Mothers’ Day blew by this year in a whirlwind of activities.  We had Ian’s second birthday party on Saturday, which kept us busy for three days with preparations, and from there we launched right into mother’s day.

Brinn actually purchased my mother’s day gift moths ago when he replaced my Kindle (the original one is still MIA, by the way), and Matt, one of my football players gave me his gift weeks ago when he finished it.  He actually made a cast iron cornbread mold.  Matt’s an engineering major, and used one of his labs to knock out several mothers’ day gifts for all of the mammas in his life.  This is actually the first cast iron I’ve ever had that already came seasoned to perfection before cooking in it!

We packed up late morning and headed off to… you guessed it, Rock City!  But this trip held a special attraction, the Andersons came!

David and Anne lived across the street from the house Brinn grew up in.  Their son was the same age as Brinn, and the two have been best friends since the 80’s!  Dr. and Mrs. Anderson are practically surrogate parents to Brinn.  They taught him to kayak, which led him to working at the Ocoee River, which is where I met him.  So indirectly, I owe them for leading Brinn and I together!  Their daughter is a few years older than Brinn, and has a little boy two months older than Ian.  Their son has a daughter who’s about 8 or 9 years old now.  Mrs. Anderson, her daughter, her granddaughter, and grandson all came along to meet us at Rock City, and Brinn even came for once!

My mom rotated between Ian, Chaco, and Mogwai for the day, and helped introduce Ian to Dip N Dots ice cream, one of our favorites!  Ian smiled and clapped after his first bite.  Ian and Charlie were able to have someone of the same age to hang out with for the day, while Mogwai and Chaco were thrilled that they both were actually able to go to Rock City on the same visit.

With each trip, Ian learns his way around the park a little better, and becomes more daring.  On this visit, perhaps in an effort to show off a little bit, Ian frequently insisted that he walk Mogwai without grown-up assistance. Mogwai seems to be happy regardless of who holds the end of his leash.