Trip Highlights

I drove. It wasn't bad.

I let the girls (and Alan) pack their own suitcases. They were ready to pack about a week before we left. I made them wait until the day before. Holly packed everything fine - including a sweatshirt. Alan packed a pair of pjs and some polly pocket clothes. I assumed from Holly's bag that Julia's was also fine, but I repacked Alan.

Julia packed 1 pair of underwear. But then I didn't pack anyone (including me) a warm jacket or a swim suit - although I was counting on the hotel pool for some entertainment. One trip to Walmart set all that right.

The girls and their cousins set out to rescue lots of worms from the hotel parking lot (it rained a lot the first half of our trip). They filled up 11 styrofoam cups with dirt and worms. And then put them in the car. Only 2 cups spilled as I was rethinking allowing worms in the car. We narrowed the worms to 2 cups.


We went to the Knoxville Zoo one day. The red panda was an all around favorite. The interactive kid play zone was also handy when it started raining more steadily than a drizzle. I did not like paying $2 for water - buying the kid souvenir cup was the cheapest way to get a drink apparently.

I also happened to run into an old friend who was out for a run as I drove through town one afternoon and got to stop and catch up for a few minutes.

It was a good trip. And worth every minute in the car and every kick from whichever bed buddy won the privilege of sleeping with me.