'Here's the Scoop' Recap

Bringing Up Bates "Here's the Scoop!"

• Erin will be taking her first trip to Michael’s house in Chicago. “She is so excited about you coming,” Kelly tells Erin. “I have never heard her this excited.” Carson, Kelly, and Tori are going along.
• Kelly pulls up the AARP travel site for Chicago to start planning. “We actually are old enough to join, but Gil was putting it off because he didn’t want to admit that he qualifies for being old enough, but I was kind of proud of my age, so I was eager to join,” says the Bates mom, who turned 50 last October.
• Michael says she is adjusting to life in Chicago. “Sometimes I miss home, but I’m definitely falling in love more with it here,” she shares.
• The group arrives in Chicago, reunites with Michael, and heads downtown to Navy Pier. Erin drives, and Kelly is terrified. 
• Their first order of business is to ride the Ferris wheel. “I will say, big city is definitely not my thing,” says Tori.
• Next, they take a boat tour. Carson is beyond excited.
• When they return to Michael’s apartment, Michael and Erin take the opportunity to cook together. Michael says she and Brandon aren’t set on staying in Chicago permanently. “I would love to move somewhere back to the mountains, and I think Brandon would, too,” says Michael.
• Michael tells Erin that she has found a fertility specialist. “Right now, it’s undiagnosed, so that’s hope,” says Michael, nearly in tears. “So there’s a lot of bloodwork and a lot of ultrasounds. It’s something I never thought I’d experience.”
• “I know everybody says they pray for you, but there’s not really something you can say,” Erin tells Michael gently. “You’re doing great. It’s okay. It’s okay to cry.”
• Erin can relate to Michael’s unfulfilled longing for a child, as she suffered multiple miscarriages before Carson came along.
• “There’s days I cry a lot, and then there’s other days I don’t seem to be fazed,” admits Michael. “Someday, maybe, and if not, I’ll adopt me a baby.”
• Brandon returns home and shows Kelly the rough draft of his children's book, which is set in the medieval times and has a strong message of character. His illustrations are beautiful.
• Back at the Bates home, Carlin, Katie, Nathan, and Lawson head up an ice cream making competition. They divide the kids into teams, with older ones as team captains, to see who can make the best flavor of homemade ice cream.
• “This was about having fun with the little guys and keeping them preoccupied, but of course since it had Lawson and Nathan in there, they made it all about the competition,” says Carlin.
• Katie is the judge. Team Carlin makes mint chocolate chip, and the flavor is overpowering. Team Nathan makes mint cookie dough, and Katie says it has the worst flavor she has ever tasted. Team Lawson makes cookie dough, and Katie crowns them the winners.

'The Fabulous Backwoods Bates Boys' Recap

Bringing Up Bates "The Fabulous Backwoods Bates Boys"

• Zach arrives at the Bates house to pick up Jackson, Warden, and Isaiah for an overnight camping trip in nearby Clinch River, Tennessee. “Zach is always trying to think of ways to invest in his little brothers,” says Gil.
• When the guys arrive at the campsite, they decide to test out their skeet shooters, only to find that they are broken. “My inventive mind went to work, and I engineered one of the most powerful skeet throwers ever seen by the world,” says Zach. “Oh good grief, what did you do?” questions Whitney. “I threw the skeet!” replies Zach.
• While putting up the tents and starting a fire, the guys realize that they are missing multiple items. But there’s no need to fear, as Jackson has everything they need in his ginormous backpack. “Jackson’s backpack is like a bottomless bag,” says Isaiah.
• Meanwhile, Kelly, Erin, and Whitney take Ellie, Callie, Judson, Jeb, Bradley, and Carson to a local hotel pool for swimming lessons. Two teachers meet them there. Nathan, who has taught several of the children how to swim, comes along to help.
• All the kids love it, even Bradley and Carson. “I’ve been working with Bradley since then, and he is coming along on the Michael Phelps tradition,” says Zach matter-of-factly.
• Later, Gil and the rest of the guys meet Zach, Jackson, Warden, and Isaiah at the campsite. They all head to the river to do some fishing, but they don’t end up catching anything. “There’s two different things: There’s fishing, and then there’s catching,” says Lawson. “Hey, the Bates are amazing at fishing,” adds Trace.
• “If our fishing was our living, we would be lean and mean,” laughs Gil. The crew returns to the campsite to cook hotdogs and hamburgers. Just as they’re getting started, Zach and Bradley have to head out to meet Whitney on the interstate and change her tire.
• Later that night around the campfire, Gil and the boys go around and list things they are thankful for. “Remember, it’s your family that’s going to be there for you,” says the Bates dad. “Family is for the rest of your life.”

