Vacation, day 10

Monday morning we got up and went back to Pat's for breakfast. She had some fantastic oatmeal ready for us with raisins and apples, biscuits with jam, crispy crowns, fruit, once again anything you could want. She cooked up some eggs for the kids too. I can't thank her enough for all the wonderful meals she provided to us during our stay in Tennessee.

Dad was not around, so what to do on this last day of vacation? I talked to Beverly a little about going to check out some thrift stores and antique shops. She was willing to show us around town. Wes and Joanie had spent the night in Calhoun, GA, but they got back in time for us all to go together in the Suburban.

The first place we stopped was The Samaritan Center. Matt pointed out a toy room to me and I took Ellie there. After admiring about 300 used dolls I saw a Breyer horse! What luck! The very first place we go and there it is. Only .75. What a deal! Of course I bought it.

When we got back in the car Ellie clutched it tightly to her and I realized it would likely be added to her collection.

Another place we went was America's Thrift Store. I have never seen such an enormous thrift store before in my life. It is an old Sam's building that has been refilled with second hand treasures. There are shopping carts and check out lanes and everything is in aisles and well organized. I asked Matt to take a photo of the front and he did, after he backed up about a mile. I wasn't sure why he had to back up so far (other than the sheer size of the building) until I saw the photo. He had to make sure to get the sports car in the photo. Irony. Ha ha.

We saw plush rocking horses and little ceramic carousel horses and another bouncy horse like the one dad has at home, but no plastic collectibles for me here.

Brian was working in the neighborhood so he stopped by with his patrol car and a rookie so we could see him one last time and get some photos with "Officer Brian." Levi is holding a little flamingo I found for him to match the bigger one he can't leave home without. He was really excited about that.

Levi got a shake down...

...and my brother got handcuffed. I am sure the other shoppers wondered what was going on.

After multiple thrift stores we found a whole collection of antique stores all in one place. It was awesome! We were running out of time so we quickly rushed through three big antique stores looking for model horses. It was really nice having Beverly help me look, she canvassed one half of the store while I looked in the other half. We found a couple of Breyers that were way overpriced. Levi found this flamingo so we had to get a photo. Then he found a battery-operated train engine for his wooden train set. It was only $3 so I decided to get it for him. He said to me "This is a great store, I really like this store." So cute.

We made it home just in time. Dad and Lee were moving out the furniture. Dad had to move out of his house, on top of everything else he had going on. Pat offered to make us lunch from all the leftovers she had so we feasted again on vegeburgers and fruit from the BBQ Friday evening. Levi ate a whole vegeburger sandwich, much to my surprise.

Our goal was to leave the house by 3 pm and I think we were pretty close to that. We rushed around packing everything up and loading the car. Then we had a 2 1/2 drive back to Nashville to the airport. The kids slept part of the way. We said goodbye to dad and went through the airport with no problems.

Levi watched our plane pull in. We saw all our luggage being loaded.

Joanie kept Natalie occupied with her headphones.

As we were boarding Levi pipes up with "We need a drink on this plane." The other passengers seated on the front row started laughing. They thought he was hysterical. Then a man asked if he meant that his parents needed a drink for the flight. Ha ha.

The flights were fairly uneventful, but long, and I noticed the kids were starting to get sick. Runny noses, a bit of a cough. We landed after 11 pm in Portland and went to pick up our rental car. This time we got a Dodge Avenger. It was pouring down rain and both front windows were all the way down - but it was in a parking garage so the interior was dry. We did notice some streaking down the door panels so we pointed that out to the attendant and he cleaned it up for us. We drove to Wes' and spent the night there. The kids did not sleep well at all, obviously sick by now. Levi woke up crying when he had trouble breathing. It was a rough night.

