Life's Next Chapter: September 2018

CPS is back in full swing this week! Both kids are off to a great start. Lainey was a little disappointed she didn't get Ms. Daresh, but seems to like Ms. Sweeney, who is new to our school this year. Nick's only complaint is "the girls are mean and don't talk to the boys." But, he loves drinking chocolate milk at lunch. I've asked that he only get it every other day, but he says, "I'll try, but it's just soooooo good, Mom." Fair enough Nick. And, really, if reaping the benefit of the kids getting the school lunch means they drink chocolate milk every day, I can deal with that compromise. Best news of the week is both kids still get to see their summer camp besties, who go to different schools but are attending the Y after school program.

For extracurriculars, Nick is taking karate at the Y on Wednesdays. He had his first class and thought it was "awesome." Another boy from his kindergarten class is in it with him--I hope they don't start practicing on the playground! Lainey was supposed to take tennis, but again, the class was canceled, because she was the only one to sign up. She'll start ballet tomorrow (a new endeavor!) and is going to sign up for a basketball league that starts in October. We'll probably add in swimming at some point this fall, too. Gymnastics got the boot this year, but may be back in the mix if ballet doesn't pan out.

Here's to a happy and successful school year!

Laurel Falls

We hit the Smoky Mountains last week for our summer family vacation, and it was amazing! We stayed in Pigeon Forge, which is super touristy, but our cabin was about 15 minutes outside of the main area and very quiet and secluded. When we arrived Monday evening we were greeted by a black bear crossing our path! Very cool!

Mark and I went back-and-forth on how to structure the trip. Should we do the national park first? Or take the kids to the tourist trap fun or a water park first? In the end, the weather forecast decided for us and we did the park the first day on Tuesday. We weren't sure how the kids would take to hiking, but they LOVED it! Our main hike was to Laurel Falls, which took us about 2.5 hours round trip. Nick can be kind of wimpy about walking long distances, but not here. He was a champ! Both kids loved all the little spots to stop and climb and the "short cuts" off the paved path. They also had fun wading in the water by our picnic spot. We did the drive around Cade's Cove and got another black bear spotting as well as some wild turkeys. The full drive around is lengthy and the kids ended up nodding off, so Mark and I decided to push ahead and drive up to Clingman's Dome. The drive gave the kids another 40 minutes of sleep to refresh them for the climb to the top. Breathtaking! Afterward, we treated the kids to pizza and arcade time, where Lainey won her first of TWO Beanie Boos at the claw machine.

On Wednesday, we had an afternoon reservation to do a family float rafting trip on the lower Pigeon River, so we spent the morning on "amusement" activities including the Alpine Coaster and mini golf. We finished golf, just as the rain started for our drive out to the rafting outpost. It POURED when we got there, but luck was on our side and the sun came out just as we hit the water. The raft ride was pretty fun with some very small rapids to add a little excitement. Lainey did an awesome job paddling--I was impressed! That evening, we hit "The Island," which is an open air mall with a carnival in the middle. Bonus surprise was a free Everclear concert. Ha! The kids rode all the rides, did a trampoline with a harness and bungee cords, and Nick did a "tykes" low ropes course, while Lainey tried the high ropes course. Ultimately, she got freaked out after two obstacles. Mark bought a ticket and went up to try to help her through, but she was too far gone with panic. She made her way back down and the first thing she said to me was, "I'm so embarrassed." I gave her a big hug and assured her that she wasn't the first kid to get scared and wouldn't be the last. I also relayed the time I did a ropes course at the age of 12 and totally flipped my lid. Her spirits rebounded on the giant Ferris Wheel, before hitting another arcade, where Lainey won her SECOND Beanie Boo (and any blight the ropes course had put on her mood vanished). We came soooooo close to winning one for Nick--we had that monkey in the claw at least eight times--but it fell out every time. Womp, womp. But, Lainey let him have the majority of the tickets they won on other games, so he got a squishy monster thingamajig and was happy.

We ended up not getting home until 11:30 p.m. on Wednesday, so we took it easy Thursday morning with a big breakfast at the cabin, before heading back to the park. We started out on a hike to the Grotto Falls, but had to turn back when it started pouring rain. We really didn't mind the rain and were going to push on, but this trail wasn't paved and was steeper than the Laurel Falls trail, so Mark was worried about it being super slippery coming back down. Although we didn't make it to the falls, the rain did stop, and we were able to explore a few other stop offs. Before calling it a day, we appeased the kids with go carts, bumper cars, and bumper boats. So fun! We spent the evening at the cabin enjoying the hot tub and playing Sorry! on the deck while the sun set. A perfect way to end our time in Tennessee.

While we said farewell to the Smoky Mountains on Friday, our trip was not over! We were off to Kentucky for a final adventure at Mammoth Cave, which was a hit for us all, but possibly not as big of a hit as the fried chicken restaurant Mark found for dinner that night. It's called The Eagle, and I highly recommend it if you're ever in Louisville.

Saturday was the ride back to Chicago and the real world for us. While I wouldn't call this vacation relaxing, it was definitely restorative. Because we were so active and having so much fun, I was able to keep my brain turned off from all the day-to-day stress and to-do lists that usually run through my head. And since the kids proved to be such powerhouses on this trip, it has me excited thinking of all the possibilities for vacations to come. Truly, I haven't had so much fun in ages, and we built some really amazing memories.