'The Night The Lights Went Out in Tennessee' Recap

Bringing Up Bates "The Night The Lights Went Out in Tennessee"

• For the past six months, Nathan has been living in Mississippi and working as a flight instructor. “I really have enjoyed learning how to fly, and I wanted to be able to kind of pass that along,” says Nathan.
• On tonight’s show, Nathan instructs a man who is working towards his commercial pilot’s license.
• “There’s no doubt Nathan…has a whole new respect for safety, life, caution, so that is really a mark of maturity up here for such a risk taker as Nathan,” says Gil.
• Zach, Whitney, Bradley, and Kaci pay a visit to photographer friend Taryn Yager’s in-home studio for Kaci's one-year photo shoot. Bradley does a great job helping make his little sister laugh. When it comes time for the smash cake, Kaci is all smiles.
• “I cried looking through every picture because [Taryn] seriously captured some of the sweetest pictures that she’s ever gotten,” says Whitney.
• Nathan returns home and begins putting up the family's new smoke detectors (which are also carbon monoxide detectors). “The fire department showed us where all the fire detectors go, and we were supposed to put them up, and then they went into a box until Nathan got home,” admits Jackson. “He’s got some initiative.”
• According to Gil, Nathan is an energy giver and a great motivator. He convinces Lawson and some of the other boys to help. While the guys are working, Kelly and the girls clean out the family’s two refrigerators.
• “Mom is the most thorough refrigerator cleaner-outer, and I just can’t be around when it happens because I hate waste,” says Gil.
• While one of the boys is up on a ladder and the ladies have food piled up on the kitchen counter, the power goes out. They quickly put the food back in the fridge and grab candles and flashlights. “No lighters for Judson and Jeb!” shouts Lawson.
• Everyone puts their pajamas on, and Kelly brings out a family favorite game, Surprise Spin. Each person takes turns spinning the rolling pin. Whoever it lands on draws a piece of paper, which either instructs them to do a chore or grants them a fun privilege.
• Isaiah draws, “Good for $5.” “Daddy’s going to love that we played this game, isn’t he?” remarks Kelly. Lawson is stuck with cleaning out the van and changing all the sheets.
• The lights come back on, but the kids still want to party, so they grab ice cream from the freezer.
• “When the power goes out, it goes to simplicity really fast, and having that time to just huddle as a family, play a game, and focus on each other, that was really special,” says Lawson.

'One Cap, Two Gowns' Recap

Bringing Up Bates "One Cap, Two Gowns?"

