Getting Closer

   We are happy to be at home and are busy getting ready to move into our house. On Monday, December 2, we requested to transfer the funds to pay for the house. They should be in the bank by end of the week. Our closing is scheduled for December 10. On Tuesday, December 3, we went to the house to drop off our utility trailer and get more information from the sellers regarding utilities, septic locations, etc.
   On Wednesday, December 4, we went to gymnastics. The kids had a blast and enjoyed playing with Alex. After gymnastics, we stopped at Home Depot to order washer and dryer (they will be delivered on December 12). We also bought a deep freezer since this was the last day of their sale.
   We returned to Elizabethton and went to the court house to apply for Stevie's and Steve's passports. They should arrive in 4-6 weeks - on time for our cruise to Europe.

 

Thanksgiving Vacation

Thanksgiving Vacation and Santa 2013

This entry is covering our 10 day break from the temporary apartment in Tennessee and our subsequent Thanksgiving time vacation in Florida.  I have made a general timeline of our vacation below.  We have found that it is sometimes difficult to update the blog every night, especially when we have a busy schedule.  Our great time in Florida is as follows:

Wednesday, November 20th
 

We hit the road around 1:00 p.m.  and drove I-26 across the mountains into North Carolina and into South Carolina.  That evening we found a great little Quality Inn hotel in Ridgeland.  The door to our room opened up to a heated indoor pool.  We ate supper at a local seafood restaurant (not impressed with the food), went back to the hotel and had a lot of fun in the nicely heated pool.  Got some good sleep for the next day of driving. 

 

Thursday, November 21st

 

We slept in, ate breakfast at the hotel and then went swimming in the pool again.  We got on the road about noon and drove until we arrived at Sharon and Jack's house.   The stop at Ridgeland was about 330 miles into our trip which was perfect because it was the perfect half way point in our 660 miles trip.  Thursday night we slept at Sharon and Jack's house.

Friday, November 22nd

We ran a few errands during the day and later that evening Kat went to a home school conference in Orlando where she learned a few things and won us 4 free tickets to Lego Land. 

Saturday, November 23rd

 

We dropped Kat off at her all day home school conference in Orlando and then the kids and I stopped by Bass Pro Shop so that I could purchase some ammunition to qualify to carry a firearm under HR 318 (a law that protects retired law enforcement officers by letting them carry concealed weapons).  Santa Claus was at the store but we decided to wait until mommy could be there so that the whole family could enjoy the experience.  I spent the day entertaining the kids and later we picked up mommy.  The kids missed her a lot during the day.

Sunday, November 24th

We drove over to mom's house to visit and work on her back porch.  Mom had bought some pork chops for dinner.  Kat made a great supper with them and a side of broccoli.  Hannah ate most of the broccoli, a new experience for her.  I added a ramp to the back porch that we had built in our previous visit.  Stevie and Hannah helped out a lot, doing a lot of pretend hammering and drilling.  I smashed my left thumb with a hammer during this project (this was not a pretend accident).  Hannah witnessed the incident, so I had to use nice language when expressing how great it felt out loud.  I told her that "really, really, really, hurt bad".  She said, " its o.k. daddy, God will heal it".  

Monday, November 25th

Mom packed up some of her things for a couple of nights at Sharon's house.  We took mom to her Doctor's appointment at Dr. Shirers where she had several potential skin cancers cut off or frozen.  We took mom to the Golden Coral restaurant for lunch.  We rearranged to the sleeping arrangements so that mom had a bed where we had been sleeping.  Kat put Hannah to sleep first and then later in the evening Granny would lie down next to Hannah for the night.  Hannah isn't quite the snuggler as Stevie is, but I think it was still a nice treat for Granny to have such a warm lump of sugar sleeping next to her at night.  I know we enjoy when the kids sneak into our room at night. 

