"The Most Important Thing is Family" – Walt Disney
Author: Brittany Esry
I'm a mom to Bennett Wayne, obsessed with my hound dogs, loves God, family and her husband! I enjoy gardening, sports, my hammock and some occasional trash TV!
For quite a while now I’ve been wanting to go to Opening Day at Bennett Spring and this year we finally made it happen! To me, it was my little birthday trip and later this year we’ll go to all 3 trout parks in 1 day for Daniel’s 🤞 It was our 1st trip without Bennett and in hindsight I think it was probably good for all of us, even if it caused me tons of anxiety leading up to it. Anyway, we’ve been to Bennett multiple times; however, opening day is like a whole new ball game! Yet at the same time some of the usual events didn’t take place like I was hoping to – no opening day chili at the fire house. So without further ado, here’s all the things for the mems!
On the way down we made a stop at Central Dairy and they no longer have our favorite ice cream of Texas Pecan. And then they ended up being out of Butter Pecan, and Mint Chocolate Chip.
Central Dairy in Jefferson City 🍦
The 1st night we were there we heard from the “part time” locals that people start arriving and setting up on the bridge at 3AM and even earlier 😳 Yaa… that’s a no, the fish are gunna be there all year.
Sooo… morning comes and wow! Parking is insane! People are parking literally just about anywhere. Law enforcement of all sorts are thick, yet I never saw anyone get questioned. We check everywhere out as we both decided this morning is just for being nosy & taking everything in. At the store I ask where the honorary person (Warren Valenti) would be shooting off the gun (honorary starter/whistleblower) and was told they’d be doing it at the Whistle Bridge, so we head that way. When there, I knew that wouldn’t be the case as there were no one there with cameras, looking in charge, people without poles or anything. We ask others in the area about it and they didn’t know there was ever such a thing but every single one of them said they’ve been at opening day since (insert year). Matter of fact, hardly anyone we met on this whole trip fished there during the year besides on opening day. Is that what one would call “band wagon fans” but in the fish world? Anyway, come to find out they started the season off at the Nature Center… yet it wasn’t advertised. So missed that.
Morning continues, it’s soo cold! I say how neat & beneficial it’d be for the park to set up little campfires or at least light all the bbq grills to put out some heat (also think how pretty that’d be!). I then hear that Roaring River has fire pits everywhere. When we come back to actually fish on opening day, we’ll be sure to bring (& wear) headlamps (at least), bring a heater(s)/buddy heater and definitely more clothes as it was brutually cold! I even purchased a new sweatshirt while there just to wear a 3rd hoodie altogether one day. Probably our chairs too. There were so many people with propane heaters set up all around them.
As soon as the whistle (siren) blows, the fish are literally like a bunch of hungry piranhas that are feasting on a buffet as though they’ve been hibernating all winter and on a diet during the Summer, too. The trout are literally just jumping out of the water everywhere and people are shoulder-to-shoulder putting their lines in the water with little to no effort and bringing in fish. Their getting their limits as fast as you’re trying to spit out that bite of a filled donut that you thought was just plain. At one point I hear some kind of electrocuting noise, we each turn to our right and some dude has his taser and zapped the piss out of his fish. Instantly, he caught the stares and said something and I just dropped my jaw saying, “woowww, well that’s definitely one way to do it” and he just laughed 😆 Mind you, it’s still dark out, so you could see every color of his little taser sparks…
Morning of opening day; before & after the whistle.
Alright, alright.. here’s just some random things I don’t want to forget about.
We stayed at Sand Spring. We’ve stayed there many times before. We also have a camper, but frankly we weren’t ready to get er’ ready for the year yet. SO the big question is, how did we get a room there? Sand Spring is a place that on Opening Day, the same people has stayed in the same rooms for 15, 20, 30+ years. I can’t help but to wonder whose room we “took”, did they pass away or what. 😬 So, shoutout to Room 114! From the Grandma car neighbors and their feral talks, to our see-through curtains that we had to manipulate 😑 Still only love for Sand Spring though!
Photoshoot with the resorts cat, Oreo
We found new flies on this trip that we both absolutely love – of course they were from Weavers 🫶
However, it might take me a while before I can use them again because I have to get a new fly rod & reel now as I broke mine, in half… I may need to teach myself how to open and close the back window of the truck better 🤷♀️ Let’s be real though, I now need one, but Daniel will find a way to get himself a new one too and then Bennett will follow suit and have to have one as well.
Even the store 🐸 was ready for St. Patrick’s Day☘️
Since this was the 1st time we went down to Bennett without him, he wanted us to bring him something back. Whew! It is super hard to surprise Bennett with anything when he owns everything that’s down there. We brought him back a sticker and a notepad… 😅
We had breakfast at the Dining Lodge and dinner both nights at the Gravel Bar! 🤤 However, I really did want breakfast at Wildoaks but they were closed Night #2 at the Gravel Bar was karaoke night and it was a trip! Some of our favorite people we met this trip were Matt with the roofing business, Todd from Illinois and his fertilizer sales and his buddy who’s a Mormon married to his 1st wife’s cousin (not in a weird way either!)
It’s nothing like the old bar, but the food it’s still our favorite and the service is great like always!
We found out the Swiss Inn (one of our favorite places in Lebanon) cleans/turns off their ice cream machine on the weekends so on Monday’s they only offer shakes, so there went our favorite spot of getting an avalanche for the ride home.
The park is putting in a walking trail. Which will be real nice when Bennett and I go on our walks, bike rides and trips to the park. But it’s confirmed, the Park Store no longer carries our favorite snack/lunch… Cheese Pleasers. Luckily the Florida gas station at home has them now but they don’t seem as enjoyable having them here locally.
Welp, until next time. Opening Day at Bennett Spring is like Deer Camp, turned Fish Camp – that’s been going on since the 1930’s ✌️
Recently, Bennett participated in his very first competitive soccer tournament, Show-Me State Games. At 6½ years old, and with only two rec seasons under his belt, he stepped into something much bigger than anything he’s done in soccer so far.
While he absolutely loves the sport, it’s definitely not the only thing filling his schedule. Between weekly horse riding lessons, starting 8U Midget League baseball, 4-H, camps, swim lessons, VBS and just being overall busy – his soccer journey has been pretty light so far. We did Little Kickers when he first turned 3 (a fun little donation to the MASA program, really), took a 2-year break, and only just finished his second-ever rec season this Spring. So, to jump from there straight into a competitive team and tournament was a big leap, and one that he handled with so much joy, energy, and curiosity.
My only goal/hope for him was to score a goal that weekend. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen, but ultimately, he had fun, got to play with his friends, got to face teams who’ve been playing together for years and soaked in the experience like a sponge. He learned. He grew. And as a parent, I couldn’t ask for more than that really.
E. Appling, B. Esry, S. McDowell, K. Wolfe, N. Reisenauer, H. Dennis, T. Shahan, A. Scrogin, B. SwartzBennett got to be captain for this game!Cute action video!
That said, that weekend did make me pause and reflect a bit. Growing up playing in the Show-Me games myself, I remember such a sense of excitement; signage, energetic volunteers, and a buzz in the air. This time, it felt… “different”. No signs, no numbered fields (just a confusing online map), and little to no presence or direction from event staff. I’m not even sure if there were a Headquarters location or not. The field paint was extremely faded, the grass was only mowed on the fields (not surrounding them), and Bennett even fell in a hole that was hidden by the taller grass while walking to one of his games.
