We left Wednesday night after work to head to Cloudland Canyon in north Georgia. It was the start of the official Kelley family vacation with us, BT's parents, BT's sister, her husband, and our two nephews from Memphis, and BT's other sister, her husband, and their four kids in town from their mission work overseas.
There are a few things I learned on the trip: #1: it never fails that I get sinus infections at the most inconvenient times; #2: it is absolutely impossible to get seven kids under the age of 8 to all smile and cooperate for the camera at the same time; and #3: Rock City and Ruby Falls is such a completely wonderful tourist trap. I can't believe I lived thirty-two years without going!
When we got to the cabins on Wednesday night, we basically got moved in, and got in bed. We didn't get there until about 10:00 Wednesday night. Too bad I woke up at 1:30am feeling SICK. My throat hurt, I felt a fever coming on, and my sinuses were killing me. I know the drill TOO WELL, so I knew what was in store.
Either way, I sucked it up on Thursday and all fifteen of us headed to the Chattanooga Aquarium. We had a great time. We've been a couple of times before but always have a great time. It's a GREAT aquarium, and downtown Chattanoogs is so much fun to walk around and enjoy.
Getting ready to go to the Aquarium...
The two littlest cousins, Thomas & Sarah Kate, five months apart.
Ethan was so excited for the pengiun statues, and even more excited when we told him that if he walked a little further he would see "real" penguins.
I hit my limit near the end of the Aquarium, and so we left to go home. I was feeling AWFUL. We got back to the cabins, where I took my temp, only to find out I had a 101 degree fever. I went to bed at 8:00 that night (that's 7pm our time), and slept until 9:30 the next morning. When I woke up still not feeling good, I knew the only two options were to either pack up and go home, or for us to find a doctor's office. SO...BT and I drove forty minutes to the urgent care clinic in Ft. Payne, AL for me to sit and WAIT AND WAIT only for them to tell me what I already knew. I had a sinus infection. Luckily after what I have grown to call the miracle shot, and after getting my antibiotics filled, we were back to the cabin by mid-afternoon. The rest of Friday was spent relaxing at the cabins, and all the kids and dads went hiking and had some fun watergun fights. I spent that afternoon in bed, so sadly, no pictures from that day.
Saturday was a MUCH better day for me. I felt great, and we packed up early and headed out to Rock City and Ruby Falls. Again, how have I not been there? I LOVE cheesy touristy things (I'm a sucker for Gatlinburg), and these two attractions were totally fitting the bill. Thomas LOVED it all. Here are a few pics from Rock City before the bottom fell out of the sky and we had to wait out the rain in the fudge shop.
After Rock City, we all went out to eat at a fantastic restaurant in Lookout Mountain, TN. It's called Cafe on the Corner, and it was delicious. Thomas was in RARE form, even though his personality is totally hysterical these days. He's turning into quite a clown, and LOVES LOVES LOVES to get as much attention as he can. And he definitely got that from his cousins, especially sweet Emma. They had so much fun at lunch and entertained all of us the entire time.
After lunch we headed to Ruby Falls, and had a great time there. Thomas was perfect the entire time, and by the time we left the caves, he was sacked OUT. That's a sign of a great day.
This morning, for Father's Day, T wore an "I heart my Dad" tshirt, and we all did a big father's day breakfast at one of the cabins. On a side note, I'm so grateful Thomas has such a wonderful dad. Happy Daddo's Day to my daddo, too! That's all the cheese I can muster up. Sorry if you were expecting more.
To top it off, we got home this morning and had a package waiting on our door from Thomas' great Aunt Becky in Phoenix full of all kinds of new outfits for T! I was SO excited, and I know Thomas is going to love wearing his new clothes! Thanks so much Aunt Becky!
Here are just a few more random pictures from the weekend. Know it's been a long post, but I wanted to get it done tonight otherwise I knew it wouldn't get done. Hope you had a great weekend!