Tuesday, November 26th

Today was an errand and play date day.  I dropped Kat and the kids off at Krista and Justin's house for a play date while I ran errands.  The kids had a great time with Madisen and Morgan.  They missed them a lot and Hannah talks about them often in Tennessee.  I went to the Sheriffs Office Gun Range and qualified with the handgun that I carried during my career as a Deputy Sheriff and received credentials to carry with me.  Then I dropped off health insurance paperwork at the Sheriff's Office and went to my arthritis appointment with Dr. Starke in Tavares.  After picking up the family at Krista's, we had wings at Gators in Clermont.  Stevie and Hannah played some air hockey there.  A good time was had by all. 


Wednesday, November 27th

We had initially planned on going to Lego Land with the tickets that Kat had won at the conference but the weather was wet, windy and cold.  Instead, we hung out with Aunt Sharon and Uncle Jack and then took the kids to see Santa at Bass Pro Shop.  The kids sat on Santa's lap, Stevie told Santa it was "his choice" as what to bring him for Christmas.  Afterwards, we walked over to the Cinema and watched a new Disney movie that had just opened called "Frozen".  It was a great movie for kids and Stevie and Hannah were well behaved during the show.  Hannah stood during most of the movie, literally glued to the screen.  We will probably buy it on DVD later.  We stop and ate at Logan's steakhouse on the way to Sharon's.  

Thursday, November 28th

We celebrated Thanksgiving. Kat got up early to start the turkey at 4:30 AM. David came over that morning to celebrate with us. We had our traditional turkey, dressing and giblet gravy. Mom made her famous potato salad and macaroni and cheese. Sharon made a ham. We also had green beans with almonds. David went back to his house later that afternoon and we stayed at Sharon's and Jack's house.

Hannah helping make the cornbread for the dressing

The girls cooking

 

Granny enjoying her morning coffee

Sharon loves her recliner and iPad

 

Friday, November 29th

This was the day to get packed up. We went to mom's house and spent the day partially with her and partially loading the utility trailer at David's. We loaded the trailer with our four-wheeler, boxes that contained mostly canning supplies and items from the garage. We also brought our food buckets with dry foods and tools.

Saturday, November 30th

We headed back to Tennessee. We called the hotel we stayed in Ridgeland to reserve a room. Since this is one of the busiest days on the roads, we decided to get on highway 301 in Sumterville and not even bother getting on I-75. Shortly after we got on the road, we encountered congestion. Luckily it was only around the Turnpike and I-75 where travelers were getting off the Turnpike because it was backed up. After that it was pretty smooth sailing until the last 20 miles. We were stuck in the traffic for quite a while because the next exit was about 7 miles away. We got off I-95 and took a local road to the hotel. When we arrived, the hotel did not have the room we reserved available and we had to lug our luggage up the stairs. Kat was really irritated with the room situation because we called ahead of time and were promised the room on the ground floor. Once we got settled in the hotel, we went for a swim in the pool.

Sunday, December 1st

We got up, ate breakfast in the room and hit the road as early as we could. Traffic was heavier than usual but was moving well and we arrived at home by 3 PM. It was nice to be home again - even if it is our little apartment. We all enjoyed sleeping in our own beds.

Little Helper

   Hannah is turning into quite the helper. She loves to help with the dishes and has lots of interest in helping with cooking. Here are a few pictures to show her helping.

Hannah was very proud of the salad she made for our family

Colonial Harvest Celebration

   On November 16 we went to Sycamore Shoals to learn more about how the Overmountain people lived in Colonial times. The park hosted Colonial Harvest Celebration with many activities, volunteers dressed in period clothing, militia muster, etc. We met Alex, Kelly and Darin at the park around 10 AM. Stevie was not enjoying himself and later he told Dad that he was worried the Cherokee were going to attack any moment. Stevie has watched the documentary about Sycamore Shoals in the museum and he knew that the settlers fought with the Cherokee. Seeing the militia men dressed up and with guns made him think they were getting ready to protect their settlement from an imminent attack.

Militia Muster and Raising the Colors

Settler making apple butter

Stevie was concerned that an attack by the Cherokee was imminent

 

 

   After the Colonial Harvest Celebration, we went to eat lunch at the Ole Barn. Lunch was very good (as always) and afterwards, Stevie, Hannah and Alex went to play on the playground. We talked and the kids played until it got cold and dark and it was time to go home. What a wonderful day with friends. 

