Recap: Back Seat Bates

Bringing Up Bates "Back Seat Bates"

• Chad shows Erin the design he has created for the cover of her upcoming Christmas album, which she recently recorded in Nashville.
• The Paines reveal that this is not the first album cover that Chad has designed for Erin. Before they were "together,' Erin enlisted Chad's help in designing her Down Home Gospel CD cover, but she was secretly just looking for an excuse to spend time with him.
• "I jumped at the chance," admits Chad. "I saw an opportunity, and I was like, you know what, I've never done this before but I'm going to find out how."
• After finishing his training at that Blount County Regional Training Academy, Zach asks his instructors if he can bring his family back to give them a taste of what he went through. 
• The first item on the agenda is pursuit driving. Everyone grabs a helmet and piles into old Sheriffs cars. "They don't know what they in for," laughs Zach.
•  Carlin screams the entire time, as do many of the others. 
• " It was better than any roller coaster in the country," says Lawson. "These guys can drive."
•  Callie is quite upset to see her mom take part, as she's afraid that something is going to happen to her. Zach, the driver, promises to be careful. 
• "I should have gone to the bathroom first," comments Kelly. "Mom, please don't say that," responds Lawson. 
• Kelly reveals that one of her greatest fears is car wrecks. "I've got a house full of bad drivers," says the mom of 19. "I've got certain kids I won't even drive with."
• Kelly holds Whitney's arm and screams for Zach to let her out, but Zach keeps driving, laughing hysterically. "It's too bad he's too big to spank," says Kelly at the end of the ride.
•  The next activity, for the older ones, is target shooting, but first the instructor lectures them about gun safety.  
• Next, Zach leads the guys through an obstacle course, which leaves Gil on the ground trying to catch his breath. "My dad's probably the toughest 50-year-old I know," says Zach. "But man, it pushes you to your physical limit."
•  A day at the Police Academy leaves the Bates feeling very appreciative of their law enforcement officers and the instructors who train those man and women.
• Later, Lawson takes Kelly, Carlin, and Josie to the local children's hospital where he has been visiting sick kids. 
• The child who is most excited to see Lawson is AJ, a little boy with a tumor pressing on his optic nerve who has become a close friend of Lawson.
• Everyone fights back tears as Lawson plays guitar and sings with AJ and several other young children at the hospital. 
• "We've tried to encourage all of our children to be involved in some kind of ministry outreach that would be a blessing to other people," says Kelly.