This isn’t a complaint or a call to action, just an honest reflection and a little time capsule for myself and for Bennett to remember where it all started. I’m grateful these tournaments still exist and that families can share in the experience, even if the atmosphere isn’t quite what it once was. Because at the end of the day, the heat, the challenges, and even the imperfections were part of something memorable.
This was the start of something – spark. And one day when we’re looking back at where it all began, we’ll remember this first “big” tournament: that large field, the insane amount of time spent on defense, the laughs with friends, and the proud parents watching it all unfold.
Pics below of when Show-Me did such a thing I suppose. It’s what I took the time to find 🤷♀️
Standing: Bethany (Swindell) Kelly, Shawn (Beard) Pallardy, Kassi Kreek, Brittany (Price) Esry – aka me, Brynn (Stansberry) Mellon. Front Row: Leslie Grothoff & Bailye (Stansberry) ColbertA lot to list here! Back Row: Coach Mark Swindell, Rachael (Schmidt) Fletcher, ? can’t tell for sure but I think Alexis Gregory, Leslie Grothoff, Andie Weisner, ^Coach Westhues, Kady Davis, Shawn (Beard) Pallardy, ^Coach Mike Schmidt, Shannon (Dickerson) Stevens, Blair (Haskamp) Lucas, ?unsure?, myself. Front Row: Jessi Schmidt, Shaylyn (Cooksey) McCollough, Kennedy (Seifert) ???, Brynne (Stansberry) Mellon, Kassi Kreek, Bailye (Stansberry) Colbert, Bethany (Swindell) KellyCoach Eric Davis. Back Row: Shelby (Hutchison) Campbell, Katie Macomber, Amy (Hudson) Books, Blair (Haskamp) Lucas, Lacey Spicer (I think), Brynne (Stansberry) Mellon, Maura Lee. Front Row: Shawn (Beard) Pallardy, Kady Davis, Andrea (Jorgensen) Johnston, Alicia Gatts, Brittany (Price) Esry, Bailey (Stansberry) ColbertIt took a good while typing out everyone’s name so to make this quick.. the new faces here would be Jesi Gamble, Eryn (Fusselman) Buckner and Alicia Copas.
Okay y’all, I finally did it – I pushed myself to write this blog post about our recent trip to the Kansas City Zoo. It’s been on my mental to-do list to write this since we pulled out of the parking lot, but life has a way of… life’in, you know? Sooo.. who’s “our”, my cousin & I and our kids! When did we take this trip you ask? June 25th ✌️
But, anyways, I couldn’t skip this one, or keep a tiny blurb in the drafts section forever, because this zoo was that good. Everything we did, saw and what was there was top-notch! This Zoo is for kids, adults out on a date, or even an elderly couple wanting something to do. Here’s what made the day ‘extra’ special:
Bottom right picture is a Bennett Wallaby.
🎟️ “Admission” Was a Deal
We paid $11 each (kids under 2 were free). I know, I know.. the St. Louis Zoo is free, but this zoo is pretty different in my opinion. And for those that pay to park at the STL zoo, that’s quite silly too! Anyway, our admission included:
Unlimited tram rides
The tram trailer also had a trailer hitched on the back that was wheelchairs, strollers and other such things and it was simply, genius! It allowed you to not have to fold your stroller up or take anything out of it OR leave it behind afraid of the unknown.
Access to the sky ride (though you must be 36” to ride—Brae just missed it)
The train(we ended up not having any time to do this)
And the carousel
We didn’t ride them all, but having the option made it feel like a steal.
🐧 Animal Fun Was Priceless
We fed birds that landed on us (yes, really!) – also free. It felt like the zoo was just handing out fun.
Petting the stingrays was included—that was kinda surreal in the best way! We’ve done this at the STL Zoo before and let me just stop you right now. This blog is not comparing the 2 whatsoever. Maybe some glimpse are, but really I was just that taken back by how neat the KC Zoo was and I couldn’t believe that at my age, I’ve never been there before. Regardless, when we did it at STL Zoo, it came with the ticket we purchased to get all the added experiences like the; sea lion show, train ride, 3D movie, etc.
I absolutely loved this & thought it was so fascinating!
💧 Stayed Hydrated Easily & More!
You can bring your own water bottle, and the restaurants there will fill it up for free!
There was also water fountains throughout and soda machines with the water feature on it that were available for zoo customers to use to fill their own water bottles up with!
Misters scattered throughout the zoo kept us cool and fun for the kids.
The animal chats that they advertise are more like mini shows and absolutely superb — truly educational and entertaining!
The Zoo’s walkways are wide and uncrowded, making it relaxing and not overstimulating.
There were quarter machines with camel food to send down shoots for the camels! Soo interactive!
🅿️ Perks We Didn’t Expect
The Zoo’s map had so much handy information on it, but one of the things I appreciated the most as a parent and as a Special Education Teacher was that it included tol you exactly what each food establishment at the Zoo had to serve, so there was no reason to be discouraged, having to guess or having to make numerous stops and leave disappointed.
A QR code was available for everyone at the park that let’s you track which animals were out, even if they were hiding near a rock, when their feeding times were, etc. This was absolutely amazing because then you knew first hand if it was worth walking across the Zoo to them OR if you would be getting any extra interaction by going to their exhibit.
Animatronic dinosaurs that move and roar. 👦 My kid loved checking each one off a little pamphlet that they gave to us at the entrance!
Parking was free.
Even though construction was happening in the giraffe exhibit, it didn’t interfere at all with the overall experience of the Zoo.
We didn’t even make it to the aquarium because there was that much stuff to do there and we purposely planned it to make as much sense and not waste time as much as possible too. I’d say there will have to be another trip in the future at some point!
Bennett finally getting to see a Red Panda in REAL life! He has a stuffy of one of these that he named, ‘Red’ from the STL Zoo when we attended Boo at the Zoo in 2024!
“If you’re looking for a real take on why this day was such a hit – here it is; thought provoking layout, awesome animal encounters, clever little touches, and totally worth the cost!”
One of our favorite animal encounters at the zoo was with Rufus 36-year-old male Bornean orangutan. Unfortunately we later saw on the Zoo’s facebook page that Rufus had passed away due to medical reasons. Be sure to click on the link provided to read more on this and check out the photo below that I provided from our trip. I have an adorable video of the kids too, but WordPress isn’t letting me upload any of them on this Blog… Dangit!
Alright, alright… I’ll make a Christmas blog already! It’s only been on my to-do list for a couple weeks now 🤦♀️ life is just life’in ya know!
My Christmas cowboy 🥰
Anyway, nothing to gloat about, just simply a little update on our lives and what we did in 2024. Hope you enjoy and nothing is listed in any specific order. Merry Christmas everyone!
We got a camper this summer and simply put… we’re in love but in typical camper lifestyle fashion, I’m already wanting a bigger one!
On one of our fishing/camping trips at Bennett Spring this year 🎣
Daniel recently got a monster buck! 16 points, scoring 201! He’s now on his 22nd year (come March 2025) at Butler Supply and continues to umpire on the side, too.
As for me, I’m on my 4th year teaching 6th grade Special Education at the Moberly Middle School and earlier this year I got my Masters in Special Education. This year I also decided to represent the Student Council organization at work.
