We headed out around 10:30 a.m. for Pigeon Forge. Around lunch time Gary asked Anna Claire and I if we would like to have lunch at Cracker Barrel. Anna Claire, quite politely, responded, "Well, I guess crackers are okay!" I guess she thought she was having crackers for lunch. And, she was so good-natured about it. In fact, she was good natured the whole trip until her little episode when it was time to leave the chalet for Shane's wedding. We seriously thought Shane would be late for his own wedding. But, that's another Anna Claire story for the future!
For the two days driving I think Anna Claire watched the same "Clifford" or "Dora" dvd for 12 driving hours!
We arrived at the chalet sometime early that afternoon. That day was a blur. Shane met us and he and Gary immediately left to go to the airport to pick up Brent, Jessica and Bennett. While they were gone Sancy and Johnny and John and his family arrived.
Our view
Sancy and Johnny
John, Mother, Patrick, Jack
Mother and John on the deck
The wonderful time would not have been possible without Mother and Jack
John, Jill, William, Patrick
Now, here's a story. A week or so before we left I emailed all the family with a list of questions, such as, favorite drink, snack, breakfast, lunch, dinner. I then put all the responses on a spreadsheet (I am very organized!) and told everyone that I would have all of their favorites.
In the meantime my Mother (Nana) told me to NOT cook! Happily I minded my Mom. But...I told her not to bring the drinks, I would take care of that. Well, I arrive to the chalet with no drinks, snacks, or food. Sancy and Johnny and John and his family are all there by 5:00 p.m. Mother is not there. She (Mother) arrives at 7:00 p.m. I can't tell you how many times Sancy kept asking me "And, Betsy, where are the drinks?" We were so thirsty and hungry. When Mother and Jack arrived all of us rushed to her car to help unload it.
Mother, Will and Brent Enjoying the View
Actually, I had planned to go to the grocery store after I arrived. No one told me; however, that the chalet was at the TOP of the mountain and to get to it you had to drive a curvy one-lane road. Once I made it to the chalet I had no intention of driving DOWN that mountain.
Then, I was assured that the chalet slept 12. Well, that's stretching it a bit. Sancy and Johnny slept in the game room on the floor one night and then on the couch another night!
Meghan, Jess's sister, put together a recipe book for Jess. Meg emailed me a long time ago and asked for recipes. I asked Shane what his favorite was and he couldn't remember me making anything. I called Brent...same response. I am an honest person. I did make spaghetti probably once a week while both boys lived at home. I used Ragu sauce and ta da!....spaghetti. I put that in the recipe book. Again, I'm an honest person. I make brownies using a mix. I put that in the recipe book. I even found some recipes that had my mother's name on them....yes....I put those in the recipe book. Well, my sister and mother were appalled that I put those things in the recipe book. That's the way I cook...I don't know what else to say. Cooking was not my specialty. My sister kept telling me how embarrassed I should be and my mother kept telling me that she didn't even remember cooking some of the things in the recipe book that had her name on them.
I will know better next time I'm asked for a recipe. Believe me, I'll find something that requires you to separate eggs (that's probably not the terminology but you know what I'm talking about), or will require yeast. Hey, I bet the next recipe I give someone will be something like this: home-made banana rum ice cream in individual cheesecake pans over chocolate rum-raisin cake then topped with rum and almond "twinkle." (I googled "difficult recipes" and that's what I got!)
Sancy works so hard in getting Anna Claire to open up to her. She spends a fortunate on toys on that little girl! When she arrived she gave Anna Claire a beautiful purple (she knew purple was her favorite color)doll and some bubbles. I know Sancy probably drove 30 - 40 miles to find that doll. Anna Claire looked at it and said "I don't want it." She didn't even want the bubbles. Poor Sancy!
Anna Claire doesn't have much to do with Shane but I don't think she liked McKenzie loving so much on Shane. The first time she saw McKenzie loving on Shane she just stared and had this look, like "Hey, what are you doing?" Bennett, well, he'll go to anyone that has food in their hand.
Johnny writing Betsy a check (my favorite picture)
John asked Jill to take a picture as proof that he really did pay his share on mother's GPS. Sancy, John and I went in together to get mother a GPS for her birthday. At the chalet John asked me if I told mother it was from all three of us. Just kidding, I told him no. He asked "Because I haven't paid my share?" I said "Yes. I told mother it was just from Sancy and me." He told Jill to get the camera because he wanted proof that he paid his share.
My family is so special. We may give each other a hard time but we are always there for each other, no matter what. Everyone had to drive long distances (some 9 hours, some 12 hours 20 minutes!) and they could have easily backed out because of the distance. However, I think my family would have been there...invited or not.
We are such a close knit family. I have never laughed so much in my life. William and Patrick stayed up late playing pool. Sancy screamed at them to stop making so much noise playing pool. One night the air plug came out of the air mattress and Patrick ended up sleeping right on the floor. We drank a lot of coffee, ate a lot of cookies, soup (homemade by Nana), potato soup, casseroles, etc.
Patrick playing pool
Patrick and Sancy loved the hot tub and they kept begging all of us to join. We didn't. It was late.
Bennett kept throwing balls off the deck and Patrick would retrieve them. Patrick and Bennett have really bonded. I imagine Patrick bonds with everyone though.
Gary, Betsy, Shane and Anna Claire at Amusement Park
William posing for, hopefully, a new Facebook picture. If you see a picture that you think he should use, let me know.
Gary got some good pictures of Shane and Jess
Jill and Jessica went running down the hill and walking up the hill (I'm assuming!) Shane left to go running and I quietly whispered "Please come back." He just smiled, which he did a lot this week, and left. Shane brought Jess by the second day and somehow I missed her. However, everyone was talking about her glow.
And, that's just the first TWO days!
John and his family headed to Florida right after the wedding. Mother and Jack headed home the next day and so did Sancy and Johnny. Gary and I took Brent, Bennett and Jessica to the airport and then we headed home with Anna Claire. For some weird reason Anna Claire did not want to watch tv in the car. Instead, our 13 hour drive home went something like this..."Ma, remember when.....?" It was "Ma, remember when I flew from India to Oklahoma and how long it took?" "Ma, remember when we went camping..." We also listened to XM Kids and Little People cd's. I could see her in the mirror and she was singing to ALL the songs. Even when the music quit she continued singing "The Wheels on the Bus" and other songs. She also asked me if we could take another trip when Bennett was older so that he could ride with us.
No comments:
Post a Comment