Davy Crockett

   Monday, November 11, 2013
   We made plans with our homeschool group to visit Davy Crockett Birthplace State Park in Greene County. According to weather forecast, the rest of the week was going to be rather cold and we wanted to take opportunity to enjoy the fall weather before the cold front comes through. Over the weekend, we learned who Davy Crockett. To be entirely honest, Stevie was not quite interested. Hannah was excited to color a Davy Crockett coloring page and she also watched clips from movies about Davy Crockett with Daddy.
   Kelly and Alex were the only ones who could make it to this trip. We had a nice picnic by the Nolichucky River and then went to look at the replica of the cabin where Davy Crockett was born.

   Behind the cabin was another smaller structure that the kids loved playing in. We were not quite sure what was its function but it made a great play place. Once we managed to drag the kids out of the log building, we went to the small museum in the park. We watched a short documentary about Davy's youth and then looked at the items on display.
   One of the texts in the museum described what a typical household in the late 18th century owned. It was quite amazing to read that. This was the estate of a Nicholas Gentry who died in 1784:

1 cow, 6 sheep, 1 pot, 1 pound and 3 quarts of pewter, 2 small hoes and an old mattock, 1 ax and 2 plane bits, 1 drawing knife, 1 pair of snippers and a razor, 2 bridle bits, 1 pair of bullet molds, 1 weaving loom, 1 sow, 1 flax wheel, 2 small piggins, 7 table spoons, 1 bedstead and bedding, 1 Bible, 1 spelling book, 1 fat tub, 1 heifer and 1 horse. 

   After the visit to the museum, we walked over to the playground. The kids had a blast and played hard. When we finally got back in the truck, Hannah was very tired and cranky. Luckily she fell asleep pretty quickly.
   Even though Stevie was not interested in learning about Davy Crockett before our trip, when we got home, he spend all evening pretending to be Davy and hunting bears.

Jana and Jana

   We have not had much new to report over the last week with the exception of Jana's and Jana's visit. Jana's cousin Jana from the Czech Republic is visiting for a couple of months and the girls went on a big road trip through out the eastern U.S. We were happy they made our place their first stop. Jana and Jana arrived on Monday, November 4th. They drove all day and when they got to Johnson City they were pretty tired. It did not help that Jana worked all night the night before. We figured that the kids can sleep with us for a couple of nights and Jana and Jana can sleep in their room.
   It never occurred to us to discuss this with the kids ahead of time. Both kids were very upset and despite the fact that they always migrate to our bed some time during the night they insisted on sleeping in their own room. Stevie was especially upset. He finally fell asleep around 10:30 PM and was up at 4 AM the next morning. Of course, since he did not sleep much, he was pretty cranky all day on Tuesday.
   We planned a little outing to show the girls around. First we stopped at Sycamore Shoals Park and Hannah explained to her guests that they had a big fight and the guy died. Her presentation is very dramatic!

 Jana and Stevie are ringing the bell

 Leaves, leaves everywhere

Siesta time

   After visit to Sycamore Shoals, we stopped for lunch at Creeker's BBQ and then we drove by our house on Estep Hollow Road. From there we continued towards Shady Valley and stopped at the parking lot for the Appalachian Trail. The kids were cranky due to lack of sleep so we returned to the truck while Jana and Jana went for a short hike on the trail. 

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Our attempts to take a family picture were rather unsuccessful

At least Jana and Jana got a nice picture on the trail

   Next we drove back towards Elizabethton and stopped to explore a place called Blue Hole. We have seen a sign next to the road and have been wanting to check it out. We found some photos on Google Earth that showed a little waterfall and little swimming hole. Here are our pictures ....

     When we returned home, we watched the Croods and just spent time "hanging out". Jana and Jana got ready to leave first thing in the morning. They had a long drive ahead of them to Washington D.C.

