Yay for our first travel blog!
Though we’ve been on a lot of adventures in the past few years – even little Sophia has been on quite a few – this is our first adventure since starting our blog, and I’m super excited to share it with you. Our plan is to eventually share some of our previous Top Trips because some are too good not to share, but for now we start with the present. And the present is Paris, Tennessee.
Paris, Tennesee. Home of catfish fry festivals, Kentucky Lake, a mini Eiffel tower, AND my parents. That last one is the number one reason for our visit to this little town. They moved to the area in 2006 in search of quiet, country living and boy did they find it. They technically live right outside Paris in the town of Buchanan. Population them plus a few random neighbors. Might not be much of a bustling city, but it sure is beautiful up there. Their farm is the kind of place you could only wish for as a kid. So many things to get in to, so much property to explore and so many animals to lick your face!
My hubby, Jimmy, and I make it up there at least twice a year. It’s just a place you can go and relax, enjoy your surroundings, and breathe. It’s a break from reality and a step back in time. And now, it’s a place our little girl will learn about animals, nature, and the “simple” things in life. Things that I think a lot of us miss out on these days. 
Starting our adventure 2018: flying tips
So let’s get this trip started. Hubby is a planner and 90% of the trips we take he has planned out long long before we’re ready to leave. Even though this is a trip we take very frequently, some things require some planning. Mainly the flight!
We are very lucky that both of our jobs allow a great deal of flexibility in our schedules and this makes for picking flight dates so much easier. We know we are very blessed and get to travel on the days many others can’t which means FLIGHT DEALS!
- The cheapest days to fly seem to be Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays
- Cheapest day to book is Tuesday – apparently around 3AM but this momma is not up at that hour looking for deals
- Best time to book is between 6 and 8 weeks out from trip
- Check the airlines’ websites directly for best flight prices before you try the travel sites
- Clear your cookies and history at least daily. Believe it or not you may find you’re getting better prices
We’ve been flying Delta for years and are even card holders – stay tuned for a future post on travel credit cards and how to use them wisely – but we couldn’t seem to find a good price no matter what days we were trying to travel on. Our airport recently added a new airline, Frontier, and the price we found was too good to pass up. Booked! We neglected to read the fine print about them charging you for every piece of baggage including your carry on but even with all of that the flight for 2 adults and a lap infant PLUS baggage round-trip was less than $300. So, where’s the catch?
We were expecting seats with somehow even less room than the normal economy size, poor service, or even a bi-plane on a dirt runway for that price, but nope. Decent seat room, slightly less cushy, friendly flight crew and efficient service. Best part – STRAIGHT THROUGH! Cut our travel day down from the normal 8-12 hours with layovers and drive time to an hour and a half flight and a 2 hour drive. Not too bad. Moral of the story. Don’t be afraid to try different airlines. Shop around and wait for the price you would like to pay.
Our flight
You can read my post We Survived a Cranky Baby on the Plane. You Can Too!, but I’ll give you a quick little synopsis. Baby was not feeling it. Missed her nap, was teething, grouchy, and just generally in a bad mood. Real downer considering the hubs and I were so excited for our first vaca of 2018. But, with a little luck and a lot of patience we got the babes to sleep on the flight and it all worked out.
Like I said, it’s an hour and a half flight straight through. Not bad at all. We are new to Frontier but a few tips we did learn were:
- You have to pay for checked bags
- You have to pay for carry-ons
- You are allowed one personal item per person such as a purse, laptop bag or small (think children’s size) backpack
- Diaper Bags
are FREE as are strollers
and carseats. Win!
- They do have drink and snack service but also a paid service
- Don’t pay the extra to pick your own seats because you’ll most likely be placed together anyway.
are FREE as are 
and carseats. Win!Our flight was pretty uneventful. We landed in Nashville, TN, around 2pm local time. Greeted just as you would expect from two of the most loving grandparents a baby could ask for. After a series of big hugs, kisses, possible happy tears and more hugs, we were off!
