Our vacation in Tennessee continued through Friday of this week. We adventured to Dollywood two days this year which gave us a lot more time and we found so many new things! There was an entire section full of many roller coasters we’d never been to in years past and at every single one there was literally not a line at all – Kevin was able to get right on and in every case he rode in the front seat/car. We also enjoyed some lazy days at our cabin. We enjoyed the slow pace of a couple of cabin days too. I spent a fair bit of time in front of the computer playing catch up from previous blogs that I hadn’t gotten around to posting. I enjoyed my pjs and the couch with some coffee :). We had a nice hot tub too. For our 5th Anniversary Kevin made a lovely dinner – grilled cheese and a deluxe salad along with a taquito appetizer. Life is a little different with a 6 month and 4 year old, no fancy or crazy nights out. But that is just fine by me – we’re thankful for our blessings, our marriage, and our time away.
Another first for us this year was putt-putting in downtown Gatlinburg. Griffin got a hold in one! This course is up in the hillside and overlooks the main road in Gatlinburg. I walked with Reid in the sleeper for the first course and when they wanted to play another I sat in a nice rocking chair in the sunshine while Reid slept on me. I enjoyed that! We enjoyed more time at the Island. Griffin loved going on the adventure course this year and went on it a couple times during each of our visits. And here are a few pics I forgot to include in the post from last week of Griffin chasing the chickens at Dixie Stampede, plus our official photos from that night. Sorry for the poor quality!
After we got home Friday night the boys hit their bed hard! I love to capture pictures of them sleeping. Reid is a tummy sleeper just like Finn. And Finn doesn’t stay in the same place very long. Every time I check on him he’s in a different position be it sideways, upside down, underneath his covers, on top of his covers, etc.
Check out our handsome Tiger! Here is Griffin’s pre-school picture from this year and below is his Tiger class photo along with teachers Miss Jen and Miss Irma. He is really enjoying school and comes home telling stories about what he did and talking about his friends. It’s pretty cute! He eats lunch there too and typically eats really well. When I pick him up and he is telling me about his day we check out his lunch and he is so proud when he eats really well 🙂On Tuesday, Election Day, we headed to the polls and took Griffin along. Our polling location is always active and busy yet we don’t have to wait so we were in and out pretty quickly. Afterward we headed to our traditional Annie’s Southern Kitchen for a tasty breakfast before Kevin and I headed to work. Here are a few others from this week before we left on our annual trip to Tennessee. Finn loves player with Cooper and Cole whenever they are home and outside. They enjoyed a fun afternoon playing in the leaves. He also made some fun artwork with Debbie this week including a Turkey, a pilgrim hat, and a feather hat.
I made it to Fox in the Snow for a special treat one afternoon after a doctor appointment at Riverside. We met with a genetic counselor, the specialist, and the sonographer who performed a detailed ultrasound called the Ultra Screen where they look at the thickness and fluid in the cavity of the spinal cord area at the base of the baby’s neck (called nuchal translucency). This measurement, along with a blood sample of mine that we had sent off in the mail, is used to assess the risk of Trisomy 18, 13, or 21. An increased thickness can indicate possible chromosomal issues and because of our history with Nathan and his Trisomy 18 diagnosis, we opted for the least risky procedure that would provide insight on the health of the baby. We were elated to learn that the scan showed a very normal spinal area/thickness. The baby was actually in a perfect “textbook” position when she first looked so she got some great images. They also look at the nose for the presence of a nose-bone which is another positive, as the lack of one can also indicate chromosomal issues. Everything looked wonderful. I left feeling so relieved. It doesn’t mean everything is guaranteed to be perfect by any means, but it was reassuring to hear from the specialist that the baby looked great.
We left early on Friday morning for our trip to the Smoky Mountains. We arrived at our cabin, Smoky Bear, and were a bit scared at the sight of the driveway and its pitch. Yikes! It was kind of like going up and down a roller coaster where you can’t quite see where you are headed! But after a few trips we were good to go 🙂Finn loved playing with the oven mitts and a package of ping pong balls that we purchased to play some “baseball” in the cabin. It was amazing that he was able to catch so many!Smoky Bear had a pool! We enjoyed playing in the pool although it was not very warm! So our stints were rather short but we had plenty of good times! One of our first adventures in Tennessee was a new adventure for us. We drove through part of the Smoky Mountains National Park and saw some landmarks there like the Chimney Tops area on our way to Clingman’s Dome. A new adventure for us this year as we walked the paved, very steep, half-mile trail to the summit at 6,643 feet, which is the highest point in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Griffin had fallen asleep on our way there so he was in no mood to walk up the steep incline. He was lucky enough to be carried by his daddy most of the trail. Walking up the ramp to the observation tower was a bit scary if you looked down! Here is our family selfie at the top of Clingman’s Dome. It was a hazy day, with all of the forest fires in the area, so the views weren’t as great as we were hoping. But it was a fun adventure to the top!
