We also had a reason to be in Tennessee a few weeks ago to spread my grandfather's ashes on his birthday, so we decided to pull the kids from school for a week to enjoy and explore the areas. We headed down past Chicago on a Thursday night and made it down to Tennessee by late Friday. I was amazed at how well the children rode the entire trip. We had barely any tears through the entire trip ... at least due to car rides.
This was the first time the boys met my grandmother (and much of the family on my mom's side). They were welcomed with open arms, and Teddy couldn't have been more excited to see a lawn mower sitting in the yard. My aunt alternated her time between giving Teddy rides on the mower and playing games with AJ. Both boys adored her, and I appreciated the chance to visit with some of my family while they were playing with her.
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| Teddy spent much of his time on this lawn mower, along with anyone he could grab. |
Saturday and Sunday were family-filled days with perfect weather. It was really neat to spend time with family that I rarely see and actually get to know one of my cousins. (AJ was completely smitten with her and describes her as my really nice cousin who likes cats a lot.)
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| Teddy snuggling for a moment with his great grandma under the supervision of his uncle. |
We had talked about having my parents keep the boys for one day, and I even got them to agree to taking them overnight. However, that overnight was something that sounded good in theory but not in real life when Teddy doesn't sleep on vacation. So, we kept Teddy for the overnight with plans to meet in the morning to drop off the boys. That didn't happen because we spent 2 hours in the middle of the night up with a feverish Teddy working to get him soothed, medicated, monitored and back to sleep ... while looking up walk-in clinics and the nearest ER just in case. That sickness threw a wrinkle into our trip, but we managed to avoid anything worse than fever, constant running nose, coughs and less than $50 between the doctor visit, pharmacy and over-the-counter meds.
So, Dave and I didn't get our day away from the boys because we wanted to keep a close eye on Teddy. We did that by hiking up the side of a mountain to a waterfall. It was a fantastic hike, despite the rain all the way down. We met up that evening for dinner with my family at one of our very few restaurant meals. Teddy does not sit well at restaurants unless he's really hungry, so it's just easier to eat snacks while driving and piece together meals in hotel rooms. Trust me, I'm a pro at making mac n cheese, quesadillas, chips and cheese and even whipped up some masterpiece burritos this trip.
We spent Tuesday exploring Great Smoky Mountains as well, getting both boys their Junior Ranger badges. Before we left Wednesday, I ran to the accessible trail head while Dave and the boys ate breakfast. They brought me breakfast, and we enjoyed a family walk at a leisurely pace, stopping to enjoy the snails that we finally spotted.
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| I love how much AJ loves Teddy. He's such a helper. |
Then we headed to Mammoth Caves. We spent some time exploring the land above the caves before heading below the next day for the accessible tour. It's great that there's a tour that makes the cave accessible for nearly everyone since strollers and backpacks of any kind are not permitted. We weren't sure if we'd make it through the entire tour because it's hard for Teddy to sit in his wheelchair for extended periods if we're not constantly moving. We did pretty well for a while, and then we had a phenomenal ranger who let Teddy hold her flashlight and even helped him shine her flashlight at the cave ceiling to look at crystals. She engaged him in conversation and did everything she could to help him enjoy the experience. We didn't make it through the entire tour, though, and had to head to the surface early with a ranger escort. Although that wasn't ideal, I couldn't have been happier with our experience with that ranger. (I did send an e-mail to the National Park Service afterward because I believe positive feedback is critical, not just complaining when something goes wrong.)
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| Teddy's aunt captured this great shot of Teddy. |
The rest of our trip included stops at Lincoln's boyhood and adult homes, where we learned so much about one of our nation's greatest presidents. Seriously, Abe's mom died of milk sickness, which is such a weird thing. Google it. It's interesting.
But the highlight for the boys was the park that Dave and I feel shouldn't be a park, but that's beside the point: Gateway Arch. They both loved the tram ride 630 feet into the sky in the space pod, as we called it. Teddy thought it was so cool that he got to explore the top of the arch and peer out the window surrounded by 80+ of his closest friends. (So many people packed in such a small space!)
We ended our trip with a visit to Indiana Dunes, which we visited last fall when it was a National Lakeshore. It was upgraded to a National Park this winter, so we had to check it off our official list. It was the 50th national park for me and Dave, the 38th for AJ and 36th for Teddy. It also allows us to say we've visited all the national parks in the lower 48 ... again ... for now ... until they upgrade any more ...
Vacations have never been relaxing for us, and they'll continue to evolve over time as we adapt to Teddy's changing needs. For that Disney trip in June, though, I think I need to call Teddy's neurologist to find something that helps that child sleep for the sake of everyone's sanity!
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| I love hiking, even when my pack wiggles, giggles and tries to steal my sunglasses. |
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