Vacation Part III - Twin Lakes

Twin Lakes is a beautiful piece of property my aunt and uncle own about an hour and half east of Columbus, Ohio. They so graciously allow friends and family to visit and use their property throughout the year. I've only been twice, both in the summer time, and it is beautiful. I'm sure it's nice in the winter too...but it's pretty much taken over by the men in our family trying to get "the big buck". Well...I take that back, I think the women are out there hunting too...I know my Aunt Susan and my mom are often camouflaged in the woods trying to out do the guys:-)


The view over one of the lakes


Twin Lakes - early morning


Twin Lakes - Early morning, a different view

Anyway, we were excited about going to Twin Lakes this year, because our timing was perfectly lined up with our family reunion. Unfortunately, we only got one full day out there. Hopefully next time we can stay a few days and enjoy the peace and quiet, the animals and the oh so nice weather.

We got in on Friday night, pretty late, but super excited to see my aunts and uncles AND.....JUSTIN!!!!!! Yes ladies and gentleman, my little brother was there, with his sweet fiance, Erica. We were very excited to see Justin. He moved to Ohio about 6 weeks earlier for a job, so we missed him. He is doing very well, and seemed incredibly happy. I know he'll be happier in a few months when he finally gets hitched....then he'll have all he's been waiting for:-) But, we spent Friday night hanging out by the bonfire enjoying our time with the family.

Justin and Erica

Saturday, the reunion kicked off with nothing other than the Ohio State Football game vs. Navy. Really....nothing happened until the game was over because they are all die hard buckeyes. We were the only family not wearing OSU clothes, but that was just because I forgot to pack them...sorry guys. Iactually missed most of the game because I took a much needed nap with the girls.


Nicole playing baseball with daddy and Uncle Justin

Riding on the paddle boat before the game.

After the game, the competition began, Corn hole and horseshoes. Aunt Susan set up the games, single elimination style. Now...my family takes these games pretty seriously. They play corn hole quote often, or so it seems. However, they didn't realize these Floridians also know how to toss a corn bag, and surprisingly a horseshoe too. Jeremy quietly took his competition out....until low and behold, he was in the final game of BOTH corn hole AND horseshoes against my cousin Matt. And, would you believe it....he won both of those games. He became the corn hole AND Horseshoe champion for the 2009 family reunion.

Uncle Wayne officiating Matt & Jeremy's final corn hole game.

He was even awarded these trophies.


They also had plans to have a father/child fishing competition (of which I'm sure Jeremy and Nicole would have won, haha), but those never happened. However, of much greater importance...Nicole caught her first ever fish! In all honesty, she was pretty freaked out, but it was a moment of pride and joy for Jeremy to be there with her, catching her first fish.

Holding up the big catch
The day began to wind down with a delicious potluck dinner, yummy dessert, and even a visit from Uncle Harold and Aunt Marlyn (who were actually AT the OSU game earlier in the day) Does anyone know her recipe for those rocky road bars? yummy!

Again we had another camp fire and enjoyed a beautiful night listening to my cousin's son practice guitar, hearing stories from high school days, and enjoying yet another night of conversation with Justin and Erica.

Hannah and her buddy, Uncle Wayne. I've got more than one picture of those two together...they really had fun together.

We loved our time at Twin Lakes. It was fun to see so much family at once, to play with the kids all day in the fields, to eat lots of good food and to sit by the fire at night.

I put together a slide show of most of the pictures we took at Twin Lakes. If you want one or several in particular, e-mail me and I'll get them to you:-)

Life

You're gonna miss this
You're gonna want this back
You're gonna wish these days hadn't gone by so fast
These are some good times
So take a good look around
You may not know it now
But you're gonna miss this

Gatlinburg...part II

The day after Dollywood, we decided to hit the trails and hike to some water falls. Well, we only made it to one, and that took nearly 3 hours! We found a trail that was "paved" so we could push the stroller, or so we hoped. We ended up hiking 2.5 miles swapping carrying kids. Well, Hannah was always carried or pushed, Nicole either walked, was carried, or was pushed. It took a long time, but there were some adventures to be had.

