Family Vacations Make the Best Vacations

The worst thing about vacations is that they never last long enough. If you think time flies when you’re doing the mundane, that’s nothing compared to how fast time flies when you’re doing something fun, like taking a vacation. We just got home yesterday, but if I had the money, I’m more than ready to take another. Vacations with family are the best. Unfortunately, not all of my clan was able to go on vacation with me, but I’m hoping that soon we’ll be able to do a huge family vacation. For this adventure, it was just Nicole, Travis, Ashley, Mady, Lily, Jimmy, and me.

We left on June 15 for Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. We stayed at Sunrise Ridge in a unit with two bedrooms, a living room, a kitchen, two baths, and a balcony. We’ve become pretty spoiled and generally stay only in a place where we have room to spread out. Having a full kitchen, complete with dishes and a dishwasher, allowed us to cook breakfast and dinner in our room every day, which saved a lot of money. We did eat lunch out every day, and we chose lunch because lunch menus are generally cheaper than dinner ones when you’re eating out. The fully furnished room also came with a rocker/recliner, and with a baby and a toddler in the group, having a rocker is very important. A washer and dryer allowed us to leave with clean clothes. And having two bedrooms and two baths allowed for privacy. As I said, we’ve become spoiled and the regular room at the Days Inn just doesn’t cut it for us if we’re staying for more than one night’s sleep. The location of our room also allowed us to sit on the balcony each night and watch Dollywood’s fireworks show. We also made use of the swimming pool and playground. If you are going on vacation for a week, it’s well worth it to rent a place like this.

We traveled to Gatlinburg one day to take the girls to Ripley’s Aquarium and to Knoxville to take them to the Knoxville Zoo. Both of these were successful trips. The adults in our group have made numerous trips to aquariums and zoos during our lifetimes. What’s amazing about these visits is that you get to see everything through the eyes of the kids. Too often as we age, we lose the wonder of the world around us. Watching as the kids see these sights and animals for the first time serves as a gentle reminder that there is still awe and wonder in the world. We just have to take the time to see it. We also went out one day and let Mady ride the kiddie carnival-type rides on the strip in Pigeon Forge. Seven tickets cost $15, but for an almost two-year-old, that was plenty. She loved the rides, but by the seventh ride, the day was getting hotter and she was more than ready to move on to something else. During our trip, we also went to the Smoky Mountain Knife Works and the Old Mill and Apple Barn districts. We avoided the outlet malls, though we did pay one visit to a bookstore while we were there. When we’re there, I’d rather visit and buy from the local shops than from retailers I can shop from anytime I want.

As I said, we like to eat out when we travel, but in order to save money, we tend to eat out for lunch. This trip, we chose to eat at Bubba Gump’s in Gatlinburg, Huck Finn’s Catfish in Pigeon Forge, and Fuddrucker’s and Applewood Farmhouse Restaurant in Sevierville. We enjoyed each of these restaurants. Huck Finn’s is a go-to whenever we are there, and I’m pretty sure we decided to add the Applewood (Apple Barn) restaurant to our go-to list as well.

After visiting the Knoxville Zoo on Friday, we went a little farther south to Sweetwater and spent the remainder of the weekend with my brother and his family, before returning home yesterday. We watched my nephew’s ball practice and we visited a flea market, but mostly, we just hung out at his house and spent time together. Since he lives about four hours away, we don’t get to see him as often as we do my other brothers who live much closer, so it’s always a treat to just hang out with them.

We made it back home about 7:00 P.M. last night, which allowed Nic and Jimmy to prepare to go back to work today. Fortunately, the rest of us didn’t have to worry about that. It’s always nice to get back home and sleep in your own bed, but I’d certainly like to have both the time and money to do more traveling than we currently do. There’s still a whole lot of country I’d like to see, and hopefully one day I will, but for now, I’ll take these vacations that are closer to home. After all, the important thing is getting to spend the time with your family while getting away from the regular chaos of life. Even if all you can do is a mini-vacation, I encourage you to get away for a few days, spend some time with your family, and don’t stress and worry about the things that take up your time in the “real world.” Vacations rejuvenate you and make the rest of your ordinary life even better.

Making Memories in Sweetwater

Last Sunday, Jimmy, Nic, and I ventured to Sweetwater, TN, to spend the week with my brother and my nephew. My sister-in-law and my other nephew were going to a youth conference in Daytona, and my brother needed somebody to babysit while he continued to work during the week. The result? I ended up with an unplanned vacation, a week away to relax and not worry about anything. It was a great week.

After our nightmare on I-75 South on Jellico Mountain when we made our anniversary trip to Pigeon Forge, we found a detour and used that to head south. The detour did add some time to the trip, however, unlike in March when we spent over two hours on Jellico, moving six miles in two hours, I didn’t mind the extra time from the detour because at least we were always moving at a regular, normal rate of speed. Since I-75 North on Jellico isn’t really a problem, we didn’t use the detour coming home, but we did get a look at the slow, snail-like traffic heading south, and it actually brought back horrific flashbacks of our trip in March. I was thankful we chose to take the detour on that Sunday afternoon when we headed south. If any of you are going to be heading south and will be using I-75 through Jellico, I strongly recommend that you use the Internet and find a detour. Your trip will go smoother and you will still be sane when you arrive at your destination.

My nephew is almost ten, so it’s not like babysitting him was a lot of real work. He slept in, so I didn’t have to get up until between 9 and 10 each morning. I fed him breakfast and lunch. He played video games and watched TV, and every day, he chose a movie for us to watch after lunch: Monday – Toy Story 3, Tuesday – Shrek 2, Wednesday – Hoodwinked, Thursday – Ice Age, and Friday – Alvin and the Chipmunks.

