Oh Sweet Tennessee!

Monday:

Well, we are finally here in Gatlinburg after a LONG car ride with 4 kids. Nic and Mike had a bright idea to ride their motorcycles and that left me and Anita with a 14 week-old, 8 week-old, 5 year-old, and a 21 month old. It actually wasn’t too bad, but we like to make the guys feel a little guilty! We stopped Saturday night about 6 hours of driving and stayed at a hotel. We got up extra early (thanks to Mike!) on Sunday morning and drove the last 2 ½ hours to our hotel.

We couldn’t check in right away so we walked down the street to a little Mexican restaurant, which was so delicious! We did a little driving around and then were able to check in. Let me tell you, this place is absolutely beautiful. We are on the 10^th floor and have an amazing view of the mountains from our balcony. There are 2 bedrooms in here, a kitchen, an eating area, and a family room with a fireplace. And the best part is…there isn’t much Hayden can get into! Except we have had to rescue her from climbing and walking on the tables and the bar stools. Brea has been a great help with keeping her busy. Back to the day…for dinner the boys went to the store and got chicken while us girls and the babies attempted taking a much needed nap. When the boys got back, they took the girls down to the pool and grill the chicken. We had an excellent dinner and then hit the sack…early. Just what we all needed!

We were all able to sleep in, which was AWESOME! We then started out to Dollywood where we spend most of the day. It was SO hot, but so fun to watch the girls laugh and smile. Although we weren’t able to do much with the 2 babies and and Hayden, we still found some things to do. Hayden was able to go on a little car ride with her daddy, run through water shooting pad thing, ride on the carousel with her grandpa (by the way, we met up with Nic’s dad and his brother and his family, and his grandparents!), and even got to ride the same ride many different times with her daddy, grandpa, and Uncle John. My heart melt every time I saw her with her beautiful smile. The only thing that stinks is she won’t ever remember this vacation. Oh well! We were all pretty worn out, so we left, went to Walmart for the rest of our groceries, and went back to the hotel…Hayden fell asleep before we even got out of the Dollywood parking lot and slept through grocery shopping...which means she was completely out of it! The boys wanted to grill pork chops so I took Brea and Hayden to swim and Anita stayed with the baby boys. Can I just tell you Hayden is NOT afraid to just walk off the side of the pool?? She absolutely loved jumping from the side of the pool to me, even when I wasn’t ready. She is CRAZY!! But I love her like crazy! We then ate another great meal and called it a night! So far, so good! I love it here and am so happy and grateful to be here with my little family!

Tuesday:

Well, it was another H-O-T day here in Gatlinburg. I have a feeling we won’t come back here during August! We are having a blast…but it is almost too hot to be outside. Actually, it is too hot!

Today Nic faced his fears of helicopters. He was a brave old soul and went with Mike and Brea. It was a 2 minute ride, but I think that was more than enough for my man…and his pants were still dry when he got off! Anita, the kids, and I waited as patiently as we could knowing that as soon as they were done we got to go SHOPPING!!! There is this outlet mall called Tanger Outlets that Nic and I go to every time we are here…there are soooo many stores and of course I am just in heaven. Knowing we were limited on our spending, we knew (well, I knew) we wanted to go to Carter’s to get the kids some clothes for fall and winter with our coupon. Nic was so excited because they have added an Under Armor store. Oh the things that he gets excited for! All in all our little shopping spree was a success…and I was a good girl and didn’t get anything for myself…haha! I was so proud of myself.

In the evening, we all set off for a little cookout with Jack, grandma and grandpa Minder, John, Jenn, and their family. It was so nice to visit with family that we don’t get to see much at all. We shared lots of food, laughs, and talk. I wished we all lived closer!

I am praying that tomorrow is a little cooler so we can actually walk down the street and not be dripping in sweat. I am pretty sure Hayden’s hair has been drenched in sweat since we arrived!

On a total other note…can I just say that parenting can be very hard sometimes and very stressful? I know all you mothers out there know what I mean…especially my mother (by the way mom, when you said you prayed I would have a little girl just like me, I thought you were joking)! This trip has been wonderful, but there are times where we are in public and Hayden is just throwing the biggest fit and people are watching me like a fly wondering what I am going to do about it. This is what I want to do-crawl in a ball and cry and pretend this isn’t happening. For example, we were walking the strip tonight and Hayden was in the stroller and Bubby was in the carrier. We were thirsty so we stood in line to get a drink. All the sudden Hayden wanted out of her stroller and threw the biggest fit ever when I put her back in. She was screaming so loud and kicking her legs. I looked at Nic because in that instant I had NO clue what to do. People were staring and I could feel my face getting hot and red. So I said a quick prayer, took her outside the restaurant, and got down to her level. I knew I had to make a choice on how to handle this but I didn’t know how. I knew it was past her bedtime, she was hot, and she was tired. When I looked into her eyes with tears overflowing, I started to cry. I just looked at her for what seemed like an eternity asking God for words to say that would correct her. Before I could say anything, she reached her arms around my neck, still crying, and started playing with my hair. I had forgotten that I put my hair up in a ponytail and she loves to play with it. So I just held her. I know I should have probably spanked her or something like that or said a speech, but I didn’t. Needless to say, we knew it was time to head back and put her to bed. We did just that.

Nic has been such a rock for me these last couple of days and keeping me glued together, which I am so thankful for.

I know this doesn’t make much sense, but it just a struggle of mine lately. I have been asking God for wisdom in each circumstance that we have to deal with. It is just hard…this thing called parenting.