Nashville airport is a 2 hour drive from where my parents live. Two hours used to feel like exactly that, a quick 2 hour drive. No big deal. Totally different experience when you’re trying to entertain a 10 month old baby who REALLY wants to be on the move. She wasn’t bad, upset or fussy. She was just being a baby, and a baby who wanted nothing to do with that car ride. Two hours of high quality mom and grandma entertainment and we reached our final destination. Want some tips on entertaining a kiddo in a car seat? Think crunchy water bottle, lots of snacks and super silly songs. Apparently my Airplane edition of What’s in my diaper bag? applies to car rides too!
Fun on the Farm
Talk about tranquility. Though the farm is located just outside town, you would think it is miles from civilization. The seemingly endless green fields, peaceful ponds, and rolling hills make this piece of property the ideal location for a laid back family adventure. Add in the trails, four-wheelers, gators (not the florida kind – think awesome all terrain vehicle), a workshop and countless animals both on the farm and in the wild and you have an endless amount of nothing to do.
Waking up to that view is something I wish I could do every day. The babes likes to be up around 7AM but luckily life on a farm starts pretty early as well. Every morning started off pretty much the same. The sound of a giggling baby as she saw her Grammy and Pops, the smell of coffee, farm fresh eggs, and a full day of nothing ahead of us.
There is something about that feeling on vacation. You know you’re day is going to be filled with new sites, sounds and adventures but at the same time you have absolutely nothing to do and no where to be. Oh vacation….
Though the weather tried to get the best of us – Florida folks don’t do so well on 30 degree rainy days – we made the best of it and even got to enjoy a few days of clear skies and warm sun to explore. Early in the morning was relaxation time since it was so chilly. We let the baby play and took time to catch up with mom and dad while the weather warmed up JUST A BIT for us to go outside and explore.
One of our favorite things to do with the baby was take her for hikes. The property had so many little trails that could be as vigorous and adventurous as you would like. We stuck to moderate level with babes since I didn’t think sliding down the side of a ravine sounded like a way to spend the day. She’s getting bigger now, about 20lbs, so hiking without a carrier would not be fun. Plus it adds a level of safety since you can use both hands to avoid branches, leaves and other trail hazards. We have used so many carriers and the LILLEbaby
Hikes were a near daily routine. The babes loves to just be outside and so do we. It gave us a chance to show her all kind of things she would never see at home. Even though they’re little you would be surprised what you can teach them. Babes loves new textures and this was the PERFECT place for that. We let her put her bare feet on a field of moss, explore dried leaves, dig through pebbles and she even snuck and acorn in to her mouth. Her Grammy explained all kinds of things to her about animals and nature. The baby seemed to soak it all in. She may not retain the actual information but that’s how babies learn. It’s not the over stimulation from all of these learning toys, it’s letting them explore their surroundings and talking to them. There’s a great article featuring one of my favorite bloggers, The Frugalwoods, on why they don’t buy things for their daughter but rather focus on experience and I love this idea!
The cool part about babies is that everything is a learning experience so my hubby and I would just go about our adventures with babes in tow the entire trip. She loved to ride on the gator all bundled up and go through the fields looking at cows, deer, horses, flowers, everything. She loved sitting on the back porch being rocked to sleep on an old wooden swing while we took in the views. She loved watching the splashes as we skipped rocks on the pond. And she took every chance she could get to be around the animals.
Learning about animals
There’s one thing we learned very quickly on the family farm adventure. THIS KID LOVES ANIMALS! All of them! She had no fear and reached out to cows, chickens, goats, dogs, horses, everything. It was amazing to watch her eyes light up and listen to her just start babbling at them like they were old friends.
Getting outside and being with the animals was also one of my hubby’s favorite things to do. They liked to go out at all times of day and see the different things the animals were up to. Mom would be feeding them, giving them their shots, or they would just be playing. It was just the thrill of being able to see things we don’t see at home and the baby and daddy loved it.
Since the babes had no fear it meant that she wanted to touch the animals, all of the animals. So we let her at ’em! With caution of course.
At this age everything is memorable, but…but… Some things are more memorable than others. Our 10 month old got bit by a goat. Talk about mom fail! Goats like to nibble. Babes curiosity was high and cuteness levels were even higher. Baby goats, baby fingers and giggles. Couldn’t get any better. Then screams! It was like a slow motion moment. I saw it happening but couldn’t move her hand fast enough and in true dad fashion, hubby caught it all on video. This poor baby. Her little fingers went from the cute nibble to full on chomp. Luckily the injury wasn’t too bad, but it was enough to scare her – and us! Time for a parental win after that fail.
