Pool & Planning

The bullet points:

• I've been planning our July for the past two days.
• Taryn went to the pool first.
• Mariah eventually joined her.
• Indy watched like 10 episodes of Big Bang Theory and I listened to it from the office and smiled everytime she laughed. It's great to have her home! She is getting re-adjusted to our time zone and being able to eat food she isn't allergic to. What a relief!
• The girls came home from the pool for lunch.
• I made myself 3 lunches - one for Indy, one for Taryn & Mariah who arrived home after I offered Indy my first lunch. The last one I ate before Gib smelled food.
• All the kids went back to the pool together.
• I picked Chino up from his day at the vets. He had to have a little "procedure" and isn't too happy with me now. The vet recommends I find a new canned meat and feed him twice a day meat and only a small amount of dry food to see if it helps Chino's "issues". Enough said.

The July details: Smak dab in the middle of Felicie's American Adventure will be a 5 day vacation. I'm pretty excited about it! We're spending a day in Chattanooga followed by 4 days in Gatlinburg. We'll do Dollywood and Splash Country, see the Smokey Mountains and maybe take in a dinner show. There's ton to do in Pigeon Forge, plus about 3 outlets for shopping. I spent HOURS, well basically 2 days researching hotels, prices, and reviews to plan the trip. I hope it was worth it! The rest of the time with Felicie will be spent at home doing low-key American type stuff like:

• The Pool (of course) on every day that isn't filled with something else
• The Mall (double of course - I understand the french foreign exchange students plan on shopping alot)
• Whatever free art shows or exhibits I can find in town
• The Free Concert in the Parks
• Drive-In Movie Night (sweet!! Rednecks in their jammies and soccer chairs sitting outside their pick-ups - that should leave an impression)
• Bowling
• If my friend comes thru: Ms. Carla's Southern Manners Day and a behind the scene tour of the Grand Ol OpryA different mall (unless we strike major gold at the Outlets in Pigeon Forge)
• Free Telescope Observation night (it's on one of the Thursdays - I need to check that out)
• A Downtown Franklin on Foot Tour
• Wildhorse Saloon line dancing (and Mariah will say the $10 store)
• A craft day - maybe go to a pottery place
• Good Shepherd is planning a trip to Alabama to help reconstruction efforts and clean up from the tornados. If we can all go on that I'd like to show Felicie how Americans pitch in and help one another, even if all we can do (due to their age and inability to work at construction) is help provide the meals for volunteers. It's just an overnight trip and our group will be totally self sufficient - obviously since they are going to an area wiped out by the tornados.
• If we can't go on that trip, I will find another service project the 3 of us girls can do together.

AND NOW...... I have to go wrap Taryn's birthday gifts, even though she knows what every single one is. If they are not done by the time she gets home from the pool, I'll be in BIG trouble!!!