Another pandemic school-year, 2021-2022

 And we're back!  To school and to work that it is!  In-person learning 5 full days a week with masks on, but we're all thrilled to have more normalcy this year than last.  

Sean's in 5th grade with Mr. Hammond and in his last year at Farrand before he'll move up to East Middle School.  

He's playing fall soccer on a new rec team called the Plymouth Sharks and he's trying flag football on a 4th/5th grade team: Patriots.  He's taking drum lessons once a week while Evan takes electric guitar lessons and he's doing his last year of Cub Scouts as a Senior Webelo.  Busy guy!  

Evan is in 3rd grade this year with Ms. Scott (we love her!).  He's also playing fall soccer on his usual team with Scott as the coach.  Their team name is The Avengers.  He's playing fall baseball on the Cubs Kid Pitch team with GCYBSA.  And he's taking his electric guitar lessons once a week.  

Scott and I are starting our 16th (me) and 17th (Scott) years of teaching!  

Wishing everyone a happy and healthy school year!

Detroit Tigers games during COVID

 This past week, we took the day off and pulled the boys out of school to go to our first Tigers game this year.  It was a day game against the KC Royals.  We invited Scott's parents to come with us as a mother's day gift to his mom.  It was a fun day!  

We dropped Luna off at daycare in the morning, went to Costco to stock up on some things, and got it all put away in time for Nana and Pops to pick us up.  

They ended up winning 4-3 in an exciting top of the 9th.  They had been winning 4-1 the entire game, but the closer made it real interesting.  I think we all enjoyed the food and drinks Comerica had to offer as it seemed like we were snacking our way through the game.  It was a fun day out!

I also went to the game on Sunday with Gillian.  She had won tickets from Wayne State and invited me to go with her.  They played the Chicago Cubs and lost 5-1.  Ouch!  Not the best game to watch, but it was fun to be there, to tailgate before hand a bit, and we even popped into Greektown Casino on our way back to the car for Gillian's first time in a casino.  We both lost $20.  Oh well!

Spring sports are off and running!

 I can't even put into words how exciting it's been to have soccer back for both of the boys with real games!  As we walked up to the field for Sean's first game, I had goosebumps on my arms.  Neither of the boys and neither Scott nor I have complained once about going to practices!  I think we all appreciate so much this small slice of normalcy back in our lives, even if masks are required and social distancing on the sidelines.

Sean has a few new players on his team this season since one moved up to play on Plymouth Reign and a few are out because of spring baseball.  Their first game was home against Canton.  We also had the Pinewood Derby so Sean was only able to play for about 45 minutes of the game.  Right as we were getting ready to leave and pull him out, he scored!  What a great start to the season and the boys won 8-3!

Sean's second game was a weeknight game out in Brighton.  And since it snowed overnight and was hovering around 30 degrees outside, we somehow got lucky and we were able to play in the dome.  It was a tough game with only two subs on our side and despite our boys winning the majority of the game, Brighton scored two goals within a few minutes at the end to win 2-1.  

Evan's team, coached by Scott, is off to a great start too!  They had their first game away in Livonia on a Sunday.  The boys looked fantastic about there!  They played so well together.  Most of the team is returning from the fall of 2019 with the addition of two new players.  They won 5-0.

His second game was this past weekend home against Novi.  Not only did Grandma and Grandpa come out to see him play, but so did his Uncle Matt, Aunt Mindy and his newborn cousin, Luka.  I think they were all good luck charms because Evan scored his first goal of the season and the Avengers won 7-1!  

Evan is also starting baseball and his first game is this upcoming weekend.  He's on his last year of machine-pitch and despite there being a mishap with him playing with mostly 1st graders, his coach is really good and he's thriving!  He's an Arizona Diamondback!  

Should be an exciting weekend of sports!  One baseball game and two soccer games and I'm pumped to be a soccer/baseball mom again!

Spring Break 2021: Great Smoky Mountains National Park, TN

 We arrived in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee Sunday around dinner time after driving from Cave City, Kentucky.  It ended up taking us about 4.5 hours with a stop for lunch at a subway and a stop for gas just before entering Tennessee.  We stopped at Big Daddy's Pizzeria in Pigeon Forge for dinner, but there was a 45 minute wait.  So, we opted to go to The Island (it's a big area with shops, restaurants, a fountain show, etc.) and ordered Mellow Mushroom Pizza on my phone.  By the time we parked and walked there, it was ready!  We enjoyed dinner, walking around, and watching the fountain show.  The boys bought a toy and I got some mini cookies from Byrd's Cookies. Yum!

The boys demanded time to swim and Scott had a fantasy baseball draft that he needed WiFi for so we hit the road and checked-in.  We stayed at a Best Western in Pigeon Forge that had good reviews.  The pros were that it had an outdoor pool and hot tub, it was close to the National Park, and the rooms were located outside so we didn't have to go into a lobby and ride an elevator with people.  The sunset was absolutely gorgeous and we had a blast swimming and using the hot tub.

