So, before I post about little Trent’s first birthday, I have to blog about our trip down to beautiful Nashville, Indiana. It was a spectacular Fall day; the temperature was in the low 70s, Mick was on the 2nd day of vacation, spirits were high.
At Mom and Dad’s suggestion, we took a little detour right before we got to Nashville. Bean Blossom is a tiny town which happens to be the location of a log cabin Mom lived in for a short time when she was a girl. The cabin is still there, by the way, operating as a vacation rental. Instead of turning left, which would have taken us past the log cabin, we turned right and drove down a little winding road which eventually took us to a beautiful old covered bridge. Some of the girls were a little nervous to have Mick drive over it, but it handled our giant van just fine.
Shortly after we arrived in downtown Nashville, we found ourselves at the Visitor’s Center, trying to come up with a game plan of the stores to visit. While we were looking at the map, Little Grant was unusually quiet and kept his head down on Mick’s shoulder. He occasionally complained of a “boo boo on his tummy.” I had suspicions, but hoped my “mother’s intuition” was wrong. Moments later, one of the girls spotted some good friends of Mom and Dad’s. They walked right up and started chatting. I tried to keep up with the small talk, but I was worried about Grant, who wasn’t looking any better. Thankfully, the friends only stayed for a few minutes, then went on. I thought it might help Grant if we could find a quiet, shaded area where he could rest. I don’t know the area well, so we started down Main Street and I hoped maybe we could find a small park, or even an uncrowded store with air conditioning. Shortly after we started down the street, one of the girls came up beside me and said “Grant just threw up.” Yes, he did. Right in front of a nice restaurant. In the center of a sidewalk. On Main Street. He’s crying loudly; Mick is standing beside him helplessly; the girls are are starting to scatter. I grab him and bring him over to the edge of the sidewalk, right by some bushes, where he continues to get sick and cry loudly. As I’m trying to soothe him and rub his back, a group of older ladies starts to pass us, and one of them leans over with a smile and says “What a a beautiful family you have!” (Seriously?) “Uh, thank you.” I say while I’m crouched beside Grant, rubbing his back. All the while, he continues getting sick and crying loudly. She continues, seemingly unaware of what’s happening: “I love their skirts!” I’m really not sure what I said to this. Hopefully “thank you.” I wasn’t exactly conversational at that point. And finally: “How many do children? Seven?” I’m sure I responded with “Eight” (Even though it was a crazy moment, I actually did know how many kids we have.) Mercifully, she walked on after that, and I honestly don’t think she ever realized what was happening at the time. It just all seemed so crazy! After the madness was over, we stripped Grant of his clothes, got a plastic bag from one the shops to put them into, wrapped one of the girls’ jackets around him and Mick carried him to the car. Believe it or not, after about a half hour of relaxing in his car seat, he was ready to get back out and take on the world! He spent the rest of the day in a very happy-go-lucky manner, and didn’t have any problem eating. We did purposely steer clear of the scene of the crime for the rest of the afternoon. We had this crazy notion we might be identified and escorted out of town for disturbing the peace or something. :-D
We enjoyed some of our regular favorite shops (e.g., the Toy Chest and the Christmas shop) as well as some new ones. One of the last shops we hit was a beading shop just off the main street. It was a tiny shop loaded with supplies for jewelry making and we let each of the girls pick out a few beads for Courtney (our resident jeweler) to create some jewelry with.
Another thing that happened that I’m sure the girls won’t forget is their up-close brush with a criminal. In the center of downtown Nashville is the county courthouse which has public restrooms. Some of the older girls were waiting in the hall while I helped the younger ones wash hands. Apparently, a police officer walked by with someone and they stopped next to the girls for a moment. When Rachel looked at the person with the officer, she noticed he was wearing handcuffs and shackles on his feet! Let’s hope that’s the only close encounter they have with a criminal!
Most of the shops close up around 5:00 or 6:00, so we left around then and drove from Nashville to Morristown and had dinner at the Kopper Kettle Inn. It is a fabulous restaurant that operates out of an 1860’s-era building which used to serve as grain elevator, then was converted into a tavern before it became a restaurant. Since it was a Tuesday evening, there was only one other family in another part of the dining area, so we enjoyed prompt service and a very relaxing meal. We had the fried chicken dinner, which includes all the usual sides, plus ice cream sundaes for dessert. The following pictures were all taken with Mick’s iPhone, so they’re a little dark, but they’re all we have.
Trent had only taken a very brief nap on the way down to Nashville that morning, then was awake the entire time we were in Nashville, despite the fact that he was being carried in a sling and could’ve easily laid his head down and napped. Some where between Nashville and Morristown, he finally fell asleep. I didn’t think there was any way this light sleeper would stay asleep, but he did! We carried his car seat from the van into the restaurant and set it on the floor beside the table. He actually slept until we were finished eating! I don’t think he’s done that since he was a newborn. It was quite a luxury to eat dinner with both hands! 
There was an old grand piano, in one of the dining areas adjacent to where we were seated. Mick asked our waitress if anyone ever played it and she said lots of people do, customers and staff. So, after dinner, he was able to coax Rachel into sitting down and playing a song. By then, the restaurant was empty, or I doubt she would’ve complied. :-) She played “How Great Thou Art”, which sounded very good, despite the fact that the piano needed tuned. 
