A Wonderful Family Get Away

It started out with "maybe we can drop the girls off at the campground and take a hike this weekend". I took that as an opportunity to get away for a couple of nights as a family. I arranged everything with Cacki and I did all of the packing!! We left Friday evening at 6:30 and arrived exactly on schedule. Bob had fixed ribs, corn on the cob and baked beans.. We were all exhausted when we got there, so we were in bed by 9:30..

Maggie and Molly had permission to go over to Cacki's camper when they woke up, so before 7:00 I heard Maggie saying. "Molly, wake up, let's go!!". I made them both go back to sleep because it was way to early to start disturbing the peace in a campground. By 8:00, they couldn't wait any longer, so they both went across the street to enjoy cartoons and breakfast with Cacki. We enjoyed a peaceful, cool morning with cheerios and toast. Molly got a new tag-along bike and she was excited to use it, so after I got cleaned up, we went for a bike ride. We ran into Grandbob at the store and he informed us that the Holmes Family was on their way. Maggie got so excited that she was over riding bikes. We went back to the campground and got everything ready for lunch. Mike and I snuck off after we got our tummies full for an adventure in the woods. We hiked Spruce Flats Falls. It is two miles roundtrip and is considered to be a moderate hike. It was so peaceful being on the mountains alone with Mike, enjoying the beauty of nature and being able to complete a sentence!! We enjoyed a few minutes by the falls and then we headed back. The Holmes' arrived at 4:00 as I was getting Molly down for a nap. She was beyond exhausted from being outside all day. The campground had a fish fry and Maggie opted to stay and eat with Cacki. Mike and I took Molly to get pizza!! We love eating out alone with Molly. She keeps us laughing and she has such a sweet side that doesn't exist when Maggie is with us. After dinner, we hung out around the camper and then Maggie had her first realization that she was no longer center of attention for Olivia. Olivia and Jessica are both on the volleyball team at their school. Volleyball is not a sport made for 7 year olds. She was sad that she could not play with them and they were not willing to play anything else that would include her.. She decided that going to the camper and getting into her pajamas for a movie was a good idea. Molly was still wound up and ready to entertain since she took a nap. She had us riding a bus, listening to her sing opera and spelling any word that came her way from her own dictionary. We all laughed so hard at her. We finally went to bed a little after 10:00.

Sunday morning, the girls went over to Cacki's as soon as they woke up at 8:15. The girls spent a lot of time going from one playground to another. They finally agreed to get in the pool because it was such a hot day. Our timing wasn't great because it was almost lunch time when we went to the pool. We didn't stay long before we had to go back and fix some food. Mike wanted to go to the sinks, but we were discouraged by Cacki and Grandbob, plus Maggie didn't want to leave the campground in hopes that she would get to play with Jessica or Olivia. We all ended up going to Dock's to play at the river. Maggie and Molly both enjoyed playing in the ice cold water. I took Maggie, Olivia and Jessica back up to the pool and Maggie finally got some fun play time in with the girls. She plays great with Hunter, but he is always off roaming on his own. We had to be back at the campground by 3:30 for Sunday-Sundaes. We all gobbled fown some delicious ice cream and then we went back to the playgrounds. Mary Nell joined us for dinner which was a bit chaotic, but we all survived. Then we took a ride in the back of the truck toward Tremont. The only thing the kids got to see were some bats!! Molly forgot to use the potty before we left, so we had to pull off on the side of the road so she could go pee. I held her over an embankment so she wouldn't pee on her shorts and she had the nerve to worry about how she was going to wipe!! When we got back, the kids enjoyed playing with Uncle Mike and taking silly pictures on the computer while I enjoyed sitting around the fire. The only thing the night was missing was marshmallows (not that we didn't ask for them)!!

When we woke up this morning, Mike asked Molly how she slept, so she rolled over on her stomach and laid her head down and said "like this". We go so tickled at her. She doesn't try o be funny, it just comes natural. We headed home around 10:30. The girls have enjoyed relaxing and napping. Maggie felt so dirty when she got home that she asked to take a bath. Molly joined her and then she ran around naked until after she woke up from her nap at almost 3:00!! She would probably still be naked if Granny and Papaw hadn't come over to swim.
Miley went with us because my parents went to Nashville this weekend and we didn't have anyone to watch her. She did really well and enjoyed being outside in the middle of everything!!

Tomorrow is Molly's first day of school!! She is a little excited.. I hope that drop-off goes well!!