New Recliners and the Big 40 (four-0)

Well, the last few days have been busy and sometimes slow as well.  We received the contract on our property in Elizabethton, read it and then forwarded it to our attorney for review.  Our tentative closing date is on or before December 11th 2013.  This means that we will be in the house and spending Christmas there.  We can't wait, the apartment is nice but it is only a temporary home.  Kat and I have had enough of sitting on the beanbag chairs that we bought as temporary furniture so we purchased a couple of nice matching recliners to give our bones a rest.  As you can see below, the kids think that we purchased the chairs for them.  They own our Ipad as well.

 

 

 

Stevie and Hannah love riding their bicycles/tricycles.  We try to take them to the park as often as possible.  It has also been nice to be able to go swimming at the indoor pool once or twice a week. 

In between these activities there are field trips and home schooling Stevie.  He has really shown a lot of interest in math this week.  It feels great to be retired in the respect that it is November and I have not been at work since August 7th.  It has been great to be home with Kat and the kids and be able to more directly involved in the kids upbringing.  Here we are on one of our park trips just hanging out.

 

 

 

 

We had another huge, I mean really huge event occur in our lives in the last four days.  It was not as traumatic for me and the kids as it was for Kat.  On November 1st, a day that will live in infamy, Kat turned 40 years old.  I have to give to her, she is taking it well.  I tried to cheer her up on her birthday by telling her that she didn't look a day over 39 years old.  She did not seem impressed with the compliment.  Anyway, my lovely wife has not changed a bit since we were married 5 years ago.  She is still as charming as the day I met her and still has that spring in her step.  We are thinking about getting the spring fixed though, lol.  For Kat's birthday, she got to sleep in a little bit, I made two of the three meals that day and the kids gave her lots of extra hugs and kisses.  Kat and I have deferred buying expensive presents for ourselves in lieu of buying this home and planning a trip to the Czech Republic next year.  She is a great person and a wonderful wife.  We are a blessed family in many ways. 



 

 



Field Trip to Bays Mountain Park

   Today was the first "official" field trip of our newly formed homeschool group. We met with moms Kelly, Rachael and Gloria and their kids (mostly boys) in Kingsport's Bays Mountain Park. It is the largest city park in Tennessee (over 3,500 acres). We started out with a picnic lunch and then got our tickets for the barge ride at 3 PM.

   We picked today to go to the park because they feed to wolves every Wednesday at 2 PM. After buying our barge tickets, we went on a little hike along the lake. We watched the otters in their enclosure and owls in the their pavilion. We enjoyed pleasant hiking weather and beautiful fall colors everywhere.

Hannah and her new boyfriend Zander

Hiking along the lake

Albino deer

Five year old boys

Hannah playing with the boys

Hannah was tired or as she put it 

"It was too much walking for her tickly feet"

   We stopped at the wolf enclosure shortly before 2 PM to watch the feeding. The park ranger arrived with their food - about 30 lbs of ground meat, 10 lbs for each wolf. They feed them twice a week on Wednesdays and Saturdays. The ranger explained that wolves eat about 20 lbs of meat once a week in the wild. We waited and waited but the wolves did not come to eat. Apparently they were not very hungry. We walked to the other side of the enclosure to see them.

One of the 3 wolves that live at Bays Mountain Park

   Stevie and Hannah were hungry and we walked over to the truck to get some snacks. After our snack we caught up with the group at the barge landing area. The barge was an oversized pontoon boat and took us on about a 30 minute ride around the lake. 

Hannah on the barge

Beaver lodge

It is about 30 years old and the walls are 2-3 feet thick

Stevie with Evan, Zander and Rachael

   After the barge ride we went into the visitor's center where they had large fish tanks, dinosaur exhibits and a play cave. The kids loved the cave and Stevie requested that we get a house with a cave. After some cave-time we all loaded up in our vehicles and drove home. We were pretty hungry and decided to check out a bar-b-q restaurant near our apartment. We did not like it, it was very expensive and the food was too spicy for the kids to eat. Oh well, lesson learned.