Vacation, day 9 (Wedding)

Sunday morning was easy going, we went over to Pat's again for a breakfast of crepes with fruit. Fresh blackberries, strawberries, raspberries. Canned cherries, blueberries. Fresh whipped cream, butter, syrup... anything you could want. They were delish! Dad joked that we were not going to remember anything about vacation except Pat's breakfasts.

While there we noticed two framed collages of mileage patches. A patch for each 100,000 safe miles of driving. Lee drives an 18-wheeler for McKee Foods (Little Debbie). Each frame had a million miles worth of patches. I asked Lee if he got in an accident if he would have to start over and he said yes. He said he was up to about 2.6 million safe miles and there were only a couple of drivers that he knew who had reached 1 or 2 million miles.

After visiting a little while we went back to the house and eventually we got ready for the wedding.

Levi looked so handsome in his suit, and Ellie and Natalie looked adorable in their matching dresses, provided by Sharon.

It was impossible to pose all three kids, but we did get some cute shots...

Giggling...

With their little cousin Natalie.

Here is a shot of Wes, Joanie and Natalie Blumenberg

The Bobbitts!

I took this on the drive over to the church. Levi sure loves that flamingo.

Ellie and I walking into the church.

Dads brother Lee was the videographer.

I thought my dad looked especially handsome on his big day. He was helping to organize everyone and greeting people.

Dad with his mom Katie.

I stole a moment for a quick photo with dad and Ellie.

The service was held in the foyer of the Collegdale Community Church. Dad walked in his kids and families, while Hans walked in his siblings. Sharon made her grand entrance from the large staircase to the right and above this photo.

While we waited for the ceremony to begin the kids amused themselves with the drinking fountain...

Ellie showed Natalie how to work it :)

Wes follows the girls as they run off to the reception room.

Levi admired my corsage.

Grandma Katie talking with officiate Brennon Kirstein and dad.

I really liked this photo. Matt took most of the photos you see here.

Levi found a My Little Friend magazine and had me read that to him.

The ceremony was very nice. The kids got a little squirmy at times, so other cousins helped with them so we could remain seated on the front row to watch the vows. We didn't get any photos of the actual ceremony since we were kind of part of the wedding. They wrote their own vows and it was touching and emotional. Long-time friend Lori sang at the conclusion

After the service we shot some personal photos of all the cousins together - L to R: me, Wes, Kim Sturm, Brett Sisler, Michelle [Sturm] Clinton, Becky [Blumenberg] Salinas, Beverly Blumenberg and Brian Blumenberg.

Then we got the same photo with grandma Katie.

Then we added the spouses and kids, which mine were none too thrilled about.

Trying to get a photo of grandma with all her great-grandkids was equally challenging. Levi was determined not to cooperate. The three oldest are Michelle's boys: Nathan, Nevin and Joshua.

By then it was time to get photos with the bride and groom outside. After this photo Matt put the camera down to get in the photo so we don't have an 'organized' version of this grouping, but I think the mess is fun to see.

Here is dad and Sharon with his siblings and mother.

Grandma, Sharon and dad.

I thought this was a fun perspective. The photographer was a relative of Sharons who shot with multiple Cannons.

Dad and Sharon with his kids and grandkids. I was pretty upset at Levi's behavior. He hates to pose and this day was no exception. Dad said it will be memories to make us smile later on.

It was a little chilly out so when we were done with our photos we took the kids back inside. I regret that we didn't get any photos of Sharon with her family! I have three new step-siblings and no record of them.

The reception room had been set up for people to come in and sit down and have some snacks while waiting for the bride and groom to be done with photos. The green salad and hummus with pita chips was excellent. The main course was bow tie pasta with spinach, mushrooms and a vegetarian chicken strip that I had never had before. Steamed broccoli and garlic bread rounded out the meal. This was all catered by the Village Market.

Our table was right next to the cake table, which was loaded with multiple cakes. A dark chocolate mint, a white cake with raspberry ripple, a carrot cake, a chocolate cake with raspberry ripple. It was amazing.