Bennett started kindergarten this year and has Mrs. Rowan 🫶 He also attends Central Christian Youth Group and absolutely loves it He began horse riding lessons too and I’m truly not sure who loves it more; him or I! And as of October, he’s in 4H 🍀 and of course we spent a lot of time swimming this Summer and at Boots Farm this Fall.
This Fall we sold our small business on wheels, Tenleigh’s Mobile Bar. It seemed that soo many people were surprised that we even contemplated selling it but at the end of the day, our family comes first and we were simply just TOO busy! What a great problem to have, right? Only we didn’t want to keep giving up all our free time for it to continue running and I was past the point of telling client “no”.
Bennett played soccer, baseball and basketball this year. And boy does he love it but he really can’t wait for this Spring to get his own turkey! He’s a little country boy through and through that just happens to be currently getting raised on Gratz Brown. But hey.. we have a new front porch now thanks to Daniel and a friend/neighbor of ours!
At Anakeesta in Gatlinburg 🎄
In August, Ethan proposed to his girlfriend since middle school, Avery. They plan to wed in May 2025. Ethan has just 1 semester left of school at MU and stays busy with his studies, work, friends and his church.
Katy Trail proposal 💍
We went to Gatlinburg over Thanksgiving break and adored it! While I keep thinking about it and looking places up there as it’s just so beautiful and the mountains are stunning, I really don’t think we need to go back – at least not anytime soon. I always say if we were to move somewhere, I’d want to go to Lebanon as a practical move to be close to Bennett Spring and Daniel always envies those who have big hunts right out their back doors in the West! Anyways, I could see myself living in this part of Tennessee I don’t know, maybe not because I said the same thing about Eureka Springs after we vacationed there too 🤷♀️
I went and watched Wicked at the Moberly B&B Theatres a couple weeks ago and went into it with no expectations (which I recommend everyone do the same), although I had heard some very mixed reviews. I also have I ever seen it on Broadway. However, I already knew the more popular/known songs, as well as having a love for musicals. As soon as the movie started, my mind is just racing (while also struggling to keep up) of all the pure amazing’ness that was happening before me. So, eventually I started taking some notes that has now transposed into what you are reading now… a blog on Wicked!
SIDE NOTE: My notes are in no particular order or of significance.
First off.. the foreshadowing, empathy & mental health in this movie was freaking superb… phenomenal!
Wicked was originally published as a novel in 1995 and became a musical in 2003 (per the Google). While the Wizard of Oz made its first debut on American television in 1939. Why is Wizard of Oz spoken in a blog about Wicked you ask? Welllll they go hand-in-hand! Also, it appears the movie was filmed in London.
While I had all the time in the world to go see this movie on a Sunday afternoon, I had not done any of my research going into it, because it is 2 hours and 40 minutes long! That’s not even counting in the ads and commercials prior or the big bombshell… the fact that this is only the FIRST part of the Wicked movie! At this time, part 2 is not to be released until November 2025
OK, back to the actual movie here… so, it started with a dream. No not Tenleigh’s Mobile Bar… I’m meaning the Wizard of Oz…. It was all a dream – I used to read Word Up! Magazine (haha.. sorry, couldn’t help myself). The dream then leads us into so much.. umm… LIFE?! I don’t know, but Wicked nonetheless! And then… “CUT!”… we are now welcomed with this beautiful opening of hummingbirds playing the bells. OK Wicked… show off!
At one point in the movie, it talked about how the books and that some are “medium rare”. HILARIOUS! I absolutely loved the library and the circular part with ladders. It totally reminded me of a hamster wheel and the dancing guys in it reminded me of the Chim Chim Cher-ee scene in Mary Poppins and maybe a little mix of High School Musical too.
Ariana Granda plays Glinda in the movie and at first, she instantly reminded me of Legally Blonde with a mix of the Barbie movie
The University is called Shiz. I couldn’t find much about the reasoning of it being called this, not even on Reddit. The only thing I could find is that it resonated with Snoop Dog saying fo shizzle my nizzle, but personally I can’t find the connection.
At the party scene it was a little ‘Grease’ and ‘Thriller’ like…
The movie totally gives me a steam punk, mixed with a Tesla versioned Polar Express movie and with a mix of the Disney World Monorail
There was one scene in the movie where they are in the woods and it was sooo enchanting, reminding me of our recent vacation in Gatlinburg, at Anakeesta.
Emerald City, is real life, totally reminds me of Whoville from the movie How the Grinch Stole Christmas!
All the people in the green shirts totally reminded me of the Oompa Loompas in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
The costumes in this movie are superb! I mean, out of this world good!
The Oz instantly reminded me of the old show on Nickelodeon called Hidden Temple
When they opened the book of lost language, the way it lit up is like a scene in the new movie Moana 2 but also a slight version of like religious tongues. Also, it gave me the sense of a spell book, like from the movie, Hocus Pocus. Like was this on purpose?
This movie helped us figure out how the flying monkeys transpired as they were the “eyes in the sky”, as though they are the spies
The Wizard annndddd the head of the college (Madame Morrible) is why people are turning against animals. Whhhaaattt!!!?!?!?!
I think all the talking animals remind me of the movie Shrek and the nurturing nannie bear at the beginning is like the Bernstein bears
When she gets the letter to go to Oz, it instantly reminded me of the Santa Claus movie when they get their cookie
Now… unfortunately we are left with a big cliffhanger in this movie as we never find out why Glinda and Elphaba aren’t friends anymore
Is the Wizard actually Elphaba’s dad? Also, don’t forget I’ve never seen the actual play of Wicked, so if the answer is obvious, please go ahead and spill the beans to me – LOL! Trust me, I’m fine, when I’m reading a good book, I typically google the ending and then continue on because I simply can’t contain my excitement!
Where does Wicked actually fall in the timeline of Wizard of Oz? I’m guessing a prequel with a mix of in between stuff some?
Were all the songs from the movie original to the play?
Does the song Dancing Through Life make you think of the song Love is an Open Door from Frozen?
Amazing Quotes:
She said.. “Look – It’s tomorrow!” lol
“I’m tired of playing by the rules of somebody else’s game.”
“Make Shiz proud!”
“You always have to have a villain to bring folks together.”
“I hope you’re happy in the end!”
To conclude, I’m blessed the Moberly theatres now has comfy chairs for such a long movie annndddd don’t forget… this is only part 1.
Lastly, I want to leave you with this realization that some may not have caught on to… this is the same person. Well, not in real life, but amongst the 2 movies. Sooo… now introducing… Nessarose, also known in the Wizard of Oz as the Wicked Witch of the East.
Word to the wise. Before you start reading this blog, I do want to warn you that there is cursing in it, yucky stuff, embarrassing moments and some explicit, vulgar type words. So it’s your choice whether you move on from here or not.
OK, so you know all those scenarios & stories where people say “ohh that’s too hard to believe” and you swear up and down that it’s true but they still don’t really believe you. Yaaa… I got one of them and it happened just this week! Heck, it was just tonight who am I kidding!
Alright let’s set the mood… no! We ain’t getting freaky like that, I just want to help paint the picture for you.
