And Away We Go....

Long time no blog, eh? This week was pretty mundane. It was hot and we were laying low and not doing much of anything before our vacation. We went swimming with our neighbor at his Grandma's house, that was a whole lotta fun! We've really been itching for a pool...maybe in a couple of years we'll tear up the yard and put one in.

Our other exciting news was Speck the Turtle. Mom was cleaning up the yard after we finished up on the waterslide. She walked by the driveway and thought there was a zucchini in the driveway. Not too far-fetched of a thought considering we have SO much zucchini in the garden. Upon closer inspection, the zucchini with legs was actually a red-painted turtle. He was a big guy! And grouchy! He had huge claws, a shell covered in moss and he hissed (for reals) when you touched him. Mom picked him up and put him in a tote until we figured out what the proper thing to do with him was. We called around and decided the best place to take him was to a local lake that had a nice, peaceful shoreline. So after 4 short hours, old Speck was freed back into nature. Zach took it really hard. He really liked Speck and wanted to keep him as a pet, but that wouldn't have been good for both us and the turtle.

So we picked up our rental swagger-wagon today and have the thing about loaded up. We'll be driving halfway to TN tomorrow and the rest on Monday. We're all very excited and ready. As we type this, Zach is curled up on the floor next to Mom crying and whining, "I wanna go on 'cation right now Mama, I be a good boy I promise!". He has no concept of time. So the bags are packed and that's about it. No plans or reservations...just showing up at our cabin and taking each day as it comes to us. Mom likes not having a big itinerary although it feels a little weird. We may go rafting, hiking and/or to some attractions. We'll see.

So have a fabulous week. No WiFi in the Smokys so we'll catch you in a week or so!

Katherine.












Speck cheers















Speck tears