Vacation! We were fortunate to spend this week down in Pigeon Forge, TN for our annual fall getaway. We again stayed in Sherwood Forest in a two bedroom cabin. The weather was lovely – warm and enjoyable everyday but one! And we had made plans earlier in the week when we knew the rain would be coming to make that day an indoor day. We were on the go a lot so it certainly wasn’t a very restful vacation. But certainly a time to be away from the norm of our regular activities and chores and tasks and just be together.
The first night we stayed in downtown Gatlinburg this year. Our hotel has a nice pool and hot tub – but boy, have we realized how spoiled we are by taking swimming lessons at Goldfish! The water anywhere else isn’t ever as warm as Goldfish!! We arrived at the hotel and went swimming before heading off to dinner at Kevin’s favorite place, Smoky Mountain Brewery. They have really yummy food (pizza in particular!) and this year I tried their seasonal Pumpkin brew (no surprise there, I know) and it was delicious. The next morning we woke up and headed for the Pancake Pantry where we had the best seats ever! We were right along the front windows of the restaurant which looks out onto the main street of Gatlinburg. Prime people watching and lots of bright light. Afterward we walked around the strip and then new this year, we went to Ober Gatlinburg. We took the big sky tram up to the resort-like area where we spent the next few hours exploring the wildlife encounter (cool bears, sea otters, and the like), riding kids rides, and Kevin took Finn on his first ever roller coaster! Kevin was really excited to take him and they had a fun time. It was hard to get a good picture as they were pretty far away, so I took a video of them heading up the hill!
We spent Monday night, our Anniversary, at home with a tasty spaghetti and meatball dinner. Afterward we all took a dip in the hot tub – a new thing for Finn this year too. Kevin lowered the temperature so it was more like bath water and Finn loved it. Our cabin had tiny rubber duckies in the bathrooms and he brought one out into the hot tub. It turned out to be a perfect toy!
Finn also loved playing pool this year! In past years we’ve used the pool table as a changing table, or ignored it altogether, but this year each morning Finn woke up he would say “please, may I go play that game up dare”. He had some fun for sure!On a nice and warm day we headed to the Smoky Mountain National Park and drove through Cade’s Cove. We were there two years ago and were feeling all nostalgic as we visited certain places – so we reenacted some photos we had taken the last time we were there when Finn was only about 8 months old. the ones in the field and along the fence, in particular. And Finn had the special treat of riding in Kevin’s lap through portions of the park as we drove from one area to the next. As you can see, Finn is really in to balancing and walking on logs, standing up on logs, and such. Even his preschool teachers have remarked how well he can balance himself!
Kevin got out of our car at one point where we had just left the park as we saw several people looking up into the woods. Turns out there was a bear up there – if you look close, you can see it. That’s about as close as we got to one!By the time we were on our way back home, our little guy was really tuckered out! Another day we went to the Island which has several retail shops and lots of entertainment for little ones. This year Finn was big enough to be able to do several of rides and since he is in to trains we all rode the train together, which takes you on a 10 minute route throughout the Island.
It’s also tradition to take Finn to the Dixie Stampede. We enjoy the show, but mostly enjoy watching Finn watch the show and see how he is so mesmerized by all of it. And of course petting the horses at the end of it all is pretty fun too. He hardly ate much this year (there is dinner during the show) as he was so into watching what was going on! We did have some lounge time at the cabin too. Can you believe it was nice enough to leave our cabin door open and Finn to be running around in his swim suit!
I looked over one time and saw all of our shoes lined up like this thanks to Finn. He actually completed the ends, making them symmetrical!And here are our “official” photos from our fun at Dollywood, the ferris wheel at the Island, the Dixie Stampede, and the roller coaster at Ober!Finn was sporting Kevin’s new slippers for a bit before we left the cabin on our last evening to head to dinner at Paula Deen’s restaurant. We enjoyed delicious southern food, family style, and left there stuffed!
Finn is really good in the car, though he rarely will sleep more than an hour. He played a bit with his trucks and scooped some raisins, lol. And Finn was happy to be home and see Lily and Cam Cam. He really has been such a great helper with Cammie. Each morning and evening he helps me fill up her food bowl and take it outside. He opens and closes the door, and if the weather is nice he also likes to wait on the patio and watch her!