After my grandpa was out of the hospital and had gained some strength, my mom drove he and my grandma back up to Tennessee so they could see to the house up there and he could have a follow up with his doctors there. Stella and I met them up there and spent a couple of days with them and running around Tennessee. We went to my favorite park growing up, Bays Mountain...
And of course, had Pals- its a locally owned small chain that is a East Tennessee staple! Their frenchie fries and chocolate peanut butter milkshakes are AWESOME!
Stella continued her horseback riding lessons- learning more and falling in love more each time!
She even got to have a double lesson with Gavin! Both kids loved it and had a great time!
We celebrated Fathers day with both the dads in our lives (sadly we missed out on celebrating with the most important Dad in our lives... but we made sure to celebrate a bit before he went back to Bahrain and we called him lots and made sure he knew how much he means to us!)
I didn't snap any pictures with Steve, but I did get a picture of the awesome Eggplant parm I made him!
And then it was June 22nd... and we started out Stella's birthday celebrations with lots of "7" pancakes....
And then a tummy bug or a food reaction to too much dairy (we still aren't sure) overtook the birthday girl and we were down for the count. I at least got a smile at the end of the day!
So we had cake and celebrated a couple of days later...
We had a massive storm that cracked a tree right by the house and it fell on top of it! The same storm also caused a birds nest to fall out of the fabric pool tent thing so Mom and I rescued some baby birds and put their nest in a basket and secured it high up-- mama and papa bird were quite happy and all the babies survived!
And then it was the end of June and a certain little boy turned 1! Stella and I were so lucky to be there to celebrate Asher's birthday!
After a full party day, we spent the night and went to what was purported to be the best BBQ in the area...
confirmed. It was AMAZING! They had the absolute best fried okra I've ever had in my life! My mouth is watering just thinking about it!
Stella got LOTS of pool time... and so did Angus...
We went to the zoo with family!
And then, to celebrate Dad's birthday (seriously, this is what HE chose...lol)... on the 4th of July we hopped in a plane and flew to Florida to go to Disney again! After such a rough time in the beginning of our trip and all the grief and stress, Dad said we all needed some magic in our lives so off we went!
We flew around some storms and through some pretty epic clouds (thank God for Bonine!)
But the coolest thing to fly over was Disney!
On that first day we checked into our hotel and then headed to Hollywood Studios! Only a few days prior, Toy Story land had opened and I was eager to go check it out! It absolutely was awesome and lived up to the hype! We never got to ride Slinky Dog (the new, big roller coaster at that part of the park), but the whole land was cool! We also got to meet Star Lord and baby Groot!
Day 3 was Epcot... and Dad's birthday! We toured all the countries this time... had Pimm's in the UK, sweet treats in France, alcoholic slushes in Japan, and Beer and dinner in Germany. We also rode some rides we didn't get to last year-- Soarin' was AMAZING! You soar around the world and over some of the most iconic views and landscapes the earth has to offer... and they pump in scents to go with wherever you are. It was quite the experience!
Day 4 was Animal Kingdom. We didn't do this park last year so it was new to all of us. It was also the hottest day there so we were all hot and tired, but it was still fun. We got to ride the Pandora ride and it was SO pretty-- Stella was super excited about that one! We also had dinner at Tusker House and Dad met Donald Duck (he has the best Donald Duck voice ever so this is especially awesome). We were supposed to see the River of Lights show, but a crazy storm blew through and it was canceled...womp womp. BUT... I basked in the downpour knowing we were coming back to the Land of Sand and no rain....
We left on Sunday, sad to leave Disney, but already planning our next trip! Who knew that we'd all end up loving it so much?!
We did make a quick stop at Snack bar, also known as the Longview Country Club....haha! As much as it saddens my little foodie heart to admit it, I love this greasy spoon like you would not believe. This pile of deliciousness doesn't look all that appetizing, but its amazing! Double cheeseburger, no bun, with chili, slaw, and onions.
A few days later these sweet cousins had to say goodbye since they were going to be on vacation when Stella and I left... which is never easy, but they both handled like champs!
They also talked (or maybe that was Me and Carly....lol) Matt Matt into catching the boy duck and letting the kids pet him!
We made a quick trip up to Asheville one afternoon... we had an awesome lunch at a hipster biscuit place... seriously, this place was awesome and super hipster-- they had a jam bar!
But amazing biscuits (and even Gluten Free ones for the celiacs at the table!) and a maple bacon Latte! It was delicious!
The tables were super cute-- window boxes that had little "gardens" planted with greens and fairies and dinosaurs...I told you, hipster.
All that hipster-ness was totally worth it though for the food... I had a biscuit with jalapeño pimento cheese, pulled pork, a poached egg, and a tiny drizzle of maple syrup. Every bite was divine! (Also, their jams were the bomb... peach rosemary was a personal fave!)
We walked around all the shops and made it to my favorite bookstore ever- Malaprop's! Mom and I were actually supposed to go to a book signing with one of our favorite authors ever (Deborah Harkness) and it was when my Nana was dying, so we weren't able to make it. She was amazing though and signed our books anyway so we were able to pick them up! I also found out from one of the booksellers that she was amazing and patient and the most incredible author- she even Skyped with someone who was deployed and wanted to tell her how much her books had meant to him! It makes reading someones work all that much better when you know they're a good human being!
One of my favorite things about Malaprop's... blind date with a bookseller!
I couldn't decide between these two, so they both came home with me! I mean, obviously anything that uses the word "gobsmacking magnificence" has to be read!
That weekend we went to the mountains one last time with Mimi (Grandpa was still in Mexico on business) and we hiked and I channeled my little old lady (her name is Lisa, she's surly, she loves foul language and Bingo- right Rach and Corrine?!) and learned how to play MahJong!
We also got to meet a new member of my mom and dad's household.... Argos! A sweet rescue pup who was shot in the wrist and found on the side of the road. We met him a few days before he lost his leg, but he's now healing and home with his new family and Mom and Dad (and the other pups) seem to be settling in quite well! We can't wait to play with him again when we come back for a visit!
A couple of days after that the time had come for the last of our goodbyes...
I got us all packed up and on the 17th of July and in the midst of loading the car the skies opened up... and about twenty minutes away from the airport, I received a phone call that our flight had been delayed and that we would miss our connecting flight in Boston.
After a rebooking nightmare phone marathon, we found out we were staying another day. We made the most of it and made one last Target and Starbucks run with mom for the year....
and had Thai food (and Stella had Chick fil-a) and shared our favorite curries like we do before we were to head out the next day...
The rest is for a whole other post.......
Didn't get to see you, but I'm still missing you!!!
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