I needed this trip just for the sake of doing absolutely nothing! I’m not going to lie, it’s hard to not always be busy doing stuff but my body was screaming to relax and let go of all of the frustrations and stresses that have been accumulating lately.
We stayed at an airbnb called the Avion at the Hidden farms in Ooltewah TN. It wasn’t exactly how I pictured it—it was a bit more commercialized than I had thought from the description (they hosted events at the farm, and had 4 different Airbnb’s on the property. Also the kids were supposed to be involved in farm chores but they weren’t as extensive as I’d liked. However, with that said, the kids loved the experience. They loved playing with the farm animals—seeing the baby kittens, the baby goats, the horses, the cows, the sheep....they got to play in the creek, go on a little hike, ride their bikes around the property (their favorite thing) and chase fireflies at night. My favorite was sitting around the camp fire at night, roasting hot dogs, and making s’mores -and telling ghost stories. The rule was no technology and I found myself loving it! Just being able to disconnect from the world and be really present with my family was incredible. Mike and I had a long conversation on the way down about our viewpoints on technology for the kids. Mike feels it should be more balanced but he doesn’t agree with taking it away from them especially as they are teens because they will just access it behind our backs. It’s a super controversial issue right now in our society. People blame these apps and technology for all these current issues especially related to teens (bullying, pornography, jealousy, comparisons, etc). Mike feels people are using technology as a scapegoat instead of taking responsibility for not doing a good job at instilling values (especially self-Love) within their children. I completely agree with him that it’s our responsibility to teach our kids where their worth lies but I also feel like you can teach your kids all you want but they naturally identify with their peers and (especially teens) psychologically aren’t capable of detaching themselves from the views of their peers. Just seeing the boys mindset at their young age has made me realize that their are literally things they aren’t capable of learning Simply because of lack of life experiences and the physiology of their brains. I definitely don’t think that teens should have phones (other than to call us when they can start driving). I don’t think it’s me being restrictive but it’s setting up a barrier of protection for them. Mikes POV was that all of these issues teens deal with already existed before the rise of technology which I agree but technology has magnified those issues simply by overexposing people’s lives and making information more readily available and to the masses. Used to be you could gossip about someone and it would spread to maybe a friend or two or a larger group of friends; now someone can post a comment about someone and the entire school/community can read about it. I’m not sure what consensus we are going to come to when it comes to raising our kids but it’s definitely a different day and age we live in. It’s scary and exciting all at the same time. I just pray I can be more in tune as a parent on how best to raise them and I pray Gods anointing will protect them and keep them safe.
Back to camping: the boys LOVED swinging on the horse rope swing (they could have stayed on it for hours). The first night they got to help the owner of the farm lock up the goats and chickens, gather eggs, and feed the cats. It was fun visiting with him and learning about the farm—it’s been in his wife’s family for generations. It used to be a chicken farm—this was where 5 different states would purchase their eggs but it got burned down. They were going to shut it down but couldn’t see it leave the family, so they divided it up, and Tara, Mikes wife decided to rebuild the farm and she turned it into a place where they board horses, they host events (birthdays, school groups, preschool days, etc). Mike was a professor at the university and hated it. Once they made enough to replace his income he quit and he runs the farm. He said his Airbnbs replace half his teaching salary. Him and Tara built their incredible farm house two tornados hit their area and killed most of their neighbors and damaged their farm. It took them 2 years to build the farmhouse. They are vegetarian so they don’t use the cows for meet or milk (they sell some of the cows and they milk them for people in the community). They have a boy and s girl (12 and 9) that help with all the chores on the farm. They are both homeschooled.
The boys got to help Tara milk one of the cows one morning; they loved it. They also tried some of the fresh milk and surprisingly liked it as well.
The boys loved the Avion. They loved playing in it, sleeping together in a cozy bed, and wrestling. Just goes to show kids can be happy wherever.
The 2nd day was rainy so we headed into Chattanooga and took the kids to get some pizza before heading to Ruby Falls. Mike and I did the Falls years ago when we came skydiving here and we were grateful we could bring the boys back. It was a really long wait because it was Memorial Day, but once we got in the caves they loved it. They thought they were truly in a Minecraft world mining. It truly amazes me, hearing the story about Lambert finding this cave in 1928 and excavating it and opening it up to the public how they managed to do all of that work way back in the 20’s. He named Ruby falls after his wife (him and his friends found the falls after exploring the cave for 17 hours—7 of which was crawling in tight crevices between the rocks).
After the Falls we took the kids to walk across the Chattanooga bridge (one of my favorite places). They loved it!
Then we got dinner and went and saw a movie (kind of funny but there was really nothing we could do on the farm in the rain). I’m glad we got to show them one of my favorite cities.
The morning we left they ride their bikes down to the animals to say goodbye. Amari told us he wanted s baby goat for Christmas 😂😂. He loved the animals. I’m not going to lie it would be nice to live like this, on a much smaller scale, for a few years.
I needed this, boy did I need this! It’s so hard for me to not do anything but simple relax but I did it and it’s just what I needed! A little R+R is good for the soul! Now it’s back to a busy packed fun filled summer!
FB post about camping
FB post about camping
Well now that it’s been a minute I guess I’ll post pics of our little Airbnb getaway.
The Avion was so charming! It was just what I needed—no technology and some R+R.
Mike and Tara were so kind to let the boys help out with some chores. It was so fun watching them milk a cow for the first time, help round up the animals and play with the baby goats, the kittens, bunnies and cows, and see them fearless in feeding the horses. They got to play in the little creek, ride their bikes around the property, endlessly swing on the horsey tire swing, catch fireflies at night, roast hot dogs and marshmallows and tell scary stories over the campfire at night.
It rained our second day there so we took the kids to one of our favorite cities—Chattanooga, which was only 30 min away. They got to tour the caves at Ruby Falls, have the best pizza at this cute little dive in the city, and view the TN River while splashing in the puddles on the Chattanooga bridge.
By the end of our vacation they were convinced that they wanted to be farmers and Amari was dead set on asking Santa for a baby goat
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