The Thiers: Kentucky and Tennessee Trip

In late June we decided to head up to see Chuck’s sisters and parents for about 10 days. It was wonderful and relaxing.
We planned to take 2 full days driving up. On our way to Louisville, we were to pass through Nashville. Being over 24 hours into our roadtrip, we were ready to take a break, but we ended up taking a night to stay in Nashville with Tammy and Grandma and Grandpa. They welcomed us with a delicious home-cooked meal and a great evening.
At Tammy’s, the first order of business was to love on our sweet niece, Liza.

Grandma and Grandpa have parked their RV at her house semi-permanently to help with Liza while Tammy works. It’s sweet to see the bond they share.

The next morning we finished our final leg and made it up to Mitsi and Paul’s house.
Beau was quick to show me his portrait of me. So sweet and precious. And Mitsi’s chalk wall is a marvel.

I soaked up some craft time with Ruby.

And Chandler stayed attached at the hip to Beau. It’s still so fun to watch those two live in their imaginary worlds together.

Mitsi is raising chickens, which may have just fueled my desire to raise them as well. And check out Charlie on the swing behind her.

Everything was so green and lush there. They’ve received much more rain than San Antonio could dream about.
All of the kids enjoyed ~~torturing~~ capturing chickens.

Beau had an interesting way to swing. I think he’s on to something.

Ruby, my willing model. What a refreshing sight to have a child stand still and not run away from the camera!

Mitsi had this fabulous idea to have a “Throw down” with Chuck in the kitchen. Everyone wins!
The theme was Oriental Food. Mitsi made delicious fried wontons and a chicken stir fry. Chuck made egg drop soup and noodles. Then all the kids got to vote on which dishes they liked best.

Technically, Chuck won. It might be because he knew that our kids loved noodles. Just sayin’ Winking smile

Another highlight of the trip was going to Steak and Shake. We took up 3 tables…I think it’s fun to see how the Thier / Parish families have grown.

Paul and Mitsi.

The big kids’ table.

Chandler enjoyed dessert, can you tell?

Back home, we let the kids loose with sparklers since we were nearing July Fourth. With all of the humidity, there was a lot of smoke. But the kids loved it.

So much so, we did it again when we reconvened back at Tammy’s house in Nashville.

Between this old farmhouse porch and beautiful sight across the street, to the gorgeous garden Tammy and Grandma cultivated, this property is such a place of peace.
The view from the porch.

A portion of the bounty from the garden:

Girl time on the front porch.

Despite the peace, this is how crowded it can get. That’s Chance with his shirt over his head.

Grandpa ingeniously purchased a water slide for all the grandkids.

And here’s how Grandpa enjoyed it as well.

Chuck got the boys “Xploders” guns. The bullets are mostly water, biodegradable, and don’t hurt when you get shot with one. But the range is far, which was enough to get even Chuck in on the action. The entire property was a war zone at times, with boys coming out of bushes and trees to shoot each other.