So while we were out on Thanksgiving break, we went to Gatlinburg. During part of that trip, Daniel didn’t feel great and as soon as we got home it worsened and he missed his family Thanksgiving and most of his remaining time off. You soo don’t have to feel bad for him though because as soon as he felt decent enough to go out in the woods, he killed a monster 16-point buck scoring 201 points non-typical. Ok, back to this evenings programming. This past weekend I start a little cough, more annoying than it even was bothering me and my body kinda ached but nothing that stood out to me as alarming. So on Sunday I go to the movies to see Wicked at 3pm (stay tuned for a future blog of that 😍) and man oh man… my body was getting even more achy but I chalked it up to the fact that while the theatre seats are super nice, being stuck in them for a 2 hour and 40 minute movie plus all the commercials and ads prior can really make ya uncomfortable and restless. So I’m back home now and within a couple hours or so… wo! Hello there body… you freaking hurt and I immediately felt like shit and had a fever of 101. Sorry Ashley for not informing you, I’ve felt like poo and have been doing nothing. Hope you’re not sick! So, I stay up until 4:45am and back awake around 7am. I’m miserable for 2 days, off from work. My cough is now a painstaking bark (hey.. my dad didn’t name me Brittany for nothing, my Papaw even gave me the nickname of Little Bird Dog), I can only manage to scoot my feet to move it seems, the chills and sweats were like the devil and angel on my shoulders going at it nonstop only they looked like these emojis.. 😡 vs. 🥶 I have zero energy, no appetite and my head hurts and insomnia through the roof!
Finally on Tuesday night I’m like I can’t take this anymore and I go to Urgent Care where I was very well taken care of and got a steroid shot and 2 antibiotics. Wednesday I stay home as I’m still not good. Thursday I’m back at work after only falling asleep at 3am and up at 6:30am (I told you the insomnia is insane from those steroid shots) and I’m honestly feeling soo much better, just a slightly more deeper voice and hacking crap up but I’m forever grateful to get this infection out of me!
After school today, Bennett had youth group and his last practice for tomorrow’s Christmas Program that he’s been preparing for maybe a couple months (or less) now?! Daniel had a work dinner at 6 and I stayed after work to feel better about things and get more caught up after being out for 3 days so Daniel gets Bennett from church and brings him to me at work where he hangs with me for about an hour and a half until we go home for the night.
On the way home we went over what we were going to be doing when we got there as umm oops.. it’s way later than I even realized and normally we have supper eaten by 5:30pm. So I tell Bennett that he’ll get in the shower while I fix our late supper, I’ll pack his lunchbox for tomorrow, gotta check his temp again, read a book and then go to bed. Only this plan quickly changed…
You see, the one part I forgot to mention right before this is that all this week, Bennett has been coughing and last night it seemed as though it had gotten worse (deeper, more consistent, and even while he was sleeping). We’d been checking him for a fever all the time too, just to make sure it wasn’t anything else. He’d also been getting cough meds every morning and night. Well since last night concerned me more I reached out to our school Clarity Health for him to be seen and since they couldn’t get to him today, I had the school nurse so kindly listen to his lungs. I just wanted to be sure this cough wasn’t turning into anything worse. Turns out… lungs were all clear but he had a low grade temp of 99.1 but she said he had just gotten done dancing around at recess in the gym so he could have just been warm from that.
We get home. It’s 17° out, he’s taking forever getting out of the car and my precious MIL found me Bennett’s Santa Christmas paper and left it at our backdoor, but I didn’t know she ended up finding something, nor bringing it by so now my hands are full of all the things and I’m trying to find a way to hide this new, awesome Santa paper from Bennett.
Ok, scene! 🎬 Change setting! We’re inside the house now and I’m getting Bennett set up to shower, I noticed his body felt extra warm like and that I needed to cut his toenails after his shower. Now, for whatever reason the two hours he was just at work with me and the heat was excessively blaring, he never took his winter coat off. So I thought ok I was planning to follow up with checking your temperature tonight anyway, let’s just do it now and it reads 100.04. Nooowww.. even though this thermometer is fairly new, just yesterday Daniel was saying he thought it already needed a new battery because it was all finicky but he probably just didn’t have the patience with it last night to let it think 🤦♀️ Also all week and tonight, Bennett has been adamant that he feels fine and even told the nurse that at school today as we keep checking in with him because of my sickness and his cough. Obviously, if he’s actually sick, I don’t want him in his Christmas program for tomorrow but if he’s OK, then they need a Joseph because Mary doesn’t need to be anymore single than she kinda already is 🤷♀️ well luckily he doesn’t have any speaking parts but my heart just aches because I want to see him as sweet Joseph and sing the carols with his friends.
Ok so Bennett gets in the shower and of course per par for Bennett, he’s upset and worked up about being sick and having a fever. Heck, I don’t blame him because who likes being sick, but he does get a little carried away with it.
Alright, as the night continues to unfold, I’m making him a plate for dinner. At this point I’m not cooking us the same meal, it’s just eating something that fills you up. Buutttt somewhere along this process… you ready for it? It’s quite vulnerable and embarrassing to say but hey… it is what it is and right now I’m just grateful to not be near as sick as I was earlier this week and I’m glad the meds are getting this infection of bronchitis out of my body and welllll, ya know… I had to of shat myself in the process some and I was already worked up and running around like crazy and whatever it should just be a little bit. And in full transparency my jeans had stretched out extremely already at the waist and now that I’m home I don’t give 2 shits and they are straight baggy and only my hips are holding them up so in my defense I have nothing hardly even touching my butt at this point besides my lose underwear because dangit sometimes those are just comfy. Could I have changed once I got home, yeah, but I wanted to quickly shower after Bennett and then change because that only made the most sense.
So Bennett is out of the bathroom now, I finally go to check my shit out.. literally and figuratively and Lordy… good thing I kept my cheeks closed because that could have been a legit mess, but ohhh does it get better! I’ll let you continue this next portion by reading my screenshots with my mom and Daniel.
And in between some of this group text convo where Daniel is indulging on Lulas scrumptious boiled shrimp, I call my mom slightly frantic-like because the water isn’t just coming up and out the top of the toilet, I see it coming out between the bottom of the toilet and the floor and now it’s all flowing in the kitchen, from where I don’t know and while I feel I have decent survival, independent skills I truly did not know how to turn the water off as I didn’t even know where it was coming from!
So here’s Bennett lounging on the couch all bummy like trying to eat his dinner, I’m running around in my birthday suit and have shit particles on my ass still, trying not to interrupt my husbands work dinner, asking my mom if she or my dad know how to stop this. I’m squatting down looking if it’s under the kitchen sink. I mean I legit do not know the water, plumbing system BS in houses. She tells me to turn it off at the toilet. Ummm ok… I go to do that and she’s asking if I want them to come over and help. Umm I’m bare ass and tiddies out and people are sick here! I got this. ✊ Plus there’s no need to be extra mortified and entertained for the night anyway. So at the toilet I’m like “umm it barely turned”, but in that moment I knew that was ok and what it was supposed to do because now I just needed to hold still and see if it made it stop flooding my house. It worked! Towels are out everywhere now and Bennett is panicking about having a fever and the house flooding and dad isn’t even home. Dude… I know! Tell me about it! This was just a little after 8pm now.
At 8:24pm I finally am tired of standing and waiting around frigidly for Daniel to contact me back or show up so I say screw it and cleaned my ass because that’s what my momma told me to do and threw on some clothes, washed my hands and damnit I was going to make it work!
