Robert

Blackberry Farm 2

October 27, 2026

Robert and Maxwell made it up to Blackberry in time for a delicious lunch and then we headed off site to go clay shooting!

Our instructors could not have been nicer and everyone got as many turns as they wanted to shoot on the course!

Target practice…

Now on to the clays!

The whole course was great with plenty for these boys – and girl! – to shoot at!

Shoot out!

We then headed back to the farm to enjoy the pretty scenery…

That night we had an epic 5 course dinner at The Barn…fully enjoyed while the boys watched the Bama game on their phones in their lap. ha!

A pretty perfect day! More tomorrow!

Over fall break we took a very special trip to Blackberry Farm to celebrate GJ’s 75th birthday! She had wanted to go there for a long time and while we didn’t have full leaf color change, it was still a fantastic fall weekend in the mountains of Tennessee!

Maxwell had to stay in Birmingham for the football game Friday night and Robert agreed to stay with him after a tropical storm warning was issued thanks to Hurricane Isaias. GJ, Spencer, Samantha, and I drove up Friday afternoon. Our drive was uneventful until about 30 minutes out from Blackberry when we got Tboned by a bear! We were driving down highway 321 and an enormous black bear comes running across the median and runs directly into the driver’s side of our car. Thankfully GJ kept her cool and kept driving and we didn’t run off the road. We didn’t realize the full extent of the damage until we got to Blackberry and took a look.

Her car was damaged from front wheel base to back! We have no idea how the bear banged up the entire side of the car and still ran off. We were just thankful to be uninjured! We got check into our beautiful rooms and had an amazing dinner at the Dogwood that night!

The next morning the girls got up and took full advantage of the spa! Perfect for a rainy morning…

Then we checked out the car damage in the daylight…oof.

On our walk back to our cottage we meet Mr. Tom and friends! Let’s just say Samantha was NOT a fan!

While we were checking it all out Spencer was thoroughly enjoying his lazy morning too!

Robert and Maxwell made it up in time for lunch and lots more adventures! See you tomorrow!

Surprise!

October 8, 2026

I convinced Robert that we should all go out to dinner again on Sunday night for his birthday. I think he really wanted to just lay on the couch and order pizza, especially since it was raining, but he was a good sport and headed out with us! When we walked into the private room at Automatic Seafood I think he was genuinely surprised – and understood why I said we needed to go out!

We had apps out, wine open, and even a personalized menu! That’s how you celebrate 50!

So thankful that so many of the family members could be there…

Especially Ronnie who came in on two wheels thanks to a delayed flight with the rain! We sure were glad he made it!

Love my four.

We all had a fantastic meal and I think everyone tried something new…I can’t way they all liked what they tried but they tried!

I then had one more surprise up my sleeve for Robert…

I tried to think about what Robert really loves – and he loves good music. He especially loves good music with his friends. So, I got the numbers of all of his college and high school buddies and texted them asking them to send me a song that reminds them of Robert or one that they knew he would like. Well, his friends delivered! I put them all into a Spotify playlist and it clocks in at 8 hours and 17 minutes of listening fun! To give it to Robert I created a “cd” for him to open…

I have to say, I outdid myself! ha! I was pretty proud of the cd case, complete with liner notes and a paper cd with QR code that linked to the playlist.