We headed home about 5 pm. Lee & Pat invited us over for games at their house. What ended up happening instead was a family gathering and I had people one at a time talk on a video for memories of grandpa, then we also had a memorial service for him while grandma was there. It was touching, and had humorous parts too, as we remembered grandpa Lew. They ordered pizza and Levi had a great time playing with his cousin Cooper.

As we headed out the door around 10 pm Pat invited us over for breakfast again...

Vacation, day 8

Friday night my grandpa Lewis passed away, after the last of the grandkids had come to see him. Wes, Brett, and Jason had made it. That night there was an incredible thunderstorm, the loudest I have ever witnessed, and lightning lit up the sky all night long while the rain came down in heavy sheets.

Somehow Wes had thought to ask for Pat's biscuits and gravy for breakfast while he was in town, so we all benefitted from that this morning. It was an incredible meal. Large bowls of fruit salad: blackberries, blueberries, raspberries and strawberries. The biscuits were plentiful and baked to perfection. The gravy contained a vegetarian meat and there was a huge vat of it, more than enough to go around. That is usually my complaint when I make my own: always scraping the bottom of the gravy pan. It was hard not to gorge on all the good food. There were also danishes for dessert.

Once done with breakfast we went back to dad's house and changed for church. We attended the Collegedale Community Church where he will be getting married tomorrow. The Sabbath school was fun for the kids and I enjoyed hearing some of the older songs from my own childhood. Pastor Jerry Arnold was the speaker and that is kind of amusing since Matt and I usually hear him on the radio.

Dad and Sharon had planned a picnic lunch and hike at the Ocoee but the downpour cancelled those plans. Kim arranged for everyone to have lunch at Improv, a room next to the Village Market that worked out great for everyone. I got to meet Sharon's family and they seem like a great group of people, many of them traveling great distances to attend.

After lunch Wes and Joanie and Natalie and my family came back to the house to rest a bit and give the kids a chance to take a nap. Brett and Melissa came by shortly after and I had a great time visiting with them and catching up.

Dinner and rehearsal was scheduled at the church at 5 pm - Matt and both kids were sound asleep so I woke everyone up and took the kids to the church. There was an empty room nearby so I set up the camera and went to work trying to organize a video of memories for grandpa. (Special thanks to Wes, Joanie, Brian, and Tiffany for helping to keep an eye on my kids.) I was only able to get three people on camera before someone said grace and people started eating. The meal was haystacks and cookies and it was very good. Ellie busied herself by buckling the seat belt on the nearby high chair.

After the dinner I had hoped to get some more people on camera but everything got really hectic and the room I had been filming in disappeared as the partitions that made it up were folded back in order to prepare the room for the reception tomorrow. Everyone pitched in and helped to set up tables and chairs, and the wedding area was also set up with seats.

The kids had fun running amuck and playing chase and then later stayed out of the way by banging on the piano and shrieking with laughter. Levi is happy to have a boy cousin to play with! Before we left dad asked that we run through the rehearsal so we would all know what to expect for tomorrow.

Dad walked his mom in first and seated her, then came back and carried in Natalie while Wes and Joanie followed. He came back again to carry Ellie while the rest of the Bobbitt's followed. Interspersed with our family, Sharon's son Hans was walking in her side of the family. All the kids stood up front in lieu of a bridal party while she walked in, and once dad took her arm we could all sit down in the front row. Wes didn't realize he was going to be a part of the actual procession so he had some anxiety over that.

Once we did our walk-through we were ready to head out since it was getting late and I had not been able to find Levi's suit pants so I knew I would have to find him some more before tomorrow.

The rain was kind of coming and going and when it would come down it would really hammer down. Thankfully it let up a little when we went out to the car. The sky was electric, and here is a very poor photo of it lit up by the lightning behind the clouds.

We stopped at Wal-Mart on the way home and thankfully they had an entire suit that would work for him.