Daniel doesn’t end up getting home til a little after 9 and I’m in the process of cooking my eggs and start explaining everything to him again step by step because he still can’t believe this happened. Dude, you’re seeing it, I don’t know what else to tell you. As I’m cooking my egg, which is important to discuss because all this week I’ve lacked an appetite but I really wasn’t mad about it because that’s like the only good thing about being sick is losing a little weight and inches if ya know what I mean. But the only thing that had been sounding slightly good lately was some eggs. We’ve been without eggs for like 2 months maybe because our chickens are molting and consuming energy to stay warm in the winter. So, I just bought some local eggs and I choose to make a late night egg sandwich for supper. I go to put the hot sauce on and the top comes off and guzzles a load out on my freshly made sandwich 🤦♀️ like what in the world! 😵💫
Daniel in action 😆
Soooo now we have a new toilet. 🚽 That’s cool. And just this week I was telling Daniel that I swore something was wrong with the toilet as it had been getting clogged nonstop and even just when I’d go pee. So in my defense, I kind of called this but what do I know. So while he’s working on the toilet, I try not to bother him while he’s putting in the new one because it’s grind time now baby but I couldn’t help but to ask what it cost as I’m clueless and he said only like $100. I said oh my gosh.. why didn’t you just replace this a long time ago then 🤦♀️ He said he was waiting for it to get on its final leg. Welp my man… it sure got there and I guess that’s why God had us watch The Christmas Story this past weekend – to remind us about that beautiful Leg Lamp🦵💡 …🤣 See what I did there lol sorry if you thought it was lame.
Anyway, no one argued or cussed, but my storytelling self cussed the entire time internally in a funny sense which is what you’ve been reading this whole time. 😉
You know the song, Every Light in the House is On… well while I was throwing every sopping wet bath towel, kitchen hand towel, towel rags, some wash cloths, the bathroom rug and then some in the washer (took 2 large full loads mind you) I kept singing to myself… every towel in the house is wet…. 🎼 🤦♀️ Have no fear though, I knew better than to do myself dirty and made sure I kept 1 towel that was in the dryer safe so I could shower with it later. Even if that meant having to let Daniel borrow it before or after I got around to using it now. And in case Courtney, you’re reading this… I thought of you while I was loading these heavy towels in because I threw 4 laundry pods in that bitch! LOL! I used to only ever use like 1, maybe 2 laundry pods per load (years ago) and then one day Courtney mentioned how depending on the load size you should probably do more like 2-3 and ever since, I’ve listened and tonight I think I could call myself Master Graduate. 👩🎓
To Add: We don’t own a mop. Don’t come at me. Only our small kitchen, tiny bathroom and entryways are non-carpeted so we use a swiffer mop & our hands and knees. Well, Daniel does that is. So towels were the best soaking up option I could think of.
In conclusion, I honestly think that the worst and most annoying part of all this is that I legit didn’t know how to turn the water off nor did I even know where the flooding was actually coming out at because I saw it going up out of the toilet and coming out from the bottom too. Yet, here I sit typing this blog out and Daniel went to bed and I’d still like to be educated on where all our house water sources are for future reference.
Also, I never did get to cut Bennett’s toenails and we didn’t get around to getting a new battery for the thermometer because it’s after 10pm at this point. Yet Daniel has the audacity to check Bennett’s temp while he’s asleep on the couch and he doesn’t have one. But just an hour and a half ago I gave him meds to suppress the fever.
Soo does Bennett actually have a legitimate temp or does he not? Will there be an appearance from Joseph on stage at Central Christian’s Christmas Program, I don’t know. Right now we’re going to see how the night and morning goes because we believe you gotta be fever free for 24 hours to do anything. Life isn’t worth making yourself worse or contaminating others.
Alright, it’s like 11:30 now. I gotta go finally bathe. I told Daniel I’d finish off the laundry because it’s not like I will really be sleeping tonight anyway thanks to that glorious steroid shot.
It’s midnight and Daniel freaking used the 1 clean and dry towel I saved for himself and instead of hanging it for me to use after, he threw it on the floor as the new “bath rug” instead of getting out the extra bath rug I keep in the cabinet.
The last, dry clean towel that I so skillfully thought to keep left out, safe, for me now lies on the floor.
I hope I drip dry good after this!
And mom.. it doesn’t appear this is a taller seated toilet. Sorry about that!
Cheers my friends! I’m forever thankful my husband is handier than a shirt pocket and tackled this new $100 toilet like it was nobody’s business!
RIP old friend… Here’s a funny. Bennett likes helping me decorate for Christmas. Be put this door handle sign on the bathroom door instead of on the spare room door where I usually wrap gifts at. But I oddly thought it was fitting and funny so I left it. Only did we know then how fitting it’d be tonight.
It’s been a while since I got on here and blogged. In fact, I haven’t made a blog post since May this year. But now that we have sold our mobile bar – Tenleigh’s, I want to try and devote some more time to blogging (fingers crossed). With that, today’s blog is all about Gatlinburg, Tennessee. When we listed our mobile bar for sale early this Fall, I said if we sell it before the end of the year then we were going to go on a Christmas vacation and we did just that – only during Thanksgiving break as we learned that during the week of Christmas is like 5X more expensive! So here it goes…
The photo doesn’t do the lights throughout the mountains justice.
Gatlinburg, Tennessee – a vacation destination that seamlessly blends natural beauty, family-friendly fun, and romantic charm. Our recent visit was filled with unforgettable moments, from thrilling attractions to relaxing scenic views. In this blog, we’ll relive our favorite memories, share our candid/honest reviews, and provide valuable insights and insider tips to help you plan an unforgettable trip to Gatlinburg.
DAY 1:
Bennett with the Buc-ee’s mascot – I guess this fella doesn’t come out much… so we’re told?
New coloring books, along with new markers (that click instead of lids that he’d lose in the car) and crayons (that twist so they don’t get broken while traveling)
A neck pillow, with some of his favorite muslim blankets
A magazine of his interest
A new book to surprise him with – Dolly Parton Little Golden book
Snacks & drink
Buc-ee’s adventure in Richmond, KY. I was a tad confused as it didn’t appear to be as big as the videos I’ve watched online and I never heard them holler out about “brisket on the board”. We ended up purchasing the following with said reviews.
Fresh Jerky; cherry maple, pepper, steakhouse, & bohemian garlic – this was worth all the overpriced money!
Beaver Nuggets; quite delicious – great little crispy crunch that tasted like caramel corn
Sampled the ranch snacks and if being “too ranchy” is a thing, then that’s our review. It gave me the shivers!
Mountain Dew ICEE – per Daniel, “it was good”
Dr. Pepper ICEE – pure YUCK! Like straight syrup/sugar; however, once it melted it tasted like a typical Dr. Pepper
We split a BBQ Brisket Sandwich, it was good, nothing to write home about though.
DAY 2:
Go to Cades Cove if you want anxiety. It took us 3 hours to get to, you must have gas, no medical concerns, not need to pee because you are seriously stuck. Simply, no control of your life. You can’t turn around, pass anyone or have any kind of time for an emergency. It is a nice view once you are at the top, but the bathrooms were GROSS and really there’s a lot of other places you can get that same view that doesn’t take 3+ hours of your life away. I still can’t help but wonder how the employees that work at the top get to work each day. We really wanted to go on the New Found Gap Road; however, the road was iced over and since it’s a National Park, they can’t put anything on it to de-ice it. And to help you be well versed when talking to the locals, New Found Gap Road is also called HWY 441 and Downtown Parkway. The last stoplight downtown (called #10) is the entrance to the Smoky Mountains and that’s typically where most bears can be found, but that was unfortunately not the case for us.
