Gatlinburg

On the morning of Saturday, June 26, 2009, we set off for a fabulous week with family in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.

Once you hit the Blue Ridge Parkway it is just beautiful...



until traffic stops half way up the mountain and you have no where to hide from the sun, no where to potty, no where to play and no where to turn for an alternate route. After waiting for 40, maybe 50 or so minutes, a car wreck (with no serious injuries, thankfully) cleared and we were once again on our way.

But then we came to a gorgeous area of water, rocks, and trees, just calling for us to come and play. So we did...


[It was so pretty!]


[Karlee and I liked trying to get from rock to rock without mommy getting soaking wet!:)]

and when you put kids near water and climbing rocks you can't really expect them to stay dry, even if the water feels like 30 below! :)



After some fun playing we made it to Gatlinburg where we met my mom, dad, Heather, Terry and Ellie.

First stop - IHOP - somehow being in the mountains of Tennessee make you want pancakes!


[Hungry Travelers!]


[Holy Pancake!]

Between visiting, laughing, eating, swimming and good morning walks we...

1. enjoyed the Aquarium,





[Kenzie and Ellie.]


[The difference between girls and boys!:) Silly boy!]


[Karlee loved all of the "hands on stuff", but she was really anxious to check out the gift shop! Oh, that Karlee!]



[Kavan loved the sharks and the stingrays - Not so much the thought of getting dropped on his head down a giant plastic fish.]

2. played 4 games of miniature golf - that's 72 holes on the best courses ever!


[The Kids.]


[The Adults.]


[My DAD formulating a plan on how to beat me! (Hee,Hee)]


[A hole in one! Way to go Kyler! (By the 72nd hole I think everyone had gotten a hole in one - exciting stuff!)]

3. Saw 2 shows - Dixie Stampede (love this show, and love watching the kids love this show) and The Black Bear Jamboree (this was an energetic, get Karlee dancin' kind of a show). Thanks DAD!




[The kids loved the horses!]


[Kenzie loved the food!]



4. Played in more freezing cold water,










[I love this picture of Heather and Terry. It's so pretty!]

5. got soaked on the bumper boats,


[Layne wringing out his shirt. I think him and Karlee may have been gotten "got" the worst!]


[So funny!]

6. and raced on the go-carts.


[They drove so good!:)]


[Kavan thought he was so cool!:)]


[A fun time had by all!]

7. Went bowling at Gatlinburg's fun little community center (a Kyler favorite - he beat me bad! - I can hold my own in miniature golf, but not so much with bowling!)


[Looking good, Kavan!]


[A Strike!!]


[Okay boys, show us how it's done!]


[Look at that form!]


[Terry, horrified at how bad I bowl!:)]


[Could it be? Mom got a strike!:)]


[This makes me laugh. Karlee took this picture because she loved her bowling shoes! :) She asked me if we got to keep them!]

8. Visited the Forbidden Caverns,




[Ready to go!]




[Look, it's a dinosaur!]

9. and saw the new Ice Age movie!

10. We even fit in a little outlet mall shopping


[Kenzie, Karlee, and Ellie with their cute headbands from Grandma's shopping!]

and what is a vacation without a little relaxation...


[Warm jacuzzi baths!]


[Bubble Baths!]


[Ice cream cones!]


[Video games!]


[Cat naps!]


[And of course we brushed our teeth!]

Stay tuned for our next stop!

Psycho Rooster

Before I "blog" on our 2 weeks of super, fun-filled, action-packed vacation, I must report on Psycho Rooster. I suppose there was nobody here to save him from those scary creatures that wander our woods at night. Even sadder is the fact that his girlfriend had three of the cutest baby chicks. And really the saddest part of the whole thing is that the scary creature returned just a night or two after the chicks hatched. On the up side, it's a good thing I recorded his cock-a-doodle-doo so that I could always remember the 3:00AM and 5:00AM wake-up calls! :) (However, I must say sleeping until 7:00AM is quite nice! - Hey dad... now you can come for a full night of rest! That is until Layne's new rooster grows up - Ahh, the cycle of life!)