Vacation Part II - Gatlinburg

Some unforeseen circumstances change the order of our whole vacation. What seemed at the time as inconvenient ended up being a blessing in more ways than one. From TN we were suppose to head north to Ohio to visit some family, but our plans had to change, literally the day we were leaving. We ended up heading to Gatlinburg, what was suppose to be the end of our vacation. But, this change actually saved us about $80 AND time at Dollywood, the highlight of our trip. Originally we would have been at Dollywood on Labor day, or the day after, but instead we made it there the Wednesday before. We waited in ZERO lines! The park was mostly empty. We later found out that it was a mad house on Labor day (and would have been closed the next day...the day we were actually planning on going!). So....our change in plans more than likely gave us a very enjoyable day at a great theme park. More on that later.

We stayed in a condo about 9 miles outside of Gatlinburg. Bookmark them! It was super! The condo was nothing fancy (as in no granite countertops or whatever). It was perfect for us, felt like home. We got a one bedroom, plus loft unit with a full kitchen, living room and an amazing view. The website and organization is Deer Ridge Mountain Resort. The condos (and cabins) sit on the top of a moutain, so you are pretty much looking out and over the mountains. They even have a golf course in the vally. There is an indoor and outdoor pool, steam room, sauna, hot tub (all of which Jeremy got to use one night ) a play ground and a huge pavillion. This would be a fun place for a family reunion. You are outside of the hustle and bustle of Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg, but close enough to be there in 10-15 minutes.

Honestly...I'm hoping this becomes our family's little getaway spot every few years. We had Great rates...better than any hotel rate I could have found and it was the best part of our vacation.


This is the view from our (very little) patio.

Wednesday we took off for Dollywood. OK, honestly, I felt a bit cheesy going to a theme park named after Dolly Parton....but it was GREAT! It was just as fun as Disney without all the money. Kids under 4 get in free!!! So, we just had to pay for Jeremy and I. The park was nearly empty, so we had most rides all to ourself. Jeremy went on many many rides with Nicole. One benefit of Nicole being so tall is that she can go on rides much sooner. She even "snuck" on a few. I'm guessing she's 41" and a few rides she had to be 42", but she got on them anyway. She went on rollercoasters, bumper cars, and other "up and down" thrill rides. In the video below you'll see her riding many of her favorites. The best one being the "up and down and up and down" ride. If you ask her what her favorite part of vacation was, she'll say it was that ride. I wish I could have gone with her, but I just couldn't hide my big old pregnant belly:-)

I did get to go on a few rides though. I took each girl on the flying elephants ride (Hannah's first theme park ride ever), the tea cup ride, and a water ride we all got wet on. There were even three rides that the kids got to do all by themselves.

This is one of the rides that Jeremy nor I could fit on. They had so much fun.

From start to finish, Dollywod was our favorite day. We had fun dancing to country music, eating kettle corn and corn dogs, riding a real train through the mountains and laughing the day away. Everyone had fun and it was well worth it.

Nicle had so much fun with her daddy. I LOVE to see Jeremy playing with the girls. Most of the time, I would rather sit back and watch them play than be involved in what they are doing. It is precious to me. Nicole's smile all day long was well worth the trip.

Below I have two videos. One is a short slideshow of our many pictures of condo views and Dollywood. Rather than post them all up through various posts on here, I tried to make a slide show. The other video is actually a video montage from rides at Dollywood. it's a pretty long video. I'm assuming only grandparents will be interested. I would say though that if your going to watch part of it, at least skip ahead and see each little section. Hannah was really funny on the kiddie rides. She wasn't sure what was happening at first and couldn't find us when we called her name. Then all of a sudden she "found" us. It's cute. Watch the end of the rollercoaster clip. You'll get a glimpse of how excited Nicole was when she got off (I think that was her third ride on the rollercoast that day too)

Video of part I

For some reason, this video didn't post in my part I post about TN. It's short...a minute or so, of me taking each girl down the slide at the park. Probably more for me than you for you, but if you want, you can watch.