At the top of Cades Cove
After the horrendous trip to Cades Cove, we were to go to Anakeesta; however, we went up to get our tickets and they said they were at capacity and the primary way of getting to the top of the mountain where everything is (gondola/chandola/ski lift… whatever you want to call it) wasn’t working. Turns out it didn’t work the next day either so we luckily got to go on our last day at Gatlinburg.
We visited The Village (in downtown Gatlinburg), it really was nothing special. It tuly reminded me of the Grand Village in Branson.
We ate/shared a HUGE corndog and a Philly cheesesteak sandwich from Fannie Farkle’s. This is a fun, popular place and we soaked up our late lunch with a crispy Mr. Pibb!
This corndog had 2 hotdogs inside for around $7. Fried on the spot, too!
Bennett had a small vanilla cup with of ice cream with M&M’s on top from Ben & Jerry’s after the corndog and it cost $9 and some change (good heavens!)
Daniel partook in the taste testing at Ole Smoky Whiskey for $8 and that was oddly a lot of fun! The bartender said he lives up by Cades Cove and takes anywhere from an hour and 20 to an hour and 40 minutes to get to work. That morning he witnessed a tourist not paying attention as they were gawking at a bear and drove right into the river.
Went back to the hotel for Bennett to swim at the indoor pool & hot tub.
The Great Smoky Arts & Crafts Trail is not worth it. Did have some Christmas lights though.
The Inn at Christmas Place is a hotel in Pigeon Forge that we “toured” while waiting for our name to be called for dinner. This is a hotel that is in Christmas garb all year around. The only words that come to mind in describing this place is that it’s truly breathtaking and like living inside a Hallmark movie!
We went to the Blue Moose Burgers and Wings for a late dinner = 7/10 rating, nothing bad, nothing great. Just consistent good food that you could get back at home. There are TV’s at every table and all over the walls.
Wonders of Life Walking Trail/Winterfest (could see all from the truck)
The Island (strip in Pigeon Forge)
Looking back, I probably would have wanted to go to the Frizzle Chicken Farmhouse Cafe place for supper because they have robotic chickens inside that sing and such! Very kid friendly!
The Inn at Christmas Place – Pigeon Forge, TN
DAY 3:
Museum of Salt & Pepper Shakers cost $3 to get in and it was so neat! Was surprised they didn’t have a dedicated Disney and Pyrex section though. I couldn’t even find the ones I own myself.
Right next door was a store of chainsaw art that was fun to explore! In that area we found an eatery with a 5.0-star review called Tennessee Jed’s that we really wanted to try prior to going to the park but they were not open.
Dollywood, ohhh Dollywood… it was great but there’s something about SDC (Silver Dollar City) in Branson, MO that’s just… better. We stayed from noon (even though park opens at 11am) to 7:30 PM. There was no Christmas parade like we had thought as they haven’t had one since COVID, no drone light shows as was advertised in the brochures all over town as that was from last year’s advertising/itinerary and there were no fireworks as that’s only for Friday and Saturday nights. On the plus side, the food here was sooo good! We ate at The Front Porch Café and I had the Backyard Crispy Chicken Sandwich; Crispy buttermilk fried chicken breast, signature comeback sauce, pickles & cole slaw on a brioche bun. Daniel had Crispy Fried Chicken Breast; Crispy buttermilk fried chicken breast, creamy mashed potatoes, homemade country sawmill scallion gravy, pickled tomato & collards. Our 5-year-old had Chicken Fingers; Served with French fries or fruit cocktail, toddler size Coca-Cola® beverage, chocolate or 2% milk and freshly-baked chocolate cookies. The Dollywood tickets were $93/adult and you had to pay for parking too at a minimum at $20. The tram stops are backed up and a ton of walking. They even have signs that will tell you how long it takes on average to walk to different areas of the parking lot to get to the main gates. Heard rumor of Dolly being there but never saw her. The park to me was interesting in that there was a TON of fair games and concepts. We each took about 20,000 steps there. The bonus compared to SDC is that we felt the walkways were much bigger so even with it being busy, the flow of walkers and crowds were better. We wanted to ride the train but it was over a 3 hour wait! A random fact… but I love that Duke’s Mayo is a sponsor of Dollywood lol Altogether, Dollywood was a “PASS”. Ifff you’re wanting to “Smash”, here’s the link for tickets –> https://www.dollywood.com/plan-your-visit/christmas/
Us posing with the “Dolly Parton Experience” new section at the park!
BW with the Sampler Platter and scrumptious wings!
Gatlinburg Pizzeria is quite tasty! We went here for a late night supper after going to Dollywood. It was so nice to sit down and relax. This pizzeria is kind of like an old Pizza Hut vibe, with great service and pizza (especially the dough) was really good! We ordered the $20 sampler platter that had jalapeño peppers (diced inside – never had that before IDT), fried mushrooms, toasted cheese ravioli, mozzarella sticks and wings. The wings were sooo good! Crispy, meaty and the best buffalo flavor. I don’t even think they are known for their wings. I even asked if their buffalo sauce was homemade or store bought and it’s actually store bought. They took a picture of the bottle for us and we’ve never even heard or seen it before, it’s called Texas Pete – Mild –> https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07QMGHCQ2/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=A20WO2W87VI9RA&psc=1
Christmas isn’t a competition, but the prize itself. The gathering and sharing of the things that matter most. -Dolly
DAY 4:
Went to New Found Gap and the Appalachian Trail to where we got to be in North Carolina! This is the road we originally wanted to take but was iced over originally. This ride is much shorter than to Cades Cove, we felt it was more on top of the mountain and the views were incredible! The bathrooms were cleaner and there’s more things to do/see there, too!
New Found Gap – North Carolina State Line, mountain view
Hillbilly Golf – this was our son’s personal pick and we were all highly impressed. This is not like any typical put-put golf you’ve been to! We rode a lift to get to the top of the mountain and played 18 holes that were so much fun and unique! They even gave me a teacher discount. Per Bennett (our son) he gives it 10 stars!
On day 2, we ran into two men who were trout fishing downtown Gatlinburg. Nowhere did it look like a place to fish, but they had a few lunkers that they had caught right there in front of the Mexican restaurant. We chatted with them and they said down the way was a trout hatchery and a section for kids under 12 to fish for free, so today we decided to go check it out! I originally told Daniel we should bring our poles, but he really didn’t think that the fishing would be that good there. Below are the rules for the kid fishing.
Not every trout park has the same rules!
We then went out for a late lunch at Tom & Earl’s Back Alley Grill. Personally, I would pass on Tom & Earls Back Alley Grill. I had the buffalo chicken wrap with a side salad and I took about 1-2 bites of my salad but the dressing was so gross and my wrap was good at first, but then quickly tasted soggy. Bennett had their chicken strips and fries and ate almost all of it and Daniel had BBQ Pulled Pork Nachos and had no complaints. I do wonder if their dressings were homemade, if the salad would have tasted better. I was also asked if I wanted shredded cheese on my wrap and ended up being charged an extra $1 for it – kind of interesting.
