Memorial Day Weekend

We planned a trip back to Tennessee over the holiday weekend to visit with Robert's family.  We had four full days to cram in a lot of people and a lot of activity and, as usual, we felt like we needed more time.  One of our four days was lost due to a sick little boy that needed to stay home and rest.

Evan was fighting a fever all day Wednesday and we had planned to leave Thursday morning.  When he woke up on Thursday morning he seemed to be doing a little bit better until the throwing up began.  We almost made the decision not to leave, but the vomiting subsided after an hour or two.  So we piled in the car and headed west, but it was very clear that Evan was miserable.

To allow for more rest, we spent Friday hanging out at Grandma and Grandpa Bopps.  Evan was intrigued by the mama dove who made a nest in a ceramic bowl on Grandma's patio.  The mama and daddy doves would take turns sitting on the baby birds and feeding them.  I was blown away by how close they allowed us to get to the nest.

We also played the backyard and enjoyed the summer evening.  I marveled at all the vegetables Dixie and Phil had growing in their garden and Evan was thrilled to be hanging out on the "farm" (he thought the shed was a barn therefore he was on a farm).

Evan still wasn't 100% on Saturday, but we met Robert's dad at Fort Loudon Lake where he keeps his boat.  We spent a few hours boating around the lake and stopped off to swim for a little bit too.  The water was freezing so that "little bit" was shortlived, not to mention the lake was starting to get crowded as more boaters made their way out to enjoy the holiday weekend.

Every visit to Knoxville means a visit to the Knoxville Zoo.  Sunday was dedicated to the animals.  Evan and his cousin, Kaylin, enjoyed seeing all the animals.  They both joined me on a camel ride which, by the way, is the most uncomfortable animal to ride.  We were all pooped after our three hour excursion - and I'm sure the 90 degree weather had a lot to do with that too.

To celebrate Memorial Day, we met my dad for lunch at Calhoun's on the River.  We then made our way over to Sharon and Rob's for a cook out.  Don and Kathy, Dennis and Melissa + kids and Matthew and Heather were also there.  The kids spent the entire afternoon/evening in the pool as well as some of the adults.  Everybody cut loose and had a good time.

We gathered our things on Tuesday morning and packed up the car to head back to SC.  We said our sad goodbyes to Granny, Grandma and Grandpa Bopp.  I always think I have my emotions in check until I look at Dixie.  It never fails, she always makes me cry.  As she watched us pack up the car this was what she was holding on to...

 
It would be hard not to cry knowing you had to let this sweet baby go.

We look forward to another visit soon!