Our first full day we went to GSMNP with the Heltons.  We went to Cades Cove first thing in the morning, which was a 45 minute drive down narrow, windy roads and up into the mountain.  Needless to say, it was a good thing we brought SeaBands because Sean desperately needed them.  Poor kid almost threw up.  

We got to Cades Cove and luckily there was little to no traffic.  It was a beautiful morning going around the 11 stops, getting out and looking at historic log cabins and churches.  I was devastated to not see a black bear, but we saw wild turkey and lots of deer.  

There's a historic mill that we got to get out and see too!  I loved the backdrop that the old wooden barn created.  

After our drive around Cades Cove, we made the trek back towards Gatlinburg while still driving in the GSMNP.  We stopped at "The Sinks" to see a cool waterfall and then tried to find parking by Laurel Falls so we could do a very popular hike.  Since it was noon, the park, especially by Laurel Falls, was packed!  It took us so long to find a spot, but believe it or not, we took the boys' 1st grade teacher's parking spot!  That's right!  We had a Mrs. Bence sighting and she gave us her parking spot.  

Laurel Falls is a 2.6 miles out and back hike that goes up a side of a mountain to a beautiful waterfall.  There's a lower and an upper falls, but it's very difficult and dangerous to get to the lower falls.  It was extremely crowded so it took us longer than normal because we went at the speed that the crowd went.  But, it was gorgeous!

Afterwards we ate our picnic lunch in the car as we sat in traffic to get out of the park and head into Gatlinburg.  Our plan had been to walk around, shop, browse, etc., but oh my goodness - the traffic and crowds!  We made a last minute decision to just head back to the hotel, re-group, and then do some exploring in Pigeon Forge instead.  I'm glad we did this.  Once back at the hotel and after freshening up, we decided to enjoy the nice weather and walk to Old Mill Restaurant and shopping area in Pigeon Forge. It was a little over a mile down the main drag, so it was fun to walk and explore as we went.  Old Mill Restaurant reminds me a lot of Frankenmuth just in it's size and ability to turn tables over quickly.  We only waited maybe 10 minutes and then we were seated.  The southern food was amazing!  Scott had catfish and I had chicken breasts on the bone with mashed potatoes, green beans, corn chowder, and hush puppies!  Wow!

The Old Mill area had cute shops where we bought a bunch of souvenirs and a moonshine distillery, where I discovered I really don't like any flavor or moonshine.  But...when in Tennessee...

We met up with The Heltons by Old Mill and did a round of go-karting, which was really cool because they had a second level that you could drive up to.  It was expensive, but they let us drive for quite a while before our turn was over.  We walked back to the hotel and went swimming to enjoy the nice evening.  Cocktails, hot tubbin', the kids played Minecraft in our room while we devoured the little cookies.  It was a fun night!

On our last full day, Tuesday, we had to change plans.  We had originally planned to do a big hike at Alum Cave and then go into Gatlinburg again in the afternoon to go to Anakeesta, but after seeing the crowds yesterday, we knew it was one or the other.  The kids picked Gatlinburg and Anakeesta and I obliged.  We ordered tickets online the night before, showed up when they opened at 9....and there was already a two hour wait!  So, Evan and I walked around in Gatlinburg to go to the Donut Friar (best donuts in Gatlinburg).  It was worth waiting in line for and getting out of line to find an ATM since they're cash only.

When we finally reached the front of the line, we got lucky and got a chairlift (as opposed to a gondola that's enclosed).  The ride was awesome!  At the top we went right for the treetops course, figuring that would be crowded the later we went.  It was fun, but I was a little nervous with how much the bridges moved as we walked on them.  After that, the kids played on a cute playground, we saw the vista gardens, we enjoyed the views of the mountains, and we grabbed some lunch while listening to a live band perform bluegrass music.  It was awesome!  Honestly...worth the wait and the money.

Since we had a great parking spot, when we came down we decided to walk around Gatlinburg and take in the sights, do some shopping, and get ice cream.  It was 80 degrees and a perfect day!  

Back at the hotel we met up with The Heltons (they were at Dollywood for the day) to go swimming.  I can honestly say it felt good to "cool off" since it was so warm.  We ordered carry-out from Texas Roadhouse next door that we ate at the pool.  It was our last night so we also packed up the room and loaded the truck as much as we could.  

We woke up bright and early on our last day and it was pouring rain.  Our plan to do one last hike went out the window, but we still wanted to go to the visitor's center to get the boys' Junior Ranger badges before heading home.  We got there at 8:30 thinking they opened at 8, but they opened at 9.  So, the boys and I adventured in the woods in the rain looking for bears.  No luck, but it was fun!  Once the visitor's center opened, we got their badges and did some last minute shopping before hitting the road.  9 hours with stops and we pulled in the driveway to a very excited puppy...

We had a great time!  I wish we had one more full day in the smokies to do a few more hikes, but I'm glad we got to see what we did in the short amount of time there.  We'll be back on the road in another 2.5 months...this time with Luna!