First, Chris, Cara, and Jonah came for a 6 day visit. It was really great having them here and seeing how much Jonah has progressed. Since he has gotten his cast off, he is back on track. BTW...Jonah broke his right leg a couple of months ago and was in a half body cast. Check out Cara's blog for more details (link to the right on our blog). Jonah is talking up a storm. He likes to point out when there are 2 of something. Maybe his favorite number will be 2, just like his aunt :) Andy and I were able to get some time off to hang with them, but not as much as I would have liked. Andy had Monday and Tuesday off. I didn't have to work any lunches, so I got to hang during the day all 6 days, but I had to work Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday night. We went to the Chattanooga Zoo. I haven't been there yet. It was cool to see the chimps and raptors (birds of prey), but other than that, it was sorta a let down. It was a little bit bigger than Miller Park Zoo, but not much. I know all zoos are good for bringing awareness to the community about conservation, but it breaks my heart when I see these big animals behind fences smaller than I would like for our 3 dogs. Ugh. Oh well. Cara and I did a trail run and a run downtown. We grabbed Clumpies Ice Cream after our downtown run, for a treat. Yum. Clumpies is a local creamery. Awesome ice cream. Cara and I also got to go on a 33 mile road bike ride. We didn't get to the climb, but we had a great adventure getting back to town on our own ;-) Andy and Chris were able to get a loop of mountain biking in at Raccoon Mountain and a good 3 hour road ride with 2 climbs. One of the days I had to work, Chris, Cara, Andy, and Jonah went a bike ride downtown and went to the TN Aquarium too. On the last day, Jonah had really gotten to "know" us. I guess as well as an almost 2 year old can get to know someone. Cara asked Jonah, "Who's bike is that?" and Jonah said, "Aunt Heather's bike." Awwww. Ok, we all know kids can never ever say my name correctly until they are about 6 years old, so it didn't really come out that clear, but it was darn close. Jonah also gave me a hug when they were leaving. My heart melted. We had a great visit. Cara posted a ton of great pictures on her Facebook page...
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/album.php?aid=129633&id=765404574
Not sure if that will come through or not...
Second, Chris and Cara left on Saturday, and on Monday we got a surprise visit from Andy's mom and her husband. They were up north in Cleveland, TN doing some hiking and white water rafting on the Ocoee River Saturday and Sunday. Monday they came to the house and got the "grand tour" we visited for a bit and then took them on a 3 mile-ish hike on the Cumberland Trail less than 1 mile from our house. They stayed 3.5 days in Chattanooga. We were able to go out to dinner at Big River (local brewery) with Andy's cousin Jacqueline, had a cook out with our neighbors and friends (Deni and Lloyd, and Wes and Carrie), and did a lot of visiting. After the hike on Monday my darn leg cramp came back Tuesday morning. We were supposed to go on a trail run with Elaine and Al, but I knew if I tried I would be stranded out in the woods making Andy carry me back to civilization. I think for all that were involved, it was best we opted out of that adventure. Elaine and Al went to the Aquarium (I did not go, since I have been there too many times to count ;-), they did a trail run, mountain biked (we were unable to go, since I did not have a functioning mountain bike--but I almost do now :), and we did some window shopping. All in all, we had a great visit. I felt bad we were unable to go with them on some of the adventures, but sometimes you can't control everything :)
Now that our house guests and visitors are gone, it seems a little quite around Sweet Soddy Acres. The next visitor planning on coming for a visit is my sister Heidi. She is coming over Labor Day weekend. I took work off for all 5 days! Whoo Hoo. I really want to go rafting on the Ocoee and do some zip lining. Other than that, maybe go to the beach, drink, eat, and hang out. It has been a really long time since Heidi and I really had some time to hang out. I am really looking forward to her visit.
I think that is all for now, oh wait! 2 things...
- Good luck to all the Steelhead participants doing their 1/2 Ironman in Michigan today as well as those participating in the Canton Sprint distance triathlon/biathlon in IL and..
- Weather:
- Chattanooga, TN @ 11:26 am 83* feels like 87* - partly sunny - humidity 67%
- Bloomington, IL @ 10:26 am 73* feels like 73* - mostly cloudy - humidity 64%
- Aurora, IL @ 10:26 am 69* feels like 69* - cloudy - humidity 71%
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