Confessions of a full-grown drama queen

Ok, so spontaneity and I, we just don't mix that well. I like everything to be just so, with no deviation from my expectations. I don't deal well with unaccounted for dilemmas. I should have known better, but....
I've been feeling in a bit of a rut lately. So, for a change of pace, since Paul was only working a short day on Friday (with plans to be home around 10:30 am), I hatched the plan to quickly tidy up the house and pack us up for an overnight adventure. I fed the boys an early lunch and had us all ready to walk out the door when Paul got home from work. He was on board with the plan, so we loaded up and set off for Gatlinburg, TN. We decided to make accommodations once we got there, so we could check out the hotel before committing. It's not a bad drive, just 3 hours and the boys did great, once Nathanael came to terms with the fact that he wouldn't be getting out for a while. Sam fell asleep about an hour and half into the trip, and at some point I asked Paul if he thought I should slip a pull-up on him. Nah, he said, Sam had just peed before we walked out the door. Well, we arrived on the Parkway in Gatlinburg and the turmoil ensued. Paul began asking me for directions to prospective hotels, as I was armed with his iPhone. I tried to direct him off of the Parkway, but he refused, believing that this was where all of the action was, so this was where he wanted to stay. I, having then decided to check Sam's potty condition, sadly discovered he had soaked his car seat in his slumbering state. As previously mentioned, I don't deal well with unaccounted for dilemmas, so I began to get my panties in a bunch at this point, and obviously I failed to effectively communicate that not everything we came to TN to do was located on the Parkway in Gatlinburg. In fact, we would come to realize later that most of the action was not located in Gatlinburg at all, but in Pigeon Forge. Having now discovered Sam's seat soaking with urine, the urgency to find a hotel was now, to me, great. So, we found the nearest dump and secured a room. While Paul went inside to make reservations with one urine-soaked son (who had by this time awoken and announced he had to pee....again), I decided to get Nathanael out and change his diaper. Much to my chagrin I then discovered that he, too, had soaked his seat. Paul had gotten him up straight from his nap and packed him into the van without changing his diaper. Things were just not going well....
We spent some time inside the hotel room, bathing boys and rinsing car seat covers. Nathanael spent some time destroying the room. I'm pretty sure he mouthed every surface in the hotel and I'm certain he contracted hepatitis during our stay.
We spent the late afternoon and evening walking around the Parkway. We walked to dinner, had ice cream and inhaled more second-hand smoke than you would typically inhale over a 5-year period.


As we were walking along, at one point Sam cried out, "I want to go home!" He meant back to the hotel; he thought we had "moved to the mountains". He was terrified; whether he was scared of all the creepy Ripley's Believe It or Not store fronts on the Parkway or of the people walking around (because let's face it, most people who visit or live in Gatlinburg look like they all have the same mother, if you know what I mean) I'm not certain. He wouldn't sleep that night without his arms around me. He's still scared, actually:-).
Saturday was more enjoyable. We rode the aerial tramway up to Ober Gatlinburg.
Paul and I each took turns riding the chairlift up the mountain with Sam to ride the Alpine Slide.
We had lunch at the delicious Applewood Farmhouse Restaurant and then drove home in the rain. It was a crazy little 30 hour adventure and I can't wait for our next spontaneous trip. Next time Sam wants to go to the beach.