Saturday was pretty nice, despite the fact that it ended with a box of Kleenex and a dose of NyQuil.

We started the day with Pete’s last soccer game of the season. He had a lot of fun, but I think they lost pretty convincingly. After that we came home for a bit before Poppy’s game to have lunch and do a little playing. (And also to take a short nap, if you were Rockford.) Poppy’s team won their last game of the season, and Poppy scored two goals.

After the games we went to the ice cream shop, then we came home. I spent most of the day on the couch with my Kleenex, but Rockford did lots of productive things. Like mowing the lawn and fixing some of the slats that had popped loose on the fence.

Per Rockford’s request, we had chili for dinner again last night. After dinner Poppy put on a play using some dolls. They had a “disco freeze-tag party,” which sounds pretty fantastic. I also finally broke down and took some NyQuil, and I discovered two stink bugs in the NyQuil box. Enough already, stink bugs.

We ended the day by flipping between two football games and the World Series game. Here’s hoping the Tigers won!

Yesterday was rad

We got up not-terribly-early and bade farewell to our visiting friends, and then we got ourselves ready, piled into the car and drove to Dollywood. It was a gorgeous fall day, so warm that I actually wore shorts. At the end of October.

We hadn’t been to the park since early in the summer, when it was so crowded that Poppy asked if we could wait to return until the schools were back in session. And so we wait we did.

Since it was Friday and school is indeed back in session, I expected us to have the park pretty much to ourselves. But I learned that I am a poor theme park prognosticator. The Southern Gospel and Harvest Celebration is underway at Dollywood, and there were a ton of elderly music lovers there. Most of them weren’t there to ride the rides, though, so the lines were very short.

The kids’ favorite rides & attractions at Dollywood

The Busy Bees

Camp Teachittoomee.

The Rockin’ Roadway

The Sideshow Spin

The Waltzing Swinger

The Village Carousel

The best thing to eat at Dollywood

Cinnamon bread at the Grist Mill. It’s about $5 for a loaf of bread, and it’s totally delicious.

A side trip to the bean factory

The Bush’s Beans factory is near Dollywood, and there’s a gift shop, museum and cafe across the road. We got there about 15 minutes after the museum closed, so I didn’t get to see the giant can of beans inside. (Next time, Bean Can. Next time.) We wandered around the gift shop for a while, and I bought a bean strainer and 2 cans of beans. They were cheaper than they are at the grocery store, probably because they only have to travel across the street.

Buying the weekly provisions

On the way home we went to the grocery store, and the Starbucks inside had samples of peppermint white chocolate mochas. And it was delicious. We bought our groceries, and on the way out I bought a giant peppermint white chocolate mocha. And they split it betwixt two cups for me. Grocery store Starbucks is the best Starbucks.

The end of an awesome day

Rockford gave the kids their baths while I made pizza, and then we watched “Rio” and ate dinner. After the kids went to bed, Rockford and I had some ice cream and watched “Modern Family,” “The Office” and “Moonrise Kingdom.”

I would like it if all the days were pretty much just like yesterday.

I actually started taking notes about my day yesterday, but I only got as far as 9:15 a.m., which was when I started doing laundry. Riveting stuff. It’s just as well that I didn’t take copious notes, though, because it is Late o’Clock and I am very sleepy. So we’re just going to go over the highlights of Thursday.

Poppy had her very first math test. She made a 91 on it. She would’ve done better, but the little girl I babysit for a few hours a week arrived while Poppy was on the last page, and she rushed through those problems so she could go play.

Poppy had a piano lesson, during which she and her piano teacher sang a song about “the whale that ate the universe.” Not sure if they made it up or if it was a David Bowie B-side.

I sang “What’s Goin’ On” by 4 Non Blondes on the way home from Poppy’s piano lesson. Not at the top of my lungs, though, because the kids always shush me when I do that. I neglected to tell you yesterday that on Wednesday I sang “When the Doves Cry” and “Nothing Compares 2 U” in the car. I’ll bet you wish you could ride around with me.

Our friends Dave and Sandi, formerly of Missouri, drove many, many miles to eat chili with us. (And also they were vacationing in the area. But I’ll keep telling myself they’re here for the chili.) Poppy and Pete totally monopolized the evening until Rockford put them to bed. Then we reminisced until bedtime — we talked about you, Amy, and you too, Brook — when we made them go sleep with the cats. (We didn’t really make them sleep with the cats.)