After our meal, we walked by an edible cookie dough dessert place and tried a sample but I wasn’t a fan. I was kind of excited for this as I’ve had the cookie dough cones in Florida before and it was a yummy dessert!
It’s FINALLY time for the incredible, Anakeesta!!! It’s such an enchanting, magical, and whimsical place. If we lived remotely close to this area, we’d definitely be season pass holders. When we purchased our tickets, they said the line was 1 hour and 45 minutes but it was only maybe an hour long and moved at a great pace! It took us about 20ish minutes to ride on the gondola to the top. And while one might think the anxiety ridden person in our family would be the most anxious on this ride, you’d be wrong. It was as though our roles were flipped because it was Daniel who was internally panicking. Later he tried saying it was because of the idea that the lift was broken the last 2 days and he was afraid of being stuck up high for hours. I honestly don’t know what got into me for it not phasing me one bit. I was more concerned that my new Hey Dude Mucks would fall off and triple checking that our 5-year-old was being still. Anyway, we stayed at Anakeesta for 3 hours and was able to explore everything we wanted, play for a while, relax at a fire pit and more! If I redid this, it’d only be to go for 1 more hour earlier so Bennett could play at the playground stuff longer. Otherwise, we purposely went in the evening to where we could do some stuff in the daylight but that it would soon be dark so we could experience all the lights. If you’re deciding on going here or Dollywood, this place is definitely the winner! The esthetics, ambiance, views, what was included… everything! I feel as though my pictures and videos don’t even capture Anakeesta like the feeling and sights it gives you, so be sure to check out their website and search it on TikTok
As the sun is setting at the top of Anakeesta – stunning!
While Daniel was in line for Hot Cocoa, Bennett and I found a rocker around a firepit and met a beautiful soul! As soon as we sat down, she told Bennett to take off his shoes and warm up his feet and without hesitation, he did just that! She said that her and her husband live about 4 hours away, visit Gatlinburg often and have season passes to Anakeesta. She fell in love with Bennett and even teared up listening to him talk as she was so impressed with his knowledge and just general life abilities I guess you’d call it. A guy at the hotel pool even told Daniel that, “we’re doing a good job raising an All-American boy”. I think this lady wanted to adopt us and be our Grandma as she was so much fun and sweet. We even ran into her later in the evening and she hollered at us and wished us well!
DAY 5:
Traveled back home and stopped in Santa Claus, Indiana and viewed their museum where Bennett got to write a letter to Santa and they have volunteers who write the kids back as “Santa”. We also got to drive by Abraham Lincoln’s boyhood home that’s now a National Park.
GENERAL INFO (in no specific order):
Mural outside the Santa Claus Museum
We stayed at The Appy Lodge that’s right at the entrance of Gatlinburg. It was very quaint, clean, friendly and a cabin feel. They had a continental breakfast, indoor & outdoor pool that has a cool water slide, and free parking. The breakfast and pool (plus good reviews & cleanliness) is what I always go for.
Outside our hotel, that was very cabiny
Bear TIPS!
They did have a bear policy though and that was quite exhilarating to hear upon our arrival! We could not leave any kind of food in our vehicle to alleviate a bear trying to get in and we had to use our room card to gain access into the entire hotel in the night for bear safety purposes. We heard that the last time the hotel had a bear encounter was just a couple weeks ago and on one occurrence the bear walked in and then quickly walked out. The next occurrence, the hotel staff had to call 911 and locked himself inside the indoor pool and the cops had to scare off the bear with fireworks. It seems as though the bears only come around the town and people because they have been given food before.
For whatever reason, my fingers have stayed swollen here. Wake up… swollen I will say I didn’t have carpal tunnel issues while here though.
The lights at night all throughout the mountainside – stunning! Truly felt like you were living in a beautiful movie of some sort, or like Whoville or something!
Favorite food on the trip:
Bennett: the hotel pancakes and the corn dog from Fannie Farkle’s & the refillable Mr. Pibb at Dollywood for only $20 and the fountain machines were on the outside of each place that had food and you just walked up and refiled it yourself
Daniel: Dollywood meal
Me: Dollywood meal
Worst food on the trip:
Bennett: didn’t have one
Daniel: his Blue Moose Burger that had fried mac & cheese on it
Me: The Tom & Earls Back Alley Grill with the wrap and salad and maybe my burger from the Blue Moose too
What we’re coming home with (material wise):
4 new stuffies; brown bat – Squeak, opossum – Doug Jr., hound dog – Roxie, and a flying squirrel – Archie short for Archibald
A Gatlinburg picture frame A Dollywood Christmas ornament Dollywood professional photo and frame and ornament that goes with for only $40
Misc. stuff from Buc-ee’s
PLACES WE DID NOT GO TO (either time constraints or due to reviews):
SkyPark… We did not go here and from the reviews I seen it wasn’t worth it, but also what you pay to do at Anakeesta gives you all that and more!
Pancake Pantry (on the Gatlinburg strip). We heard great things about this joint and each morning the line was incredibly long! Matter of fact, most of the breakfast joints had lines down the sidewalks. I’m guessing people don’t make breakfast food at home much?
The Pigeon Forge Deli looked soooo good (not open til Wednesday when we are to leave in the AM)
Crazy Mason Milkshakes – however, when we’d drive by it, it never looked like it was open and it had notes on the door.
Bennett’s Pit BBQ – took a pic of the sign for memory purposes!
The Park Grill, where they have kid’s daiquiris and an all you can eat salad bar for $20. We didn’t end up finding the time to go though and eventually I kept finding mixed reviews.
There’re franchises like you see at other big vacation spots – Ole’ Red (Nashville), Paula Deen’s Family Kitchen (Branson) and lots of Shoney’s. Ripley’s seems to have a ton of property and businesses here too. There’s plenty of smoke and souvenir shops and arcades. There’s also a lot of what I call pocket like eateries – corn dogs, Phillies, pizza, lemonades and coffee and I absolutely loved those! It truly might be one of my next business ventures.
Sadly, we didn’t see any bears and we were trying SO hard!I did get to see one on TikTok live on our last night there that was in the downtown area though!
The city bus/trolley is free and can give you a free tour of the city. We never had time to do it but realized from people waiting at stops that you are obviously on the trolleys schedule and not yours. People probably take it a lot as downtown Gatlinburg is sparse on parking and costs too. We parked in a garage behind the Ripley’s Aquarium twice for only $10 each day!
Be mindful in that this information could change over time.
The KOA Campground in Pigeon Forge looks so cool! They have a lazy river that appears to be heated even. https://koa.com/campgrounds/pigeon-forge/ I can’t imagine totting a camper 10 hours away though.
We opted out of the many dinner & a show options (Dolly Stampede, pirates one and a Hatfield & McCoy’s show) simply because we have the Dixie (Dolly) Stampede in Branson at our disposal.
Gatlinburg has been on my vacation bucket list for a while. According to Bennett, his next vacation destination is to Bevier (the campground lol) — of course we’ll be doing that next Summer anyway Now, once I started giving destination suggestions, Bennett was adamant to go on a cruise, Disney themed preferred. Daniel says our next vacation destination would be to Yellowstone and/or Texas for the Alamo!
