Water time fun, TN style

 We left IL rain and went to TN.  We did have some rain in TN but it would pass over rather quickly.  We hiked to this waterfall.  We did this on our first day because Mary and John were with us.  Mary and John, like us, had arrived on Friday night.  On Friday night they got a call that her mom had fallen and broken her arm.  They stayed on Saturday and hiked with us but then left on Sunday to tend to Mary's mom.  It was so sad for her mom and we we're disappointed to see them go.  The good news is Mary's mom has a very good prognosis and is doing quite well.  Anyway, we hiked on our first day, the guys went to a shooting range and us girls took the kids to the rope swing and we went to the winery.  That night we enjoyed a fish fry.  We packed a ton into that first day but it was because we knew Mary and John only had that one day to do stuff.  We were exhausted by Saturday night but we sure enjoyed the fun together that day!

 I love this picture.  It makes me laugh.  Jay is staring off at who knows what, Nick is about to fall off the rock and Faith and Curtis are just hanging on.  The picture below cracks me up too. 

 There is a funny story behind this picture also.  This year my mom joined us so she could get a taste of what TN is all about and why we love going so much.  It was a joy to have her along and she had a good time.  I texted my sister this picture of mom and she teased me, poking at me, asking me what kind of daughter was I, that I would set our mother up on the side of a road by a guard rail.  I pointed out to Kim that she was just fine, I had given the woman a cocktail after all.  Actually my mom was watching the boys on their famous rope swing (hence the pictures below).  The rope swing was another hit this year - go figure. 

 The kids at The River Rat.  We didn't tube this year (because I HATE it, just kidding, I do hate it but that's not why we didn't tube, frankly, the kids never asked about doing it this year). 

Love this picture.  It's hit or miss with my kids and the pool.  But this day, they were happy to be swimming and we did a lot of swimming after dark, which they loved!