First of all, a 1.25 mile one way hike up a mountain is not the most fun thing for a 3 year old, note to self! haha. We had many...many...Many "breaks" to take, every 30 seconds or so it seemed. It also wasn't particularly easy for a pregnant lady either, and little Hannah was starting to get into the worst of her cold, so we had to stop fairly often to wipe her little nose. It definitely was not the happy go lucky day we had the day before at Dollywood, haha!

A view through the open trees

My studly outdoors man

Taking a break and looking pretty

About halfway up the mountain, a lady coming down asked us if we had seen the bear yet?

Um..Bear? There are REALLY wild animals here in the Smoky Mountain National Park? Did the keeper forget to put them in their cages this morning? I did not sign up to see a bear. No...we had not seen a bear, and I would be happy not to thank you very much. However, dear hubby did not feel the same. The thought there was a bear in the area spurred him on as he excitedly encouraged us up the mountain. I, however, was ready to turn around and go back to the car, perfectly content to NOT see a bear.

However, it was good this lady happened upon us because I was now aware of the dangers lurking behind every corner. I made it my mission to spot any wild animals before they spotted me (or my sweet little children). Just a few minutes later, there I found him...the bear, quietly mingling on the side of the mountain, looking for berries I assume.

Actually, it was quite a site. He was far enough away that I didn't feel threatened, but close enough we could see him. We stopped several other hikers and pointed him out and just stood and watched him for several minutes. However, as he mingled, he certainly got closer and closer, making his way into uncomfortable territory for me. As Hannah started crying more and a passer by told me to keep my kids close, they are just what that bear is looking for, I quickly grabbed my kids and my husband and decided it was time to continue up the mountain. Again...I would have rather gone back to the car, because surely our paths would cross again on the way down, right? Either way, he...the bear...was gone for now.


Da Bear

A short time later, we stopped for another break and Nicole laid down on some rocks and played in a little stream. As I nervously looked around for more predators, Jeremy took the opportunity to enjoy the mountain and took pictures of his daughter playing:-)

Nicole DOES NOT LIKE BUG or critters of any sort. She freaks out when there is a fly in the house or a lizard on the patio. I knew she would completely spas and hurt herself if she saw what so close to her little hand as she played. A salamander had his little head poking out of a rock, and Nicole's hands and face were right there by it. She never saw it. It's hard to see on pictures and video (and I'm sure impossible on the Internet) but I shared them anyway. She was so close to the salamander, that it actually went back in it's hole because she almost hit it. I'm glad she never knew it was there.

However, on our hike, we did see a few hairy caterpillars that completely freaked her out. She said later that she would like to go see the waterfall again, but not those hairy worms. hehehe.

Ah....just as I thought, you can't see it here, but the salamander is literally an inch from her right hand.

On we trudged, pushed and carried until finally....what we were looking for. The waterfall. Really, it was beautiful. I wish I would have been in better spirits at that point to enjoy it more. I hate to have regrets and ruin moments...and this was definitely one of them! I was so worked up about all the crying, whining and potential bears that I was satisfied with a drink, a snack a picture and a hike back. Pretty silly. We actually stayed and hung out at the waterfall for about 30 minutes or so. I was also nervous someone (i.e. Nicole or Hannah) would slip and fall. There were far to many signs about death by falls around for me to enjoy myself with those little ones. What would I do without them?

Looking down from the waterfall

The waterfalls (and our only family shot the whole trip)

Under the path at the water falls.

This video is about 2 minutes. Hopefully you'll be able to see the bear a little bit. There is also a portion at the falls if you want to see it in real life and the last bit is Nicole playing at the little stream. You see the salamander hide inside it's whole when she nearly fell on him. Hopefully the resolution is better today.

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:-)