Joe Wheeler says, "Hi."

We had a GREAT time at the Tennessee River. The cabins at Joe Wheeler State Park are actually quite nice (much to my pleasant surprise - quite honestly, I wasn't sure exactly what to expect). Here is my summary of our trip. As always, it will not be brief, LOL.

• Here is Tucker helping me make the bed that morning before we left. I know - he has a very interesting technique, huh?

• After an AMAZINGLY smooth car trip (no Tucker tantrums, quiet and fun conversation, etc.), we got to our cabins. Everything was going so amazingly well. Then Tucker decided to make a mess - and in about 1.3 seconds, the living room floor was drenched.
  

• Did you know that a relatively small styrofoam Sonic cup holds roughly 500 gallons of water? Well, we didn't either until Tucker got ahold of Ashlynn's cup and poked a hole in the bottom of the cup with her straw. Above is Ashlynn graciously cleaning up the flood.
  

• My Nana, Audrey, passed away this past January. Above is a photo of a black butterfly that paid us a visit at the cabins as soon as we arrived. Mom noticed after Nana passed that she began to see a very unusually large number of these type of butterflies. I had also noticed bluebirds almost daily in a variety of places each day. Mom and I decided that these beautiful creatures are just Nana's way of checking in on us and reminding us to enjoy each day the Lord gives us.

• Below is a picture of Tucker at the outside water source. It's also the same place that Gary convinced Ashlynn that it was our "water pump" and the ONLY source of water...for drinking, cooking, bathing, and yes, the toilet, LOL. She believed him until he mentioned the community showers up the road...then she called him on his bluff, saying, "I've already SEEN the shower inside, THANK YOU." I'm so thankful to have a child with such a great sense of humor!

• Ahhhhh.....the great outdoors. Isn't it BEAUTIFUL?? :) But wait...where's Ashlynn?

• There she is! Can you say, "City Girl"?
  

• We explored the nearby town of Rogersville, AL and on our first night we discovered a place called the "Tiger Hut." It sold AWESOME ice cream products...including chocolate-dipped cones (Mom), peanut butter milkshakes (me and Ashlynn), and regular soft serve (Tucker).
  

• Speaking of the Tiger Hut, you may know that Tucker's life revolves around tractors. He even has his own little "Tractor Dance" that he does when speaking of, seeing, interacting with, reading books about, watching shows and videos about, tractors. Just mention the word "tractor" and he immediately perks right up. That having been said, our first day of our trip Tucker slept most of the time and hadn't had his usual dose of tractor immersion. That all changed at the Tiger Hut. There was a flyer in the window and his little eyes zeroed in on it IMMEDIATELY - HOLY MOLY! IS THAT A TRACTOR? Sure enough, it was a flyer, complete with photos, for a local tractor show and pull that was occurring that weekend. That small piece of paper in that window made that child's whole evening. He broke into the "tractor dance" for all the Tiger Hut patrons to enjoy. :)

• After that awesome display of tractor love, Mom couldn't resist giving Tucker a new gift when we got back to the cabins that evening.

This is a GIANT tractor book that is taller than Tucker and weighs
twice as much as him (at least). He was THRILLED. It is stocked full of
pages and pages and pages and pages of nothing but tractor pictures.
That day, I believe his Nana was his favorite person
in the whole world...even bypassing "Da-Da" for
one brief and shining moment. :)