On a Monday

It's been two weeks since we set out, very early on a Monday morning, for the long drive to our first family vacation in the mountains of Virginia where Wes grew up.  We'd been planning this trip for a long time.  I looked into it last summer, wanting some time with just the immediate family, but Wes couldn't work it out with his schedule, I was traveling a lot with the kids otherwise, and  neither of us was sure if it would be worth it with Emme so young. So we put it off.  When the spring came around, I hounded Wes about it again, and this time he jumped at it.  We found a week in June when he had not shifts or call for research studies, booked the cabin, and spent weeks preparing for it -- Wes by telling people for weeks that he would be unreachable for the duration, me by making various lists of things to take.

The day before we left was a little stressful.  Wes slept in a little after working a late shift, then had to go into the office to finish his charts, see a research study patient, and make sure things were prepared for him to be out.  I tried to pack with two tired and whiny children.  By late that evening, as Wes and I packed his mother's (bigger) car, I was questioning whether this was going to be the First Annual Self Family Vacation to the cabins or the One and Only Self Family Vacation to the cabins.

We put the kids to bed early, if mostly for our own sanity, and followed them shortly thereafter, hoping to get an early start.  Wes and I were at odds about when to leave.  I wanted to leave around 3am to get some driving in before the kids woke up, when it was still dark and the roads would be light.  He wanted to sleep.  I told him I would wait for the alarm unless I woke up on my own.  And sure enough, around 2:30am, I woke up, woke him up, and he begrudgingly agreed to go ahead and leave.  He strapped the double stroller onto the roof of the car, we took out some food items we were taking up, and Lucy make a visit to the backyard before we got the kids up, changed them, and tucked them into their carseats.  Everyone was asleep soon thereafter, except for me, who was very alert driving in the pitch black and pouring rain.

We stopped in Knoxville, about 3 1/2 hours later, at a very questionable Shoney's (though I'm not sure there are Shoney's that aren't questionable), then again an hour later at a McDonald's for coffee and some time on the playground, and then an hour after that in Abingdon to buy groceries.

If it's not evident from the pictures, the cabin we stayed out was in a very rural area.  The closest gas station is at least 15 minutes on some windy roads, and the closest full grocery store is about an hour away.  We'd planned a menu ahead of time, brought some oils, sauces, and condiments, and then did a big grocery run at a Kroger at the last big town on I-81.  It's fair to say that after buying groceries, the car was very full.

I think it was about a nine or so hour drive including the stops, and everyone did very well.  The kids slept some in the morning, and Emme naps a little after the McDonald's stop.  Both were fairly content, though we did take Emme's (otherwise retired) pacifier for some insurance.  Even Lucy, shockingly, did well in the car.  She didn't seem bothered by the very small area she had on the floor and didn't look car sick at all.  (Mind you, this is a dog who pretty regularly vomited on car trips for nearly her whole life.)  The weather when we arrived, and really all week, was perfect -- 78-80 degrees, no humidity, no bugs.  It was overcast the first and part of the second day, but was pretty clear and nice the rest of the week.  It got cool at night, but the days were wonderful.

When we first got there, we checked out the cabin and property.  The hot tub was not working (and didn't the whole week), which was disappointing, but otherwise everything was as we expected.  Oliver wanted to touch the water, and Emme began a weeklong fascinating with picking "flowers" (including weeds with any kind of bloom).  Oliver threw the first few of many rocks into the creek.

And that was pretty much the first day.  We were going to do ribs, but the grill was out of gas and we didn't want to run out to exchange it.  So we had hot dogs.  Everyone went to bed early.  We tried both kids in the second bedroom, with Emme in her playpen, but they kept playing with each other, and we had to move her out.  She ended up sleeping all night in our room and was very fussy.  I actually let her use the pacifier again that night, and she still woke up crying several times.  Even Lucy found her way into our room thanks to a storm.  I don't if anyone in our room slept well that night, but Oliver woke up quite refreshed after a night in a big bed all to himself!

The "snake hole" series

The many faces of Emmeline Self

Yes, indeed, they do

Everyone likes ice cream

Pomp and circumstance

His certificate

Oliver "graduated" swim school yesterday.  He just did a block of lessons, three days last week and four days this week.  He did the same class as last year, an introductory one.  They recommend the class for ages three and up, and he was only 2 1/2 when he did it last year.  Plus he cried the first day or two, and so it took him some time to get used to it.  I probably could have moved him up, but since we did the class at the beginning of the summer, I wasn't sure how comfortable he would be.  I may sign him up for the Beginner 1 class later this summer, when Emme does her lessons.

Ollie is doing really well in the water now.  He is still very hesitant on his back, but I could see him get slowly more comfortable over the course of the lessons.  He's not all afraid to get his face wet, go underwater, or even be by himself in the water for a short time.  I'm trying to get him to let go of me in the water now, either with floaties or a life vest on.  I know kids don't learn to swim with those devices, but I only use them a little, just to encourage his independence and get used to being separated from me.  I think by the end of this summer, with enough time in the water, he might be able to paddle a short way.  I'm hoping that by next summer he'll be able to make it a short distance on his own, lifting his head to breathe.  It's hard teaching a kid to swim when they have such inconsistent access to the water, but I want to make sure all of them learn eventually, even if it's not their sport or favorite thing to do.

His t-shirt, which he wore to school today

Emme was supposed to do the parent and child class with me at the same time as Oliver's class, but her leg has healed so slowly that Wes didn't want her in the water.  Unfortunately, that meant several days of baby wrangling (and with Emme, it's fair to call it wrangling) in a warm, humid, wet space.  We rescheduled her for later in the summer.  She loves the water, and unlike Oliver, has absolutely no fear of it (to her own detriment, I fear!).  I think she'll really like getting in, so long as I can keep her warm enough in the cool water.

Most exciting to Oliver in this class -- his friend Curtis from daycare was in the same swim class, and his friend Keegan came the session after!

Treehouses at Cheekwood Botanical Gardens: Highlight reel

Love this dress on her!

With daddy and Grammy Kay

Atop the waterfall

In the pagoda