Road Trip!!

Lindley's the drummer all the way right.

Today we head for the family reunion vacay in Gatlinburg!  But first was a stop to see Lindley's spring end-of-the-year music program.  She and her fellow classmates sang and danced and drummed and jumped and rang their hearts out. Afterwards we all watched photos from this year's class activities and had snacks.  It was a great program and a lot of fun.

Once that was over, it was time to hit the road! Due to varying schedules from the male members of our side of the family, there was some discussion and planning about who was going when and how.


Before the music program, I had packed my stuff in my little Prius, then picked up Lynnette and loaded their stuff into my little Prius. We had just enough room to squeeze Lindley in. Although Maribeth was planning to leave when we did, we weren't sure about when Mathieu and Everley would get back from a trip to Starkville. We weren't sure if Mathieu would be going with us. Once the music program was over, we checked in with Maribeth, and found out that Mathieu and Everley were close to returning home, and that Matheiu wouldn't be going to Gatlinburg until tomorrow. So Lynnette, Lindley, and I went to Maribeth's, unloaded all our stuff into Maribeth's minivan, and waited for Mathieu and Everley.

The are expressions of joy not terror! Really!

Once they arrived, we changed Everley's clothes (she had fallen asleep and needed a fresh outfit for the trip), made sure everyone had a potty break, and headed out. We had packed snacks for everyone with one exception - we had forgotten to pack drinks, which necessitated our first stop about 30 minutes later. And then our second stop was about an hour later, when we needed some food for dinner, which we ordered at the drive thru and ate in the parking lot (we didn't have time to have a playground break). Being fully fed and hydrated, we managed to make the rest of the trip without stops, and eventually landed at the cabin around 9 or 10pm (depending on which time zone you prefer). My brother John, his wife Anne, and their older son David (who planned this whole thing) were already there. My niece Lucy, her husband Jonathan, and their daughter Tilly got in before midnight. And this is about half of who's coming! The rest of the crew are coming in on Thursday and Friday.

Anyhow, once we all got in, we found our rooms and turned in for the night. Tomorrow we go to Dollywood!!

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Today is a gift because:  watching Lindley's music program; loading and unloading the cars; stops on the way; huge cabin and finding our rooms on the bottom floor