Get back on the horse, or goat in this instance. We got babes right back in there. After the appropriate amount of cuddles and comfort of course. It took us a few minutes to convince her but it didn’t take much. One trick we learned, and I repeat it all the time, is deep breaths and stay calm. Babies feed off your emotions and somehow the hubby and I managed not to panic so babes didn’t either! So one parental fail plus one parental win and we’re back to status quo?
This little incident didn’t slow us down and certainly didn’t slow babes down. Our Tennessee family farm adventure was filled with all kinds of animals including a crazy mix of doggies. Each one with their own special job on the farm. My favorite was Wimpy! Wimpy is big, fluffy and thinks he’s a goat. Yep, he lives in the fields with the goats and protects them from wild animals like coyotes and doesn’t even realize he’s a dog. He sleeps with them, eats with them and herds them around like a momma goat would do. Technically we weren’t supposed to pet Wimpy because he’s not a pet he’s a working dog, but we couldn’t help it! He’s so fluffy!
It’s amazing how the farm functions. It’s its own little community with each animal knowing it’s place and my mom doing very little to train them to do this. Certain dogs protected the house, others were lap dogs, and some helped with the daily chores around the farm. One, a miniature Australian Shepard named Shotgun, is a fireball that actually herds cattle. Despite her small size she’s the toughest dog on the farm. She nips at the cows’ heels and barks out orders pushing them in the direction she wants them to go. Her main job is to make sure my mom doesn’t get trampled which she’s proven herself useful many many times in that area.
All of these critters are fun to visit but they give me a new appreciation on how much work needs to be done on a farm. Aside from day to day activities like feeding and caring for the animals there’s also a rather high level of expertise needed and a surprising amount of that is animal medical knowledge. Everything from mandatory vaccinations to injuries to complications during birth. You need to know a little bit about everything. And these animals don’t do most of it willingly. Ever try to “tube feed” a baby cow? Not an easy task. I think we’ll stick with visiting these critters. No backyard farms in our future.
Bringing back the basics
Getting back to the basics for my hubby and I actually meant being able to go to the gym together on a daily basis with babes happily playing with her grandparents. It’s something we’ve done together since the beginning of us. It’s a way for both of us to relieve some stress and gain a little energy which is much needed on some go, go, go vacations. We make it a point to find a gym in any city, in any country we are, and we meet the best people that way! When you find a small gym in the middle of nowhere Tennessee it’s not likely to be a tourist hang out. We meet the locals, get some tips on the area, and sometimes make some lasting friendships. It’s a weird little tradition we were happy to be able to continue.
I realized halfway through this post that I could go on forever. There was so much more to this adventure including mommy and daddy’s much needed night out to Nashville, endless amounts of incredible home cooked and farm fresh meals, long talks and short burst of me braving the cold. But the main focus on this Tennessee family farm adventure was getting back to the basics. We have very limited cell service which is actually one of my favorite parts. It gives us an even bigger excuse to disconnect from the rest of the world and just enjoy the people and nature around us.
The best days were long talks with my parents and just meandering around the farm seeing what we could get in to. The babes found herself her own miniature gator to ride around in and we searched through the old barns looking at tools we had no idea what they did. We made it in for breakfast, lunch and dinner, we spent time together cooking and reminiscing and we grew as a family. We went on hikes, helped Pops fix random trucks and farm equipment, pretended we were helping while they would heard cattle, smelled flowers, chased bugs and got bit by goats. We did a lot and we did nothing at all.
This adventure was about spending time together as a family, relaxing and taking it all in. The early morning wakeups to the smell of coffee and the sound of baby giggles, the look on Grammy and Pops’ faces every time they looked at the babes, and the excitement in the babes’ eyes as she discovered so many new things are things that created lasting memories. Sometimes the best adventures are the ones that you do absolutely nothing on.
Thanks for following us here at Living Life Loving Us.
If you’re interested SIGN UP HERE
Look forward to our next adventure together!