I hadn’t seen Toy Story 3 yet. I kept putting it off. Everybody who had seen it and who knew me told me I would cry, so I had been avoiding it. As we watched the movie, the closer it got to the end, he kept watching. I’m proud of myself. I didn’t bawl, but he did notice that I did get teary-eyed. But I have a question. Really, who completely empties their kids’ rooms when they leave for college? Do they not plan for the kid to come home on weekends? Or Thanksgiving, Christmas, or summer breaks? It was totally unrealistic for Andy and his mother to be standing in a completely empty room, just because he was going off to college. My kids still have plenty of their stuff in their rooms, and they still use those rooms. Had the ending portrayed a more realistic point of view, I may have bawled. Since it didn’t, teary-eyed will have to do.

When we watched Hoodwinked, I told him I really liked that movie because it was a great illustration of point of view. We then started talking about things “literary,” which he did not enjoy. He pointed out that it was summer and we didn’t need to talk about school stuff during the summer. I told him I had let some of my students watch the movie and they had to do assignments based on the literary elements in the movie, and he thought that was awful. And he really wasn’t happy when I pointed out that all movies had things literary in them. From that point on, when I attempted to talk about things literary (which he called something like “literee” the first time he said it), he would cover his ears to let me know he didn’t want to hear it.

And later, he broke my heart. He did start by telling me he hated to break the news to me, but grammar stuff and English stuff were his least favorite things in school. Poor kid. My heart healed a little when he said that his favorite subject was history. I am, after all, a history minor, so even if he doesn’t like both my passions, at least he’s fond of one of them, so that’s something. The poor kid even tried to play games on my iPod, but he pointed out that all my games except for Fruit Ninja were grammar or word games, and he just wasn’t interested in those. He did become quite good at Fruit Ninja, though.

While he played, I accomplished a few things. One day, I got quite a bit done on my project. Another, I organized all the folders on my jump drive and fixed my blank calendars to get ready for the 2012-13 school year. I also found a couple great ideas that I’ll use for my classes this fall. During the rest of the time, I read a book and half of another. My AP kids will be thrilled to hear that I’m going to see if our librarian can get me a class set of the one I read so that they can also have the pleasure of reading it.

I’m not an NBA fan. I enjoyed watching Brandon play high school and college ball. I enjoy watching my niece Kayla play basketball. I enjoy watching the UK men’s team play ball. Other than, I’m not much for basketball. My nephew, however, watches a lot of different sports, and seems to have a favorite team for nearly all of them. Given that, we watched the NBA Finals games. His favorite team is the Heat, and his favorite player is Lebron, so Thursday night, he got to stay up late to watch the game, and it was fun to see him so excited that his team won the championship.

Even though for the most part, we just hung out at the house, the week flew by. We had a great, relaxing time while in Tennessee, but as with any traveling, there’s always the long drive home. I love to travel, but when it’s time to go home, I’m just ready to be home. By that time, there are two signs that make me extremely happy. The first is the big blue and white one that says, “Welcome to Kentucky.” About 2 1/2 to 3 hours later, I see the other, a smaller green one that says, “Breathitt County.” Regardless of what’s wrong with Breathitt County (and really, don’t all places have their problems?), it is home, and I’m always happy to return to it.

Things I Learned This Weekend

It’s a good thing we never get too old to learn. If we did, I might be in trouble, as I learned several new lessons this weekend.

1. I have the best husband in the world. On our trip to Sweetwater, I put the window down on the Explorer, and it would not go back up. We could hear the window motor humming away, trying its hardest to get that window to go back up, but it would not. The man did not complain one time, even though he was sitting by that window. And on Friday evening, it was rather chilly. Today’s trip back home was much better, the temperature reaching 82 degrees during the day, but I know sitting by that open window while traveling four hours could not have been fun.

2. I enjoy watching football. We were able to watch two youth games, one while waiting for my nephew’s game to start, and then my nephew’s game. Those kids played their little hearts out. My nephew was only in for one play during his game, but let’s just say he did an amazing job that one play. We were very proud of him. I should probably also give a shout out to the youth league cheerleaders. Let’s just say that in Sweetwater, TN, they take their youth football very seriously. The atmosphere was right up there with a Friday night high school game.

3. I have to be willing to let my kids go; they will be OK. I mentioned in my previous post that we had to drive two vehicles for the trip. Byron drove my car while I drove the Explorer. Byron had to leave for home earlier than I did because Theresa had plans for Sunday afternoon. I was nervous enough with him driving the four-hour trip with me in the lead, so just try to imagine my nervous level when he left at 9:30 this morning headed back to Jackson, with Theresa and Cody in tow, while Jimmy, Nic, and I hung out in Sweetwater a little bit longer. While I worried the entire time (hey, it’s just what I do), he did fine, and they made it home, with no problems at all, before I even left Sweetwater. I’ve come to accept that I’ll always have trouble with the letting go stuff, but it does make it a little easier when I can see that they will be fine without me there to monitor their every move.

4. The drive from Jackson to Sweetwater and back again is a better drive than the one from Jackson to Michigan and back again. I made several trips to Michigan to see my brother when he lived up there, but I’ll admit, I hated that drive. I-75 through Ohio is one of the most boring drives I’ve ever made. I appreciate those who farm, but mile after mile after mile of cornfields is almost more than I can stand. This weekend’s drive was rather relaxing (except for that whole window issue). The mountains were beautiful. The fall foliage was beautiful. The scenery was much more energizing than cornfield after cornfield.

I suppose if I’m honest with myself, I already knew all of these things, so maybe I didn’t really learn anything new after all. However, it doesn’t hurt to be reminded of the good things you already know every once in a while.