Eclipse Weekend in TN

This last weekend we had lots of fun going to see the eclipse.   We left Friday evening when we were done packing.   We listened to the Whatever After series, "Once Upon a Frog."   Even Scotland enjoyed it.  Tatiana and I had been listening to the series at bedtime.  Scotland had listened to another one on the Florida trip, and enjoyed it.   I really loved listening to an audio book with my family, and hearing them laugh.   The trip was uneventful.   We arrived at about 8:30am.  The front desk person had been doubtful that our room would be available, but it was.  She said that only three were ready for check-in.   I think we got lucky because I'd requested a fridge, so they'd designated that room for us when it was available.

We immediately went to see the Parthenon.   That was great.   We got lucky because it was family day so we got in free.  Anyone with a kid, got the entire family in for free.  Tatiana liked the weeping willow trees.   They had a large variety of trees in Tennessee.  We ate at a nice BBQ place.   Tatiana really liked the pulled pork.  We bought a variety platter, and they had a variety of BBQ sauces so they served it dry.   Tatiana isn't a fan of BBQ sauce.  Then we went back to the hotel.  I took a nap while they played in the pool.  I hadn't been able to go to sleep in the car.   We watched a kid movie, Descendent's 2, on TV in the evening.

Sunday we went to the Hermitage.  Tatiana wasn't as interested in that.  I thought it was really neat.   The place where I'd wanted us to eat was closed, so we went to a second choice.  Tatiana liked that because they advertised a giant monster-sized brownie Sunday.   We shared that.   Then we went back to the hotel.  This time I watched them swim.   I'd had enough of being outdoors but I wanted to be with my family.  A girl about her age came to the pool.   Tatiana's eyes lit up at the idea of a playmate.   But, I think that there was something mentally wrong with the girl.  We watched some more kid's TV in the evening.

Monday we woke up at early to an alarm.   We'd had the car mostly packed the night before.  We ate breakfast at the hotel, then drove out there.  I was glad that we didn't run into traffic.   We got in line to enter the state park.   People were in a cheery mood.   We got lucky and picked a spot next to a guy with a fancy solar powered telescope.   He put the image on a laptop screen.   That was neat.  Tatiana got whiny and bored.    She wanted to play with a girl (for some reason) and there were mostly boys.   I wasn't happy with her.   Then when the eclipse started, she met a girl that she could play with, then she had fun.   I took a cute photo of them watching the totality together.

We drove home and traffic was horrible.  

Monday evening, leaving the State Park, Tatiana was saying that she hadn't had any fun at all.   We were quite upset with her negativity.   She seems to think that if every moment isn't filled with joy, then it wasn't any fun.  We had a talk with her about that.   We told her that even in the most wonderful activity, that there will be boring moments.   That she needed to concentrate and think about the fun parts.  Tuesday night she told me how much fun she'd had at the eclipse.   She must have listened to us.