on more hikes.
We had dinner at a place in Gatlinburg called Cherokee Grill. The wait was longish and the service was slowish, but the food was really good, especially after that hike. Sean and I were happy for the experience of the Smokies we were able to show the kids, but it was veeeeery late when we finally got them to bed.
Given that, our last day in Knoxville was a pretty laid back affair. We had an easy morning playing around the house and eating breakfast at Rami’s again. We watched Toy Story 4 at the Regal Riviera and then enjoyed doughnut and ice cream treats afterward. We relaxed at the house through the afternoon and had a leisurely dinner at Fountain City Diner (yum).
Travel into Missouri was uneventful, and we arrived in Friedheim in the afternoon. The kids immediately went into playing mode after being cooped in airplanes and cars all day.
Dinner was sort of funny. My parents pray before dinner, and Ian wanted to know all about the “song” they “sang” before they ate their dinner. I guess the kids had simply never noticed the pre-meal prayers before this visit.
Ian on one of Grandpa’s tractors
The next day, actual 4th of July, the blow-up pool came out along with water guns and water balloons. The kids had a TON of fun with all that, but it was marginally controlled chaos for everyone else. All their aunts, uncles, and cousins came over for the big Independence Day celebration. “Baby Paul” was super smiley and sort of crawling. Maya had fun being thrown around by Uncle Jade.
Fireworks in the country
We did smaller fireworks with the kids in the afternoon and then we all lined the porches for the big fireworks show in the evening. It was a late night and we had blissfully tired kiddos when it was through.
They were so tired, they actually slept until 7:30! That doesn’t happen too often. After a morning full of playing and lunch at Imo’s, we visited Great Grandma Schmidt. The kids are always excited to see her … and her cuckoo clock … and her treats and toys.
A torrential downpour cancelled our creek visit for that day, but the kids still played in the pool at Grammy and Grandpa’s once the rain stopped.
The next day, the kids went out to the pond to feed the fish and turtles. Before we left, out of the thin blue air, Maya asked if they had a fishing pole she could try out. Apparently she’d seen a video on youtube and wanted to give it a go. As luck would have it, there was a fishing pole.
Feeding turtles and fish with Grammy
Grandpa got it all baited up and ready to go while an over-excited Maya drove him crazy. They had to cast a few times, but finally, she caught a fish! She and Grandpa reeled in a little catfish that Maya proudly held. Given Maya’s success, Ian wanted to try too, and almost right away, he and grandpa caught a bluegill! The kids were both so, so excited. And now they have completely unreasonable expectations of what fishing is *really* like.
Catching fish with Grandpa
Becky and Iris came by the house after lunch, and we all went to the creek for awhile. Even after playing in the water all afternoon, they came back to the house and played in the blow up pool again. A little kid plastic slide was added to the mix for even more fun. They enjoyed bath time in Grammy and Grandpa’s giant tub, we had more Imo’s for dinner, and that was that. The next day, we took a late flight home, and as I recall (half a year later), our travel was uneventful.
