Where I didn’t have a lot to report last time, I’ll make up for it in this letter. The Cotters came to visit and all the cousins have had a blast playing together. Here’s a rundown of their visit.
WHO’S WHO. This information is for those of you not familiar with my extended family. While I write about these families on occasion you may need to know this to navigate this issue. We were visited this week by my first cousin Jim Cotter, his wife Dianna, and their two sons, Alex (8) and Chris (7). They live near Orlando. Jim is the son of my Aunt Linda and Uncle Bob (who were up on a visit a few weeks ago). Aunt Linda is my Mom’s younger sister.
Mom and Aunt Linda have an older sister, Helen (now deceased). She and Uncle J. C. have a daughter, Judy. Judy and Jim Bradley have a daughter, Amanda, who is a few years younger than me and Jim Cotter. Amanda and her husband, Derek Dee, have two girls, Riley (soon to be 6) and Harper (2). They all live nearby in Ashland City. Now that I have you thoroughly confused....
WAITING ANXIOUSLY. While our kids were counting down the hours until the Cotters arrived they were enjoying a leisurely trip up from Florida. They stopped in Georgia several times to learn about the Great Locomotive Chase from the Civil War. After spending the night in Chattanooga they spent Sunday at the Lake Winnepesaukah Amusement Park.
Monday morning they headed to Nashville. Amanda, Riley and Harper met them at Fort Nashborough (this is a replica of the fort that James Robertson and the settlers built in 1778--this ties in with the Kilgore story from the last edition). Then they went to the Tennessee Bicentennial Mall to visit and play. They also ate lunch at the Farmer’s Market next door.
We met up with the Cotters at Opry Mills where we ate supper. Afterwards, we walked over to Opryland Hotel to see the Peking Acrobats. They put on another good performance. We got there early to get good seats and while we were waiting Jim, the kids and I went to explore the hotel. You can get lost in there.
LOW KEY FUN. Tuesday morning we got a slow start. We went to see Aunt Mar and all went to Thomas Drugs for lunch. The kids spent a lot of the day just playing in the yard. That evening we went down to the river (which is more of a creek this time of year) where we grilled hamburgers for supper. The kids had a great time trying to build a dam across the river and succeeded in raising the water level behind the makeshift rock wall by four inches. Mom, Aunt Mar, and Pauline enjoyed watching from the deck built along the bank.
MORE WATER FUN. Wednesday was another full day which began with a pancake breakfast. Later in the day we got out all the water guns and balloons and had a war. The chicken house became a great fort for this as well as the swing set.
The Cotters take water fights much more seriously than we do, so our kids were outgunned. Jim has a large pump action gun that holds a gallon or so of water. We laughed when he backed Alex against the wall of the chicken house and soaked him. When Alex ran off you could see his silhouette on the wall where his body kept the wood behind him dry. Alex and Chris have nice pump action water guns as well. The guns are connected to a water tank worn as a backpack. Our poor kids simply have what was on sale at the dollar store. They were a lot wetter for it too. I think it was really frustrating to Alex to discuss battle plans with Jenna and Ben only to have them forget it all and run amok when under attack.
For supper we drove to Ashland City to eat at the Riverview Restaurant to eat with the Bradleys and Dees. We enjoyed a great catfish dinner. Dessert was a birthday cake for Judy. While I won’t discuss ages I did notice that she rearranged the numeral candles on the cake so they read “06.” Maybe we can throw her a Sweet Sixteen party next year.
After supper we all boarded the Blue Heron for a cruise down the Cumberland River. The Blue Heron is a pontoon boat with seating for about 24. The man that owns the boat has been giving cruises for about four years. It was really pleasant floating on the river as the sun went down. The captain had water guns (only for shooting overboard) and bubbles for the kids to play with so they never got bored. He also let them steer the boat which made my mom a nervous wreck.
THINK PINK. Since we were late getting the kids to bed we got another slow start Thursday morning. When the kids did get up they popped The Pink Panther into the DVD player and watched that for a while. I mention this because later, when they all trooped out to play, they were humming/singing The Pink Panther Theme.
Jim and I took all the kids over to Aunt Mar’s to play. I got out my old Girder and Panel construction set and the boys had a good time building skyscrapers. Vicki and Dianna had gone to Springfield to run some errands and they returned with barbecue for lunch. Jim and I left after eating to go across the county to Adams where they were setting up for the Threshing Show. I wanted to film the steam engine and thresher without people around.
LIGHTNING STRIKE. While Jim and I were gone a quick summer storm blew up in Cross Plains (Jim and I ran into the rain but the storm cell developed strength as it traveled east.) While everyone was in the house visiting and playing there was a loud pop--lightning had struck one of the trees in the yard. Mrs. Connie saw it hit from her house. The strike even tripped one of the breakers in the fuse box. Today, as I was mowing, I found the tree that took the hit. Judging by the 5 inch wide strip of bark that was vaporized, lightning hit the middle aged oak about 20 feet above the ground. Walking around the tree there are other places were the bark is hanging loose about 15-20 feet up. At the ground dirt was blasted away leaving a small hole. This tree stands about 50 feet from Aunt Mar’s house. I found bits of wood that had been blasted off the tree as far as 30 feet away from the base. I hope the tree survives, but if not, there are 121 other trees in the yard.
WWII (WATER WAR II). Thursday evening we grilled steaks and chicken over at Pauline’s. The Dees came to join in on the fun. After dinner all the kids got out in the yard for another water gun fight. Harper was so funny as she thought the object was to kiss someone with the lips of her fish water gun. The kid soaking continued until dusk and we capped the evening off with dessert.
As an afterthought, I wonder if we had put soap in the water guns if that would have counted for the evening bath....
THE THRESHING SHOW. The Tennessee-Kentucky Threshermen’s Association put on their 37th annual show this weekend. We loaded up early yesterday morning and headed to Adams for a day full of fun. The Cotters had seen the steam engine parked over at Uncle Paul’s before but this was the first time they saw it in action. They got the opportunity to feed wheat into the separator and blow the whistle (thank you very much Charlie). They enjoyed the other attractions at the show as well. These included the saw mill, blacksmith’s shop, tractors and farm equipment on display, a model railroad, etc. About the only thing we missed were the mule, horse and tractor pulls. Jim and Dianna scheduled this year’s trip to see the show and I think they really enjoyed it.
After getting home and cleaning up we went to the Catfish House to eat. The Dees met us there and all the kids had a good time playing in the front yard of the restaurant after supper.
BACK TO NORMAL. The sad part about any visit is when it’s time to say goodbye. That happened this morning at 8:00. The Cotters left early to tour The Hermitage and the Parthenon in Nashville before turning their van toward Florida. A little while later I noticed Jenna had disappeared. I found her upstairs in her room, curled up in a ball on her bed, on the verge of tears. I held her close and shared with her how I used to feel as a kid when visits with Jim and his sister Ann Beth were over.
The kids and I had originally planned to return to Adams and visit with cousins on the Swann side of the tree today, but after all the excitement of the week and with a trip to Camden for a family reunion with Pauline’s family scheduled for tomorrow we stayed home. About the most exciting thing today was the 1+ inch splinter we pulled out of Nate’s foot. It came out clean and he’s up and running around like it never happened now.
Joe
