Separate Ways

A few weekends ago, our family all went our separate ways. Here's what I mean. I had a girls mountain trip planned and Thomas was going to be on his own with the boys. Instead of staying home, however, he decided he wanted to drive up to Knoxville to visit Aunt Ashley, Uncle Zack and Taylor and Anna (the boys LOVEEEEEE their cousins). All was set to go. Leading up to the weekend, Ryan was coughing a little, and there was a chance that Taylor had a little cold and that led us to get cold feet! We get a little nervous about germs and Ryan getting sick and try to avoid it at all costs. We asked MaSha if she might want some one-on-one time with our sweet angel baby....she did! So I went to the mountains, Thomas, Stokes and William went to Knoxville and Ryan stayed here in town with his MaSha. It was definitely strange for us to all have been so spread out.

A couple of good things that came out of the weekend:

• Ryan got some real 1:1 time for an entire weekend. That NEVER happens for more than a few hours at a time. I felt like that would be really beneficial and special for him.
• Thomas discovered that he could take a road trip on his own, which also gives me courage to possibly attempt this in the future...maybe...one day.
• Stokes and William got to see their Knoxville family, including their Great Granddad, who is 92 years young.
• I got time with my best friends and we had a blast.

Good things, good things.

In Knoxville, TN...
The boys played outside in the backyard, got to go to a baseball where Taylor and friends sang the National Anthem (they only stayed through the third inning b/c it was cold), hung out with their cousins and several other family members, visited PetSmart to see the animals, went out to lunch, got to see Granddad's house, and just had such a great time. Y'all would not believe the lengths that Ashley goes to when the boys come to town. This is the second time these two have been to Knoxville, and she once again secured pack n plays, borrowed boy toys - trucks and such - from neighbors, and had snacks and food that are perfect for the boys. She is too much.

Playing in the backyard

Reading stories before bedtime

I cannot handle the cuteness here.
I really can't.
William snuggled up to Anna
while she reads him a book.

Taylor, William, Anna and Stokes at Granddad's house

Taylor and the boys with the Tennessee Smokies mascots at the baseball game

Being good little car riders on the way home on Sunday

Thanks to Ashley and family for making this such a fun weekend for our crew!

Meanwhile at home...
MaSha took such good care of Ryan. I know they got to run an errand or two, she helped him walk in his gait trainer, and they went to church. I think he probably just enjoyed having all the attention to himself for several days! I asked MaSha to take some selfies throughout the weekend so I could document our weekend, even while we were apart. She kindly obliged.

Saturday morning after breakfast

Playing with this bunny toy

Ready for church

Sweet MaSha and sweet Ry-ry

Thank you, MaSha, for letting us go out of town while feeling relaxing knowing that Ryan is safe and secure. You're wonderful!

Meanwhile in Blue Ridge, GA...
We stayed at Adam's mountain house. I cannot do this place justice with descriptions alone. In fact, my pictures don't even capture the true essence of this awesome house. I went on a tour with my camera and basically took pics of every room. Please don't mind all of our bags and junk that we put everywhere when we arrived!

Living room

Living room

Loft bedroom

Loft bathroom

Porch

Porch - they have a tv that can be
mounted above the fireplace! Comfy seating
a fireplace...ahhhhh

Porch again.
Somehow I missed taking a picture, but just to confirm,
there IS indeed a hot tub. No, we didn't get in it. :(

Kitchen

Kitchen (and all of our junk)

Master bedroom

Stairs to basement

Basement common room

Basement common room
This couch pulls out into a queen bed, and this is where I slept!

Basement bathroom

Basement bedroom

Adam, me and Diane in the kitchen

So the evening we got to the mountains, we hung out for a while at Adam's house, took a walk and then headed to the downtown area of Blue Ridge and had dinner at Chester's. It was delish! They had the best chicken wings - seriously. And that is coming from someone that travels to Buffalo a lot for work! After dinner, we came on back home and talked more until it was bedtime for all of us!

On Saturday morning, Colby, Nator and I took Adam's dog on a nice long walk around Adam's cabin. When we got back I got to FaceTime with all my boys! Don't you just love FaceTime?!?!?!

William

Stokes

Ryan - he thought it was funny and kept
smiling and laughing!

Shortly afterward, we all piled in the car and drove about 15 minutes to a hiking area. We hiked for about an hour and although it was chilly, it was so nice to get some fresh mountain air and a little exercise!

After our hike, we got ready for the day and headed back downtown for lunch and a little shopping and exploring.

We did a beer and wine tasting at a local Tasting Room
while we waiting for a table at the lunch restaurant

We were famished after our hike and all had big lunches! After lunch, we wandered around a little and went into some cute boutiques and did some window shopping. Downtown Blue Ridge is really pretty cute!

Group selfie!!!

Some sweet lady saw us struggling with our selfie and offered to take our picture :)

After leaving downtown, we hit up the grocery store to get ingredients for dinner and then came back to Adam's to spend the rest of the evening there.

Adam and his beautiful dog, Mr. Z

Nator and me

Adam making guacamole

YUM! It didn't last long.

Diane and Nator

Adam and Colby on dinner prep

Delicious salad bar for dinner

Singing and dancing ensued

Later we played Cards Against Humanity :)
Nator's not sleeping, probably just laughing at something
Colby said (can't you tell she's being mischievous!??!)

Thank you, Adam, for hosting us again at your fabulous "retreat". It was amazing.

Coming back on Sunday, I was so glad to see all my boys again. I really missed them a lot over the weekend. From the stories I heard about the boys and from my experience in the mountains, everyone had an awesome weekend!