Mini Vacay

Several months ago, I signed up for this groupon vacation that was a romantic getaway for two in the mountains of Tennessee. I asked people to babysit for us and everything seemed just fine. Except that I just didn't feel good about it. Kip and I have had little getaways before and I've felt fine, but for whatever reason, this time just didn't sit well. So I asked the cabin woman if we could bring our kids. For $75 extra dollars we could, so we did. I still felt a little conflicted about this: was I going to become one of those people who can't ever leave her kids or nourish her marriage? Was this an obsessive compulsive mistake? I still can't answer that. I probably wouldn't have planned this particular vacation in this particular way as a family vacation, but we'd been wanting to take the kids to that part of the world for a while and this did sort of drive us to it.

Speaking of driving. The drive was six hours. I was dreading it, but it actually went well. Both ways.

The first night we were there, we checked in and went and got some dinner. This vacation had ended up costing us more than I'd anticipated (thanks fees and taxes; we love you; and that's what happens when you don't spend enough time reading fine print). So I had totally planned to make a bunch of cheap meals and just enjoy the cabin. But once there, I found that I wanted to try some of the local(ish) fare. The first night we went to a BBQ spot that was actually really delicious. The meat was awesome (and very plentiful) and we all just had a really good time. That night the kids played in the hot tub and then went to bed.

And then they whined and got out of bed. And complained about everything. Mark came down saying that he could hear people breathing. Yeah, well, that happens. And Kip and I were in a bedroom below and could hear every little creak and murmur. Emma kept talking/fussing in her sleep, which woke us and others up. At one point in the middle of the night, I went upstairs to see Savannah whack her in the face and tell her to be quiet. It wasn't my best moment of the trip.

Kip and I slept very little. The next morning, I was soooo exhausted and Kip was beyond that since he'd just come off his shift and only gotten maybe 4 hours of sleep the night before (we always expect to be able to sleep in the car, but that never happens--Note to selves: Always take the night off before a trip even if it seems you'll get plenty of rest.) So Kip slept in and I slumped around the house feeling very very grumpy and the kids argued and got in the hot tub. This was the worst part of the trip for me. The kids were watching stupid TV, Kip was sleeping, and I was exhausted and bored in the middle of this beautiful area of the country. I was afraid to take the kids anywhere because I had no idea where our cabin was or how to get back to it. Plus I didn't really want to go anywhere with all four kids in a weird place by myself when I was already in a bad mood. That whole morning, I kept thinking, "Why are we here? We can do better than this at home and it wouldn't cost $400." Then I started thinking about all the fun day trip things we could have done for $400 and that made me really really mad/upset. So, yes, it was good when Kip woke up and we actually left the premises.

We drove around looking for this hiking spot up to a waterfall and we couldn't find it and had the WORST MAP EVER. It was a "hiking map" but didn't show any of the roads that went to any of the trails, so you had really no idea how to get to anything at all. Finally we found the road and the path. And let me say--it was totally worth it. The hike was a challenge for the kids, but the right amount of challenge and they did just fine. And they had so much fun at the waterfall. We got in the water and just had a great time. For most of them, this was the highlight of the trip.

There were a bunch of people around and a ton of them would just offer to take our picture. It was really nice. We got several family pic's on this hike. 

There were warnings not to litter all over the place with the threat of bears (very effective btw; I saw almost no litter). The kids really wanted to see a bear, but this was the closest we got. We're guessing a bear scratched this tree. What do you think?

Also, the weather was very good. It was humid, but mild. We were never dying of heat or anything. It was great for hiking.

After hiking, we were starving and decided to eat out once again. We went to this pizza place and when I saw the prices (which weren't crazy, but weren't the spaghetti dinner I had back at the cabin either). But then the pizzas were actually completely delicious and I didn't regret going there at all.

That night there was more play in the hot tub and then a wonderful downpour. The kids watched a show on TV and Kip played his guitar on the porch and it was a really nice time.

This time when we put the kids to bed, we gave them a bribe and a threat: candy the next day if they didn't wake us except in emergency. And if they did wake us without an emergent reason, we said we would never ever take them on a just-for-fun trip again--that Mommy and Daddy would go alone and get a babysitter for them. And, boy, I meant it too. They slept much better that night.

The next morning, we needed to sign out and then hiked up to an old farmstead that supposedly had a little spring by it. This was a much easier hike and a much less peopled one (there were tons of people at the waterfall hike). It was beautiful and the old farmstead was completely awesome. There was this old family cemetery and an old barn and an old house and a spring (which was tiny and disappointing for Mark, but had salamanders in it, so Kip was really excited). We saw salamanders, a toad, a snake, a dead snake, and maybe some other stuff too that I can't remember.

On the way back, Mark really wanted to get into this big creek at the side of the path, but each spot he liked seemed too dangerous, so they kept getting vetoed. And then it started to rain, so we got in the car and headed to Gaitlinburg. It is a touristy little place that looks cool at first. Until you get out of the car and realize that all the shops are the same shops with the same stuff that you see at every little touristy place in the universe. And it's probably all made in China. And the workers arent' cute little small business owners, but less cute minimum wage workers who don't care that much about stuff. Kip let me and the kids out at a (very disappointing) candy shop while he went to look for a free parking spot (ha). Which he didn't find, so we got back in and decided to head home. I did not regret not paying for parking for the tourist crap. But I did regret not getting a decent lunch. We ended up lunching on these PBJ's made with nasty bread and nasty Goober Strawberry (PB and jam swirled in the same jar), which we thought would be fun for the kids, but tasted so gross, I can't quite believe it was that awful (it's just PBJ--how much can you mess it up?). Then we got these day old Cinnabuns from a gas station that have most likely turned me off of Cinnabuns for the rest of my life because they were beyond gross--like had this nasty booger like cinnamon stuff in them that makes me feel a little nauseous to think about even now.

Anyway, the drive home was good. And it was a pretty good trip overall, though Kip and I are still looking for a night away sometime because you just can't have a romantic vacation with your four kids even after they go to bed. Doesn't work. But I'm glad we went and I'm even glad we brought our kids (though I would have done the vacation a little differently if I'd originally planned it with them in mind).

When we got home our refrigerator was warm. It was, btw, a year and a month old. Yup. I still need to write a nasty review for Maytag. The freezer was still frozen though and the fridge was pretty bare because we'd just left for a trip, so all things considered, our losses were small. And a repairman came the next day and replaced the freezer fan and now all is good. (But Maytag should be seriously seriously ashamed of themselves.)