Vacation Part I-Ocala & TN

Our vacation started a bit earlier than expected. Jeremy had a job in Ocala on Thursday, and we were suppose to leave when he got off work on Friday. So, rather than make him drive back to get us (it's a 4 hour drive), we just went early to help save some time. While he worked, the girls and I hit the mall. He ended up getting his work done and not needing to work Friday at all, which was a special little treat. So, our vacation was officially started. We kicked it off by hitting the local Chuck E. Cheese.

Nicole did not really understand what a vacation was yet, so she kept asking "Is this our vacation?" She asked this while at Chuck E. Cheese, while checking into the hotel, before falling asleep that night. I think she's finally figured out that our vacation was the whole experience.

Friday morning, we set out for a 10 hour or so drive to Tennessee to visit Jeremy's sister and her family.


This is little Susannah. She's a little over 8 months old I believe. Isn't she adorable? Those eyes are so big and beautiful.

Hannah loved chilling on Uncle Chris' favorite chair.

Pharaoh Chris

Uncle Chris hanging out with his little niece just before bed.

Uncle Chris, Hannah and Seth (2 1/2)

Saturday we headed off to their local park for some much needed running around (after a long day in the car) and a picnic. I put together a little video of me taking the girls down a slide.

Sunday we went to church, then Jeremy & Chris took off for Bowling Green, Kentucky to watch Chris' brother race. He's a stock car racer, and a pretty good one at that. Unfortunately, he had a bad day and lost a race just before Jeremy and Chris got there. They hung around for a while watching the other races though. I know Jeremy enjoyed hanging out with Chris that day.

While the boys were away, the girls (and Seth) played. Tiffany set up a tea party with her pastor's wife and her daughters. Mrs. Jane as she is affectionately called is from England, so we had a proper tea time. Home-made scones, Home-made cream, properly brewed tea and so on. Nicole love it (she loves tea parties). She drank her tea from the tiny sugar spoon she was given. It was a nice time. I don't have any pictures from the tea party because I forgot my camera. Tiffy...do you have any you can send me?

**Funny story** After tea, everyone was hanging around in the kitchen while the little ones played. The phone rang and one of the older daughters went to answer it. I looked over, and she had a funny expression on her face. She kept saying, "Hello?" She walked around the corner and what do you think she found? Yep...sweet Nicole thought she'd do her hostess a favor and answer her calls for her. She was talking to some man looking for the pastor. We all got a good laugh, and Mrs. Jane and her kids were gracious enough not to get upset. It was pretty funny though that Nicole took the liberty to answer the phone.

Monday, Chris had t work, so the rest of us set off for a short day in Nashville. We went to the Opry Mills mall, walked around the Grand Ole Opry House, and walked through the Opryland Hotel.


The girls and I on the carousel

Tiffy, Seth & Susannah

The Grande Ole Opry

Nicole and I

This is the INSIDE of the Opryland Hotel. Complete with glass ceiling, a river and beautiful gardens. It was a site to see!

Another inside shot. All of the other pictures were also taken inside the hotel.



Hannah really is not a pirate, although she looks like one here. For some reason, when I ask her to smile, this is the face she makes! You'll see other pictures like it as I chronicle our vacation. She's so silly!

Another famous face of Hannah's

Nicole, sitting pretty:-)

sorry

Ok...I'm annoyed as can be with blogger. I just spent an hour typing and retyping my post and uploading pictures and it's not letting me publish it. Sorry...I have to go to bed, I don't feel well. I'll try again tomorrow....

We're BACK!!!!!!!

Most of you know that we've been away on vacation for the past couple of weeks. Well, we made it back to the sunshine state (although it was raining) tonight. We are happy to be home, but made some very wonderful memories. We had a GREAT vacation, interesting at times, fun most all the time, stressful occasionally....but best of all...we were all together and loved every minute of it.

