After logging off last night, I resisted the urge to finish the 6 pack (really) and climbed into the Shrek sleeping bag on the spongy carpet. (Sam had earlier reneged on his promise to sleep on the floor after about 17 seconds there.) Well, I didn't quite make it all the way in the sleeping bag, or rather, it didn't quite cover me--it came up to roughly my hips. That lasted at least 30 minutes and then I moved a sleeping Sam into Shrek and went to bed.
I woke up around 6 with Jack "the Limpet" and Sam "the Leech" making me a very sweaty Daddy sandwich. I managed to push them off for about 45 minutes and finally got up after all 4 kids had piled in the bed with me. Jumped on the interwebs, found that the Interstate had been opened at 6 am (thanks, Tennessee Department of Transportation!) We loaded the car (after I finally found, on the 3rd travel day, the straps that are suupposed to be used to secure the overhead luggage bag to the roof rack, which made it much easier), made a pass through Starbucks and then dropped $26 on breakfast at ChikFilA (!!!!), and hit the road. Not surprisingly, Sam had to go to the bathroom 27 miles later, which triggered a urinary chain reaction among the rest of the under 9 crowd. (Thanks, BP!)
There really wasn't much to mention about driving today, with a few exceptions. Sam enjoyed entertaining the troops with his stuffed Curious George monkey, and he takes requests from Will and the Bigs to alternately "Squeeze his brains!" and "Squeeze his bottom!" That invariably results in gales of laughter from the rest of the car. We had to quickly quash the "Super Georgie" game which Sam invented by throwing George around the inside of the car--not so good on the curvy roads heading into Asheville. The kids insisted on me honking the horn when we crossed the state line, which I did gladly. Everyone enjoyed the trips through the 2 tunnels immediately inside the NC state line. We felt like we'd offended the karma of the traffic gods late in the drive when we hit stopped traffic on the interstate less than 20 miles from Asheville. It ultimately turned out to be "just" a wreck, but we did all have a flashback to yesterday's nightmare in TN.
We finally made it to Sam & Kendra's house around 1 pm CST, which was actually 2 pm EST, and we found 2 very patient but hungry hosts waiting for us in their very cool and freshly renovated home. After a brief tour and introduction to their 2 cats (who would have thought Sam was a cat man?), we walked a few blocks to Firehouse Subs where we promptly added at least 2 years to the first possible time S&K will consider having kids. Sam refused his requested PB&J, Jack turned his nose up at his requested ham & cheese, and Will put on an unsolicited kung fu demonstration in the restaurant to the chagrin of the employees (not to mention his parents). Sam encouraged this behavior by laying full length on the mat in front of the cash registers where one otherwise would stand to place an order. Good thing we weren't there during the lunch rush.
We returned to the Henry house where the bar was very quickly opened. The kids were sent outside with their fire hats from Firehouse Subs, which they apparently thought were helmets because they acted like live crash test dummies running around the backyard and taking wagon rides down the hill into Sam's very new (but very sturdy) fence. They also made a secret hideout out of a tent and beach umbrella, made a campfire out of stacked rocks and sticks, and continued to terrorize the cats. As the ladies had the kids under control (actually, they were just contained by the fence but that was enough), Sam and I were sent to the store to acquire mojito ingredients. We managed to find some beer there as well, believe it or not. We abandoned our tentative plan to go to the NC Arboretum, as the kids were having fun in the backyard with their homemade wagon-luge course with the hammock obstacle (even better when the hammock was occupied), so the grownups hadhappy hour while the kids ran amok.
We finally decamped for Kendra's parents' house, picking up pizza on the way in Asheville. We weren't at Steve & Suzanne's 10 minutes before Will fell in the koi pond. While I didn't see this, it was suggested that Jack hip-checked him into the pond...accidentally. Riiigggghhhht. Luckily, there were no koi injured in that stunt (they were, unfortunately for the koi, bear snacks) and Will only got about 2 inches of the bottom of his shorts wet. So we laid down the law about the pond (no more rocks, no more water, stay back, etc) and then had dinner on the deck. The weather was incredible! Beautiful sky, nice cool air, wonderful scenery, and SPLASH! Will was back in the koi-less pond. This time, wet to his armpits, reportedly pushed in by Sam (that's the 3 year old not Uncle Sambo, believe it or not). Needless to say, Steve and Suzanne were impressed to no end. Luckily, Cat had packed PJs so Will didn't have to run around naked and shock Steve
any more. Sam and I were sent downstairs with the kids where we played pool and checkers, and then we headed home. Steve and Suzanne were great hosts but I'm not sure they were prepared for the force 5 hurricane that is the Huttons.
We finally headed home, watched Josh Hamilton's amazing first round of the Home Run Derby (thanks, Josh!) and his eminently Ranger-like collapse in the finals, and then put the kids to inflatable bed. Sam and Kendra enjoyed the first 8 hours we were here so much that they're leaving us tomorrow to go back to school. (Again, we're available as very reasonably-priced birth control for anyone in need of same.) Tomorrow, we'll probably go terrorize downtown A-ville and then watch Kendra and Sambo's kickball game in the evening. Today was a really fun day and everyone (except perhaps S&K) is glad we're here.
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