We had a great 4 days spent down in Tennessee. 2 days spent with Grandma, Grandpa, Mitch, and Sarah in Knoxville and 2 days spent with Matt and Laura in Mt. Juliet.
Our drive down to Tennessee was extremely long, frustrating, and just terrible. Our 12 hour drive from Iowa City to Knoxville ended up taking us 15 1/2 hours. The first half of the drive went smoothly, with the 2nd half filled with rain (downpour/monsoons) and lots of backed up traffic.
When we finally arrived, it felt great to relax on a couch and shortly after, head to bed!
Our first stop of the day, we got out and did some stretches and exercises! Too cute! It’s such a long drive, it’s good for all of us to get out every 2-3 hours to stretch.
We stopped for lunch and played at a park. This was much needed!
This is what the last 10 1/2 hours of our drive looked like—if not worse.
Around dinner time, the rain was coming down so hard that we decided it was best that we just stop and take a long break for dinner. We ended up deciding on Old Chicago for a large pizza and some pop (and a couple glasses of wine for mama!).
It’s amazing how young they start! Here’s my 3 boys all staring up at sports on TV in the bar.
My Brady and I. It was a good stop! We all felt much better after food and were ready to finish up the drive.
Saturday morning Grandpa took the boys on an “early morning cruise” on the jet ski. The boys LOVE the jet ski!
We all had plenty of relaxation!
Lee took a little nap out on the front porch while the kids were playing on the tennis courts.
The kids relaxing on the back deck, playing on an I-Pad, and waiting for dinner.
My relaxation on the back deck.
We always enjoy going over to the neighbor’s house to swim in the pool and jump off the diving board. We are so thankful that they let us do this! This year I tried to teach Tyler how to dive off of the diving board. He did very well and tried his best! We will keep practicing.
Lee and Tyler going out for a cruise on the jet ski.
Tyler helping Grandpa drive the boat. Both boys got lots of driving time on Grandpa’s & Uncle Matt’s boats in the 4 days. They love it!
This year we used the tennis courts a lot. Tyler loves to play basketball and Brady enjoyed trying to play tennis.
Lee went wake boarding and did awesome! I think the kids were impressed with their Dad!
Grandma and Brady watching Lee wake board.
Both kids also loved the tube. After Brady’s first try (and dump into the water) we realized he wasn’t big/heavy enough to go by himself, so always required a rider to go with him. Either way, they enjoyed every ride on the tube!
Selfie with my boys.
Brady was always wanting to go fishing!
Sooo many jet ski rides!
Lee and I enjoying Lake time.
Brady and Lee relaxing on the tube and catching some rays.
After 2 fun days on Grandma and Grandpa’s lake, we enjoyed 2 more fun days on Matt and Laura’s lake. Matt and Laura just bought a boat a month ago, so we were all excited to be with them on their lake and on their boat! Matt gave his arm a workout by throwing the kids up in the air and into the lake. This is their absolute favorite thing to have done to them when in water!
Another selfie of the boys and I. Brady was in tears and needing Mommy cuddle time. Love my boys!
A couple great ways to end the trip!
We stopped at a Marina and ducks immediately swam over to get some food. So….the boys fed them and loved it!
While we were on Matt and Laura’s lake, Lee spent a lot of his time trying to catch a turtle. Well…when he went out on Wednesday morning to pack our van, there was a turtle right out by the back of our van! And he was not happy with Lee for picking him up!
The ride home was a breeze compared to the ride down. We already had 2 hours knocked off of our drive, since we were driving from the Nashville area, not Knoxville. Nashville is 2 hours closer to home! Everything went great on the way home. The kids were troopers once again and it seemed that they were tired enough that sitting in their seats watching movies was just fine with them.
While Lee was napping, using Tyler’s pillow, Tyler then gave Lee the rest of his stuffed animals to cuddle with. He’s got Blaze (the Stuffie), the VBS snake, and Sparky (the Build-a-Bear). It was pretty cute!
Hanging out, watching movies, and ready to see CALI and LUCY!
These kids talked about their dogs with me at bed time a lot while we were away. They love their girls and were so excited to get to Grandma Mary’s to see them!
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