CHRISTMAS IN TENNESSEE

Christmas in Tennessee 2012

Our trip to Tennessee this year began quite the same as our trip last year...

Last year on the day that we left, I got a call from daycare to tell me that Tyler was throwing up.  I then proceeded to begin the road trip with everyone safe in their carseats, me driving to Grinnell to pick up Lee, and Tyler throwing up in his carseat all over himself.  After getting Tyler all cleaned up in Grinnell, we kept on going to Iowa City.  We stayed at my mom's house for a little longer than we had planned to see how Tyler would end up and then left that night to take the 13 hour drive to Knoxville.  He ended up fine the rest of the trip, however it made the beginning of the trip really tough.

This year, Lee and I were woken up in the night to Tyler throwing up in bed early morning on the day that we were leaving.  After he had been cleaned up and new bed sheets on, Lee and I both went back to bed and both stated how we "couldn't miss work" that day.  We had already taken Friday and Monday off, we couldn't miss Thursday as well.  Well, since my job requires hours while there are students there and Lee's does not, he ended up going to work right then at 1:30 a.m. until 7:00.  He then came home, like an awesome Dad and Husband would, and stayed home with the boys on that Thursday while I went to work.  Turns out Tyler only threw up that once and then rested and laid low the rest of the day.  We took off as planned on that Thursday afternoon.  

We decided to drive first to Nashville to see Matt and Laura's new home.  The trip to Nashville was a 9.5 hour trip.  Not too terrible.  We arrived at 2:30 a.m. with the boys wide awake and ready to see Matt and Laura.  Thankfully, once they put their heads on their pillows, they were out and slept 'til about 7:00.  We were lucky enough to have 3 beds all in one room and a bathroom in the room as well.  We woke up and checked out the views of the lake, the cardinals at the windows, and their new, beautiful home.  We enjoyed a great, warm breakfast and time spent with Matt and Laura.  We were so happy that we got to squeeze that stop into our trip!  They have a new, beautiful place to call home and spend their (off-season) time as a family!

We all took off on Friday to make the trip to Knoxville.  Grandma Patty and Pops also made the trip down from Ohio.  While at Grandpa and Grandma Reynolds' home, the boys enjoyed running around with Matt and Mitch, playing with their new toys, being down on the dock, making a bon fire, playing up in the loft, and eating sweets. 

We left Knoxville on Sunday around 4:00 p.m. to travel the 13 hour drive back home.  It was a rough trip on Lee and I and I would have to say that it was probably the last "night drive" that we will do to travel to Tennessee.  It didn't help that Lee was sick the whole weekend and not really feeling up to anything, let alone driving through the night.  We ended up getting back home at 5:00 a.m. on Monday.  The boys, luckily, went back to sleep in their beds until 7:00.  Tyler had to go to school at 8:30, Lee went to the Doctor, and Brady and I went grocery shopping.  Tyler had a great morning at school, Lee found out he had strep throat, and it was nice being at the grocery store with just one kid!  Lee and I hardly slept on the drive home the night before--maybe an hour or two and then the two hours we got when we got home and into bed.  So, to say the least, we were both walking around like zombies!  However, since Lee had strep and got on an antibiotic, he pretty much spent the day on the couch.  When I got the boys down for their naps after lunch, I got back into the van to drive to West Des Moines to do the last of my Christmas shopping.  After finishing my shopping, I got back home shortly after the boys woke up from their naps.  We enjoyed a pretty low key evening together and all went to bed very early that night!