Denim Days & Tweetsie

We knew that at some point, our travel plans would become the victim of kids' sports and activities, we just didn't know it would happen this early.

But Finley was scheduled to dance at the Denim Days festival in Erwin on the Saturday of our Columbus Day weekend, so we cancelled plans to go to Dollywood and dispatched ourselves to the hilariously small, rural south celebration of the area's long-forgotten stint as the "denim capital of the world."

Finley's dance was adorable (and Ford did, in fact, crash it)

and there were ponies 

and bounce houses. As well as a visit by the fake Billy Ray Cyrus. So all was not lost.

Plus Ford joined the Harnett County Democrats purely by accident and got a Frisbee for his trouble. 

If you ask my Dad, this is probably how all democratic voter rolls are filled out.

Sunday, though, I had to have an adventure, and hopefully an escape from the stifling heat of an eastern NC October. We headed for the mountains, and an old, family-run, wild west-themed amusement park called Tweetsie Railroad. 

I had read somewhere that it had a real steam locomotive and figured the kids would love it. 

I was wrong. They HATED the locomotive, which unfortunately did get robbed by fake bandits, and are still telling me not to make them ride "the scary train anymore." So that was a fail.

But the rest of it was "practically perfect in every way." Plus we lucked out and got a sampling of almost-fall weather.

The rides were little kid-appropriate,

the lines were almost nonexistent,

there was an awesome if definitely dangerous chairlift,

and a petting zoo,

and face painting,

and a non death-defying train, which was a hit.

Plus Finley got to dance the can-can on stage. Her for-real "gream" come true, to our chagrin.

It was in a fake saloon that sold $5 diet Cokes in souvenir cups, but you can't win 'em all. Tweetsie Railroad was a blast.

The highlight for the ingrates, though, might have been the night we spent in a rented camper across the street. Since we had changed plans last minute on a holiday weekend, I had taken what Airbnb could come up with, which was an RV parked unceremoniously in someone's driveway on a dirt road. F+F, though, couldn't get enough of their "trailer," this photo notwithstanding (they've been wanting one ever since visiting Hattie's last summer)

and "farm life."

They could only be convinced to leave

by promises of the top-notch Boone park, 

a quick trip to the "world famous" Blowing Rock, 

and the never-disappointing Appalachian Mountain Brewery, where F+F feasted on wood-fired pizza and had the run of the place.

And then they got to hit Maggie & Allie's birthday party on the way home. 

Not bad for an impromptu mountain getaway on a weekend on which Seth (mostly) had to work and ballet reigned supreme. 

Plus, having Grandma with us (we conned her into coming out for a couple weeks with the promise of Dollywood, and Fabulous Jayne didn't even flinch at the eleventh hour change of plans) made things extra special. This is one of my favorite photos of all time, not to mention the week.

Although this one is a close second.

Midwestern Road Trip

I landed in Kansas City late Friday night with a cranky F+F in tow. I'm no dummy, and on a whim I planned to drive 5.5 hours with tired kids, so we made a critical stop at SkyZone, the local trampoline park. This has become our travel MO, and has at elast partially spared me from a lot of rough travel bedtimes. 

What I didn't know, though, was that it was "glow time," so we had to procure wildly expensive glowing accoutrements and jump in the dark. The kids were in heaven. I was a little nervous. It was, as most things with F+F are, a hysterical shitshow.

Our impromptu romp through the midwest was full of wild surprises. Including a nearly-unannounced brunch at April's Yukon spread, for Gunnar time and car theft.

And an on-a-whim appearance at the Army-OU game, which delighted all the kids with HMMWVs, killer tailgates,

Rabs!,

stadium shenanigans,

and a best friends reunion.

The adults were not sad about a close game and this view.

The next day, Natalie and I staged a kid-heavy minivan road trip back to Kansas, featuring ring pops

a sketchy dive bar outside Wichita that got inexplicable rave yelp reviews,

and a field trip to the Brown v. Board if Education historic site, fully appreciated by exactly zero kids.

Oh. And a chicken-soup-for-the-soul Leavenworth night featuring the Dunhams.

Next up was Missouri, with a stop in Rolla for music lessons

and early morning tractor rides,

not to mention motorcycle fun.

Followed by a triumphant return to Versailles, bocce lessons with Gran,

weenie roasts with Ana & Ata,

and- naturally- cupcakes.

While I drove back and forth to Leonard Wood for work, the kids hung out with Fancy Legs and Nanny,

 had sweet moments like this one,

threw rocks and generally terrorized the lake,

hung out with the Walters clan,

and (most likely) picked up lots of terrible. irreversible croquet habits.

Plus threw a fit or two, apropos for family croquet games.

It was a fabulous, exhausting, hilarious, special week in a place I visit less than I should with people I never fail to appreciate and enjoy seeing with F+F. The kids loved every second, even if we'll be recovering from the weeklong roadtrip for quite some time.

Some of my favorite photos include this "protest photo" of Mom, Nanny, and Gran, who did not want their pictures taken ,

 and this lovely shot with Gran, Ford, and Finley (who always does.)

We're sorry for all the people we missed and vowing to make it back when we can. Lots of love-