If you made it this far – thanks for reading! I blog to capture all the memories for myself, great reminders for the future if we were to go back, and to help anybody else if they wanted to vacation here. If you’re looking for a vacation destination that offers something for everyone, look no further than Gatlinburg, Tennessee. We highly recommend adding it to your bucket list – as you won’t regret it. If you have any memories or tips from spending time in Gatlinburg, please be sure to leave them in the comments!
Until next time!
This was the 1st song that came on when we finally decided to turn our radio on, out of boredom, while touring Cades Cove – HA! What are the odds of that?!
I wrote this the other day in about 5 minutes – needs some tweaking, in time. Until then, enjoy!
“My Rock, My Confidant”
Who did you see, When your eyes met thee. What were your thoughts, Were you thinking of me.
I couldn’t see you go, It was far too soon. Are you up there dancing, To a very special tune.
Are you glistening with wings, While I’m at church struggling to sing.
Your family’s ok, If ok is a thing. But you were our glue, The one that carried our name.
I hope I look like you some day, Grayed hair and all. There was nothing you’d turn down, Not even leftovers or a phone call.
I’m sure you’d love him, If you were here today. But unfortunately, the Lord had other plans that day.
While we draw near, To that gut wrenching day. Don’t ever think, That you’re too far away.
You’re on my mind, In my heart, And soul. I dream of you sometimes, Or maybe that’s just me wishing for more.
Until we meet again, My rock. My confidant. There’s literally no one else like you, As strong or as true.
But may we push forward, In honor of you. I know it’s been 3 years now, Because he’s 3 too.
Never did I think, I’d know my child’s age because of you.
He’s so funny, He laughs and he plays. I’m sure you’d just sit there, With a smile on your face.
Leaned back in your rocker, So proud and so woo’d. We’d clap and we’d laugh, Until it was time to go. There’d be no hustle, As none of us wanted to go.
You’d walk us out, Waving in tow. Yet never did I think, That it’d soon, be your time to go.
Sappy, sentimental post here to cherish the memories of the house that helped make me who I am.
Numerous weekend sleepovers that allowed exchanges at Colliers Junction or McDonald’s in Centralia
Walking to the quick shop for a snack or drink
Easter egg hunts on the gator
Feeding the goats and Papaw sneaking some babies inside
The picnics out back on a quilt, reading Little House on the Prairie
The sound of a box fan before central air
The fear of potentially falling down the laundry shoot
Popcorn in the living room with the Gaithers and The Oak Ridge boys in the background
The tunes of the piano
Going out fishing with Alan Jackson blaring and a brown bag in his lap to later end up back at the Quick Shop scratching scratchers plopped up on the counter
Rubber boots lined at the back door
The hot tub room, turned eBay room
Numerous cardboard houses and even cut out windows!
Bird watching
Leaf jumping
Going to the neighbors to swim and pick plums (or was it another fruit?)
Going to Kingdom City for Dennys and Baskin Robbin’s, as well as Taco Bell at the circle table
French toast for breakfast
Going to church to ring the bell, and sit with bugles on my fingers
Walking over to Aunt Ialeene’s
Caffeine Free Diet Coke in the fridge
Reading “Peppermint” & “Balloon Farm”
Going next door to the neighbors (wish I could remember their names)
Hanging out at Sydenstriker’s
Opening presents before Christmas and re-wrapping them to open later
Swinging
The memories throughout the years
The benefit: they’ll be able to watch Bennett grow with more convenience!
Cheers to more memories made! May the next person cherish this house just as much!
If you read the title, then it must’ve struck you enough to continue on with the blog. And it’s really that simple, aging sucks, or at least it can suck! Here’s some of the things that I’ve noticed with my own aging.
I have a few little hole like things on some of my molars and you can like rub your tongue against it and feel as though it gets caught. So, when I went for my annual appointment the other day, I told them that it was there and it wasn’t causing me issues, no pain or anything and come to find out that’s what happens when you age – that can happen to your teeth!
What about the new dark spots that look like clusters of freckles that show up on you or maybe an extra mole or two — yuck!
Or you know how you used to be able to do certain things like physical activity but you haven’t done it in so long that do you dare to actually attempt it, again? Like I used to know how to do the worm.. But do I actually know how to anymore or is it just a figure of my imagination? The same goes for a cartwheel. I’m not about to do one inside my house cause I’m gonna shake the whole thing down but maybe I’ll do it in my backyard, but then fear that my wrists will go out and all my neighbors will see or it’s caught on their cameras 💀
How about how I have carpal tunnel so bad that I’m pleading my case to get surgery? Fingers crossed for the nerve test this Friday! 🤞
Don’t even get me started on your monthly winery supply… #ReadyForAnAblation
Aging legit sucks!!
Now.. knock on wood… I’ve never had a gray hair though!
Really, aging is part of life so let’s get a little deeper than that. I truly have a fear of dying. Now it doesn’t stop me too-too much from doing certain things, but my anxiety gets the best of me which is why I blog about a lot of stuff. If you think about it, it is underlying issues of anxiety. (Yes, I’m medicated so don’t come at me.) But death is truly scary thinking of how you’re gonna leave your kid without a mom or your husband without a wife and so forth. Like every day needs to be taken seriously and then I get in a funk of going to be what I call ‘blah’ and there’s really kind of no time for that. You keep seeing others dying and if you’re like me and you read obituaries and see all the various ages… I mean what even is considered old and lived a long good life anymore?
Anyway, your family is all aging and you’re afraid to get a phone call anymore from certain people as you’re afraid that it might be the call to say that so-and-so has now passed away. It feels like you’re living on the edge often.
Here’s another example for you – what about the fact that you work outdoors for an event in the cold or something and it’s just 3+ hours long, yet you can instantly feel your body aching from working in the cold. What are you supposed to do about that? Don’t tell me to go work out cause I sure don’t have that motivation right now in life.
Alsooo has anyone ever thought of how the one thing you really have zero control over is aging? Like your body is just going to do it whether you like it or not. It’s freaking weird!
Here’s some of my latest aging facts (sigh..!):
I can’t have corn at all now. I found out I was allergic a few years ago but still would occasionally eat it as it didn’t seem to cause any big issues. Haaa! To heck with that! I don’t want whole kernels in the slightest! Trust me, I learned my lesson. However, corn tortilla chips don’t seem to bother me 🤷♀️
Sodium… that bitch! Heaven forbid I want to eat a cup of ramen, it’s like instant swelling in the face.
Want to talk on the phone for a while? Be prepared for your arm to go numb from your stupid carpal tunnel.
Alcohol… ugh! Such a love-hate relationship with it. Makes ya feel good and relaxed, yet you hate the idea that that’s one of the only things that gives you that relaxation feeling. Yet if you drink it, your face turns 3 shades of red asap even with foundation on. 🤦♀️
Let’s talk dry shampoo.. sureeeee it’s great when you wanna be lazy, got long tedious hair, in a hurry or what have you, but after day 3 of not washing my hair, my bathroom turns into a smoke filled like cloud because I gotta put so much on my dome at this point – freakin oily hair!
Oh!! And what about your eyelashes?! Mine used to look like my kids (long & curled), but now they grow in straight instead of curled to the heavens?!
Signing off.. what’s the purpose of keeping track of your age after you hit 30?
Something to ponder on.. eventually one of us will be the last friend of the group to go to a funeral. Or possibly the last member of the family.
Simple & Relatable - Through Faith, Marriage, Family, Bennett & Bessie! 