Day 1 – June 3, 2015
Cumming, GA – Elizabethtown, KY
379 miles, 6 hours 115 minutes
Chilly, overcast and in the low 70s
Mike and Dana’s
They day started off slow for me, because after tucking the
kids last night, I had a few more hours of preparation before I finally fell
into bed at midnight. At 4 a.m. this morning, an alarm went off in Hunter’s
room. One of the kids had set it, because I guess they were excited and wanted
to get an early start. Me? Not so much. I was tired and rolled over and fell back
asleep.
We ended up leaving at 9a.m., which was late, but it was
fine – we missed all the Chattanooga and Nashville traffic. Our drive to
Kentucky was very uneventful. The kids were exceptionally well behaved and I
was chill. Still pretty tired. For our first stop, we were staying with family
friends whom we hadn’t seen in quite a while. We arrived at Mike and Dana’s
around 3:15, and they pulled up five minutes later. Despite the chilly temperatures,
the kids wanted to swim. Their pool was heated, so it was doable. I caught up
with Dana, while the kids swam.
L&B came over for dinner and brought their baby, the
sweetest little nine month old. Oh, my heart. I love babies. Cammy, however,
does not. When he was younger he’d get very upset whenever I’d hold someone’s
baby and adamantly insisted that there not be a fifth Smith baby. He has not
changed his stance - and told me so in no uncertain terms. He emphatically stated
that “it was torture” to see me cooing over the baby. Audrey explained that I couldn’t
help it, because the baby was so cute – and Camden replied, “That’s what makes
me nervous.” I reluctantly gave up the baby.
We had a great dinner and talked. After dinner, we went down
the street to see Michael, Janelle, and their kids (Rich’s Kentucky family and
where he stays when he’s in town for work). Michael is Mike’s oldest child.
They have the cutest kids, but I inexplicably forgot to take pictures of all
six kids together. They had a blast – but alas, it was much too short a visit.
Mike hired Rich and lured him to Atlanta when we were
dating. He was our Atlanta touchstone in the early years and we were the three
musketeers. We adore his children – all now adults. When he married Dana we were
blessed with even more family. Sadly, I don’t get to see everyone as often as
Rich does. Our visit was too short – it was like a whirlwind, really.
That’s all I have. My kids were so well behaved that I don’t
have any juicy stories. Bear is a little off, I’m not sure what’s up. I hope
he’s not homesick, because we have miles to go before we sleep…
Cammy's all ready!
Off we go!
Baby fix!
Dinner time.
Roasting marshmallows!
