The alarm went off at 4:30, we grabbed our swimsuits and were headed down the road to swim at the YMCA with Kayla by 4:45.  We joined the crowd waiting to open the YMCA before the sun was even ready to start the day. Kayla needed to swim for an hour and a half.  Scott and I made it a half hour.  And by saying “made it,” I am stretching a lot.  Scott was swimming most of the time.  I needed to stop at least every two laps to take a peak at the sun rise out the propped-open door and breathe. We hit the hot tub for a few minutes and then Scott headed to the locker room to bake in the sauna for a half hour.  I chose to head back to the pool and get in a few more laps. Kayla needed to head off to work and we headed back to home base in a sleepy hazy.  While we were getting gas, I eyed the donut shop across the street.  It was a good move because we had something to eat while were locked out of the sleeping house for a little bit.  We took a seat on a front step and Scott fired up a podcast on preventing procrastination while we waited.  There may be no hope for my procrastination though as I procrastinated watching the video and fell asleep sitting up.  Cody’s karate-chop-sleeping kept me up most of the night.  I could have moved from where I was attempting to sleep at any point in the night, but that seemed like way too much work.

I may be a sucker for the inspirational quotes with photos, but this one on the bulletin board at the YMCA reminded me of my first traveling adventure across the country with Scott.  We happened to miss the train home when we were in downtown Chicago on a Sunday and the next train wasn’t coming for two hours. We had only been dating eight months and Scott said, “I think we should travel the country for a year.” I did my best to explain to him that I was working full time and paying for college, that I was also attending more than full time.  I explained there was no way I could afford a trip around the country for a year.  He said, “List what you see as obstacles and let’s figure out each one.”  We got a Taco Bell bag and a pencil from someone in the Olgilvie Train Station food court and wrote it all down.  By the time our train had arrived Scott made traveling the country for a year seem like no challenge at all.

After we consumed some donuts and got back into the house, I disappeared into the basement for a little bit to catch a few minutes of rest.  The boys were busy planning the day’s adventure to Silver Dollar City. We packed lunches.  Ed ate some Lou’s for breakfast.

Scott wanted a picture of my expert sandwich making skills.  I’m a little picky about the PB and jelly having an even layer that covers every square millimeter of the bread.

Last time we were down here we were spoiled by a visit to Silver Dollar City too.  Although, last time it was Spring Break and quite a bit colder.  Today the temperature was in the low nineties and the lines were much shorter.

We hopped in the “Fun Mobile” and Ed drove us to Silver Dollar City.

The girls and Scott headed towards two roller coasters first while the boys, Ed, and I headed to the giant ball launching pit.  Scott and the girls joined us and we spent the most time together there than anywhere else all day.

Cody was excited to realize that he had grown enough so that he was in the green on all the ride height requirements. He was so excited about this that he had to check his height on each and every height requirement board, sometimes even multiple times.

Scott and the girls headed to some more roller coasters while Ed, the boys, and I headed to a pirate ship to water down some unsuspecting park visitors.

We found another ride that was nice and slow.  We had to pull our way up a tower and then when you let go it let you down gently.

We enjoyed some lunch and then the girls wanted to try the same horse racing carnival game the boys had played.

Brooke happened to win and get the large stuffed animal horse.  Ed’s little miss was slightly sad and I had suggested to Brooke to give her large horse to her friend.  The game operator saw Ed’s little Miss’ sad look and brought her a large horse, but she only wanted one horse and it wasn’t that one.  It took her a few minutes of watching her friend be sad, but Brooke finally made the right choice and gave her horse to her friend.  Scott happened to catch the moment.