• Carlin helps Tori pack for Bobby’s college graduation. She also lends Tori a few articles of clothing. “The people of the same size, they just have this real problem of stealing,” says Lawson. “It’s not stealing,” responds Nathan. “If clothes fit you and they’re in this house, hey, if you want them to be your clothes, you keep them somewhere else. But if you keep them in this house, it’s part of the family closet.”
• “Tori and Nathan are our two that they’re like, ‘Oh it’s in the closet, it grabs for anybody,’” says Kelly.
• Down in Florida, Alyssa and John show us a glimpse of their life with two kids. John works in his family’s air conditioning business, and both of them have a joint cleaning business on the side.
• One particular evening, John comes home to watch the girls for the evening, and Alyssa immediately runs out to clean and doesn’t return home until after 9:00. At that point, John heads out to fix an A/C unit. “We’re going to stay right at two kids for right now,” says Alyssa.
• “I think Alyssa learned a lot from cleaning big messes from this house,” says Judson, matter-of-factly.
• Tori and Josie head down to Florida for the grad party. They kick off the trip with some disk golf. Josie plays on a team with Kelton Balka, a friend of Bobby’s who lives near the Bates and knew them before they knew Bobby.
• “I was super excited to get to go with Tori to the graduation because one of my friends is actually graduating,” says Josie. “Kelton is a guy that I’m kind of talking to and getting to know, and he’s pretty great.”
• “What’s it with all these special friends?” says Gil.
• “We’re going to be seeing lots of Kelton and Bobby,” says Kelly. “Well I like them boys,” responds Gil, with a combined look of stress and joy written on his face.
• The next day, Gil and Kelly and some of the kids show up for the party. “Bobby’s house is a lot different than our house,” comments Jackson. “Theirs is actually clean. I would be surprised if they didn’t mop this house more than once a day.” Bobby’s family lives in Tampa, in a gated community that sits on a lake.
• “You’ve got nice things, we can break them,” quips Nathan.
• Bobby is graduating with a youth ministry degree and will be moving up to Tennessee at the end of the summer. Kelton graduated with a degree in finance and is going to work in his uncle’s plumbing business in Tennessee.
• During the party, Tori sneaks off with Bobby to give him his Bible. He loves it.

'Lawson and Sadie's Big Breakup' Recap

Bringing Up Bates "Lawson and Sadie's Big Breakup"

• Lawson shares his music video plans with Nathan. "...The next step, I think, as an artist is getting a single out there to radio," explains Lawson. "And I thought one thing that would really help that is shooting a really high quality music video that would help promote that new single." Lawson says he was looking for a girl to play the girlfriend, and a friend connected him with Sadie Robertson. 
• The big day has arrived. Lawson, Nathan, and some of the other Bates travel to Manchester, Tennessee, to shoot the music video. Sadie Robertson arrives.
• "The storyline of this video has me trying to act like a quarterback with a real high school football team, and I've never done that, so this should be interesting," admits Lawson. "I have a lot more respect for athletes. It's not as easy as you think."
• When it comes time to film the front porch breakup scene, the skies open up, but the crew decides to press onward in the rain. 
• "Sadie, you're amazing!" exclaims Kelly at the end of the scene. "You were so convincing. I'm like, 'Poor thing!'"
• "They really made it look real," Kelly continues after the fact. "As a mom, I'm oozing with pride over here."
• Later that evening, it's time to film the big football game in which Lawson sustains an injury. Lawson is ready to take the hit, but the director doesn't want to risk him actually getting hurt. A junior on the football team (nicknamed "Crazy Robert") volunteers to be Lawson's stunt double. They run the hit scene a few times, but the stunt double doesn't mind at all. In fact, he seems to enjoy it. Nathan jokes that getting a picture with Sadie Robertson softens the blow.
• Back at home, Jackson, Warden, and Isaiah tell their mom that they would like to take her out to lunch for Mother's Day. Kelly graciously accepts, but she requests that the boys let her give them a manners refresher course beforehand. "I'm always looking for teachable moments when I'm with the kids," says the mom of 19.
• "Refresher course nothing," comments Nathan. "Them guys need the whole class from start to finish."
• "Good manners are standing up straight and eating your food," says Jeb. "Using your fork and knife instead of your hands," adds Judson.
• After the course, the three middle boys dress up in their Sunday best and take Kelly out to eat at one of her favorite places, McCloud Mountain Restaurant.
• The boys do very well. "Y'all keep that up, and you'll get a girl before Lawson and Nathan does...not that I want you to be looking," says Kelly.

Lawson's music video released today. Click here to watch.