We traveled 3,500 miles, by minivan with a three year old, a 16 month old, and a 7 month pregnant lady! If we can do it...so can you:-) (btw...we Love our van and are so very thankful for it...what a blessing all that room was!)

It will take me many days to chronicle our vacation, both for you and for us (so bear with me through stories, pictures and videos). I'm hoping to write one section every day...so this should be a busy blog this week. For now though, I'm off to bed, a very tired momma who needs rest for the unpacking/cleaning that comes along with vacations. Until tomorrow afternoon sometime (hopefully)....

Ah....I couldn't leave this post empty...here's a sneak peak of one thing we did.

Who is the Big Cheeser?

The other night we needed a little break and took Nicole and Hannah to Chuck E. Cheese on a whim. When Nicole saw where we were, she got sooooo excited and excited and said, YAY!!!! I'm the BIG Cheeser!!!!

So, ladies and gentlemen, there you have it.....Nicole IS the Big Cheeser!

Cubbies

Tonight was Nicole's first night of AWANA. Most of you have probably heard of AWANA...but if not, it's basically a national children's program for ages 3 thru 5th grade. They teach Bible verses & stories, songs, and other activities. I'm not doing a very good job at explaining this.

ANYWAY....I just found out a week ago that Nicole was old enough for the 3 year old class called Cubbies! I was super excited and quickly volunteered to be a helper in her class (although I think I ended up being a teacher of sorts). I wanted to be a helper so I could learn more about what they teach and what they expect in Cubbies.

Tonight was the first night. Isn't she cute?

I'm exhausted though, whew...those kids are busy. Actually...we had a GREAT class. We had 11 three year olds, but they were really very good. My friend Teri is also one of the teachers, along with a girl named Samantha. I think we all made a pretty good team. Anyway, I just wanted to share Nicole's first night of AWANA's. The Bible verse was 1 John 4:8 "God Loves Me" was the theme. It was a fun filled night of singing, story telling, painting and playing doctor:-)

Locked out

Last night we were at our friends, Ben & Jami's house, to celebrate Ben's birthday. Our lives have closely paralleled each other, which has been neat, fun and encouraging. I'm pretty sure I was one of the first people to meet Ben when he moved here...and I'm pretty sure he thought my friend Abby and I were completely ditzy girls. Well...it ends up we became friends, then he started working with Jeremy (just before we started dating) and so him and Jeremy became good friends. About the same time Jeremy and I started dating, Ben met Jami. I think they had their first "official" date a week before Jeremy and I did. They got engaged much earlier, but we got married first (a month before them). Nicole was born 6 weeks before their daughter Kristina, and Hannah was born about 3 months after their second, Vanessa. Jami just gave birth to their third child about 4 weeks ago...a boy! So, our sons will be about 3 months apart.

Jami and I have become good friends over the years. It's been fun to have another couple walk a similar path as you. They are sweet friends and we love them.

Well...anyway....we were at their house last night, with a bunch of other people having pizza and cake. Ben, Jeremy and I were hanging out in one of the daughter's rooms watching the kids play. Nicole had left the room several minutes earlier, but we all just assumed she was out in the living room playing with other children or toys. I did hear her squeal every once in a while, so I thought she was just playing somewhere.

Several minutes later, John...Ben's brother, walks in the bedroom with a hysterically crying, very upset little 3 year old. Come to find out, Nicole is such a big girl that she went potty all by herself and locked herself in the bathroom. The poor little thing was terrified, she was shaking and crying so hard. It was so sad that it was funny, if that makes any sense. Obviously she was all right, she just didn't know how to turn the lock back the other way (in our house, our locks are push buttons, so you just turn the handle). So...the little squeals I heard were actually the beginning of her crying for help. there were just so many people there and it was so loud that we couldn't hear her.

