Family Vacation

The "guest house" in Chattanooga.
First night on the town in Chattanooga.
Beautiful Shelly
Betina, Shelly and I
"Home base" for the festival

My sweet Judson
Cheeeese!
Todd and his mini-me, Judson
Mama's girl
Playing in the garage pool.

Warning: This is a long post. Before reading you may want to use the restroom, make up a snack, and get comfy.

It's been a week now since we returned from our family vacation, visiting Todd's family. We started our drive to Nana and Papa Sloan's on Saturday, June 7th. Todd accidentally took us on the scenic route. He was bored with driving on the interstate so he decided to take an early exit and see where it would take us. We finally made our way back to familiar roads and to Bobby and Kathey's around 5:00. We got settled in and had a great dinner and then relaxed for the evening. Sunday Todd and I took the kids down to the pool and hung out for a few hours. Judson is just loving the pool! Later that night Todd and I went to see the new Indiana Jones movie. I haven't seen any of the older ones, but this one was ok. I probably wouldn't rent it and watch it again, but it was a movie with out animation so I was happy.


Monday, while the kids were napping Kathey and I tried to go to some cute antique shops that are just down the road, but unfortunately they were both closed on Mondays so we headed to a good alternative, Tuesday Morning. I didn't get anything there, but Kathey bought the kids a cute clock for the playroom.


After dinner that night Kathey and I headed back out for a little more shopping at Ross so that I could find something fun to wear while Todd and I were in Chattanooga. It was a successful trip. I managed to get 2 shirts, a cute summer dress, a hat and a really cute purse. Yippy! The bag was the most expensive thing I bought and it was only $25.


Tuesday morning Todd and I got packed up, kissed the kids, wished Bobby and Kathey good luck and took off for Chattanooga, only a little over an hour away. That's where Todd's sister Shelly lives and where they were holding their annual Riverbend Festival on the river. We were so excited! Todd's parents bought a couple fixer upper houses. They've all been working so hard them and they've done a great job. Shelly lives in one and then right next door is the "guest house" where Todd and I stayed. It was great! Chattanooga has a very small town vibe, which I loved. Everything was within walking distance. Of course I would always prefer to drive, but I hung in there and got some much needed exercise.


Tuesday night we went to a birthday party for one of Shelly's closest friends. The whole group was so nice and the food was wonderful. Thanks Molly for letting us crash your party!


We slept in Wednesday and then went out for a site seeing walk. We crossed the walking bridge over the river, walked down by all the boats coming in for the festival, cooled off with a drink at Blue Plate and then headed back to the house. While Todd and Shelly ran some errands I took a shower and then a nice nap. After they got home we ate dinner and headed down to the festival where Josh Turner was going to preform. If you don't like country you won't know most of the bands we heard, but I really enjoyed them.


Shelly has friends who own a 55 foot yacht. They were the sweetest people. They let us use it as a kind of "home base". We could store our drinks in their cooler, use their bathroom, instead of the nasty port-a-potties and just hang out and relax on the water. Every night after the music we would head down and hang out with them for an hour or so. It was great! Todd got very excited about his dream of us retiring on a boat some day. We shall see.


Thursday we just spent relaxing at the house. That night we saw ZZ Top. In fact Todd was physically blocked by one of their body guards while trying to leave the men's room while they were passing by. It was crazy. I only knew a couple of their songs, but considering how old they are they were really good.


Friday was spent sleeping in, again. Yippy! We spent the afternoon going through this huge antique shop near by. Todd reluctantly came along, but ended up enjoying himself. I was looking for some more pieces of milk glass to add to my collection of my Grandma Risch's and at the very last booth found a set of 6 juice glasses and a pitcher in the hobnail style that I love. It made my day!


I was looking forward to Friday night's music the most. Little Big Town played first. They were awesome! They are one of my new favorites. If you don't know they are a group with 2 girls and 2 guys who sing in awesome 4 part harmony. They have a kind of blue grass style to them. I loved it. Rodney Adkins played after them. His songs have a good message, but they should have had him play first because Little Big Town was a hard act to follow.


Saturday morning Todd and I packed back up, hugged Shelly, the sweetest tour guide and sister-in-law, and headed back to Canton. We were so excited to see the kids. We went out to Bobby's favorite BBQ place for dinner that night and then out to ice cream after.


Sunday morning we packed the van for the last time and headed back to Charlotte. We had such a wonderful vacation. All of it! We plan on making it an annual event. Thanks Bobby, Kathey and Shelly! We love you!!