I'm pretty sure for now on, she'll at least let me know she's going potty when we are at someone else's house, even if she doesn't need help. hehehe

My funny little girls

Hannah has discovered a much more fun and messy way of eating. Rather than using utensils of any kind or just scooping with her hands, she figures she'll "take out the middle man" and just lick everything straight out of the bowl or off the plate. Here is a demonstrations this morning with her oatmeal.





It's quite a mess...but also quite adorable! Last night at Jeremy's softball game, I gave the girls some crackers as snacks. Near the end of the game, Hannah was taking the crackers and neatly laying them out on the ground. I figured she wasn't hungry anymore and just wanted to play. After about 10 crackers were neatly laid on the ground, she layed down in front of them and proceeded to lick them off the ground! (Of course I quickly stopped her...but I think she may have gotten one cracker). Once again, quite a mess....quite gross...but also quite adorable:-)


This morning as I was taking pictures of Hannah licking her bowl clean, Nicole asked me to take a picture of her playing in her "home".

Funny story....the other night I was at a meeting at church and Jeremy was home with the girls. He and Nicole were playing hide seek. He was hiding when the phone rang. He decided rather than give up his great hiding place, he would just let it ring and whoever it was could leave a message. Nicole had other plans. Here is the phone call Jeremy heard...

Nicole: Hello....No, no, no.....my my my mommy isn't home, she's shopping.
(lays the phone down) Daddy, ready or not, here I come!

So...if you have a solicitor who is bugging you every evening, invite Nicole over, she'll take care of them for you:-)

Baby Update

As I'm sure you've noticed, I added a pregnancy ticker to my blog a few weeks ago. I'm a few days over 27 weeks preggo. I am borderline in the third trimester...woohoo!!! This little guy is ACTIVE! He kicks and turns and moves constantly....especially when I'm laying down. I have a feeling he'll come out running and won't stop till he's out of the house, haha. He still doesn't have a name yet. We have a few in the running, but nothing we are set on yet. I'll let you know when we decide:-)

I am feeling really good...for the most part. I'm having back pains and spasms on a regular basis now, which happened with my other pregnancies. It's mostly just annoying when I try to stand up and can't for a moment, or occasionally loose my balance when I'm walking (which honestly, I loose my balance when I'm NOT pregnant, now I just have a good excuse:-) Other than my back, I forget I'm pregnant unless someone asks me how I'm feeling, or I walk by a mirror:-)

I am Thrilled because my midwife just called me and told me I passed my glucose test. It's always been the most stressful pregnancy test for me, but so far so good...no gestational diabetes. However, my iron levels are very low again, so I will start a big iron supplement schedule and try to eat more spinach and red meat. I had a problem with my iron when I was pregnant with Hannah, only I didn't find out until I was 37 weeks and almost lost my privileges with my midwife, which scared me to death! So...this time I know earlier, and hopefully I can help raise my levels over the next 12 weeks or so.

Wow....12 weeks does NOT seem like very long! I better get shopping:-)


(This picture is NOT our baby...just a picture I found on the Internet of a baby at 28 weeks...it represents what he looks like. Amazing, huh?)

OK....what's little guy up to right now? Courtesy of Pregnancy.org, here are some of the things he'll be doing this week.

• Eyebrows and eyelashes are now very noticeable!
• Hair on baby's head is growing longer. Some babies are born with almost none at all, while others appear to be ready for their first haircut!
• Eyes are completely formed now. Quite a view from inside!
• Your baby's body is getting plump and rounded. Most of that increase is muscle tissue and bone. Fat will be added during the third trimester.
• Muscle tone is improving. Preparation for the Olympics feels like it is taking place in your womb!
• Lungs are capable of breathing now (but baby would still struggle and require medical attention if born now)
• Your baby weighs in now at 2.2 pounds (1005gm) and is 14.8 inches (37.6cm).

OK...I'm a little disappointed he's only 2 pounds right now, oye!