Vacation Part IV

The next day we decided to drive up into the "mountains".  It was beautiful.  As we drove for miles I noticed something.  Millions and Millions of trees.  So, I thought I should post a few pictures of them.  Just to reassure anyone who is concerned that we are running out of trees.  They are alive and well, not only in NC but now in the Smokey Mountains.  It was a beautiful site.  We couldn't see anything else on either side of the road but trees.

We drove to a place called Cade's Cove.  It was a little settlement that I can't figure out how they ever found it in those dense trees and miles and miles away from Gatlinburg.  It was a great little place.  As we were walking back to the car from seeing one of the settler's homes McKenna decided to run down the dirt path away from us.  Tim started chasing her but she just kept running and running until she found this lone tree off to the side and ran right to it and sat down.  It was quite funny at the time probably not so funny in written form.  But since she's so cute the picture can be enjoyed.

This is the water wheel that powered the mill.  There was a giant mill that ground wheat and corn.  It was awesome but definitely wouldn't fit in my kitchen.  The stones were so large all the girls could sit on one.

 The Mill

                                                        After lunch.  Did I mention how hot it was?

The resort that we stayed at was right near this bridge.  Every time we drove through, Tim had to honk, of course.  McKenna loved it so she would yell "TUNNEL!"  whenever we came close to it.

After leaving Cade's Cove, we noticed a sign that said "Waterfall" so we had to stop.  It was a 1 1/2 mile hike up a pretty decent hill.  The girls did great.  McKenna walked about 1/2 of it.  We definitely followed the example of the pioneers trying to keep her mind off of it and singing along the way.  It was a beautiful waterfall and worth the walk.

Part III

Thanks to Interval Time Share and Abuela and Grumps we scored some tickets to go to Dollywood Water Park.  (We did have to sit through a time share presentation but it was well worth it.)  Did I mention that it had been 100 degrees pretty much every day?  It was the hottest summer on record there since the 1930's or something crazy like that.  So the tickets came in handy.  Dollywood has a deal that if you get there after 3pm one day you can go the whole next day on the same tickets.  So that's exactly what we did.  I think McKenna had the best time out of everyone.  That girl loves the water.

The girls loved this slide - not to high but just enough drop.  The pool was the shape of a butterfly - which only girls would love, of course.

This picture doesn't do this slide justice.  The middle tan slide is super high.  Tim, Livie and Maya went down it.  I thought for sure they would come down crying but they all loved it.  (This was the alternative that I let Tim slide down - he wanted to do the drop out one but I'm too chicken.  Poor guy has to suffer because of my anxiety.)  Alexa, Mckenna and I waited safely on the ground until they got done.

I don't think this girl stopped smiling.  Oh!  Wait, except when it was time to go.

We loved this slide - 4 people could go in the tube at the same time.

I think this was my favorite place.  It was like a regular jungle gym but water hoses and guns everywhere.  You could squirt people or turn up the water to spray farther, etc.  There were water slides all different sizes and again McKenna was right there with the big girls.  Notice the giant bucket on the very top.  It would fill up and dump over the entire area every little while.

Here's the bucket dumpimg on the girls and Tim.

Cute girls.

Family Vacation Part II - FINALLY!

On Tuesday we went back into Gatlinburg (this time we drove because we found parking that was cheaper than the trolly.) We decided to go to see the Guinness World Record Museum.

On our way we saw a sky lift that went up the side of the mountain. Maya REALLY wanted to go on it but because her mother is afraid of heights that means everyone in her family has to be also. So, no ride up the mountain on a tiny little swing with your legs dangling in mid air with only a cable holding you up. I did opt to let them sit on one that was on the ground.

No matter how many times we tell Alexa how Guinness is pronounced she still says it her own way. Since we were there, I had to get it on film.

                                        

Inside the museum. We had to tell the girls who this guy was. Maya wanted to climb over and see the coffins that were next to him.

Here we are standing inside the belt of the largest man. Tim also was in there with us but he had to climb out to take the picture.

Tim and the Tallest man. I never knew that 6 ft. could seem so short.

All us girls taking our turn next to the tallest woman.

Can you imagine us driving down the street on this thing?

Can you imagine this girl driving? I think she's trying to figure out how she can get this thing outta the building without anyone noticing.

Livie, looking as cute as ever.

What to do!

So, I was so thrilled to get blogging again and now for some reason I'm getting an error when I try to upload a picture on my new computer.  I am so anxious for my dear husband to fix it up for me - I'm afraid I'll mess something up so I'll just wait until he's available. 

In the mean time - I remembered a little funny story that I had with Alexa that I wanted to record.  Alexa and I were driving home from church (everyone else had already gone home.)  She was asking me what was for dinner.  I think it was crockpot enchiladas.  She started complaining that we have been having so many meals that were "all mixed together" and she just wanted grilled chicken, a vegetable, and potatoes or something where everything is separate.  As I listened to her I thought she was starting to sound a little spoiled so I decided to share with her a few thoughts.  I told her how she should realize how lucky she is.  That she shouldn't be picky.  There are other children out there who are lucky to even get one meal a day and it's probaly soup - everyday.  I ended my lecture with be telling her she should be grateful that she doesn't ever have to worry about where her next meal is coming from.   After a moment she pipes up and says, "Yeah I will.  If our country becomes socialist or communist, I will."

There she goes again, trying to outsmart me.  All I could say was, "Don't use my words against me."  Actually, I'm glad to know she's been listening.

Where have I been?

If you follow our blog, you probably have noticed that it's been a long time since I have blogged.  Or you may have not noticed at all and figured I was just getting behind, as usual.  The past few months have been miserable with our computer.  Everything was so slow.  The last post took me 3 tries (trying to load pics - letting it run all night and then getting up in the morning to find out the computer locked up and nothing happened.)  We have also had the pleasure of trying to save documents and the computer taking a good 10 MINUTES to save or sometimes it would lock up before we could save, causing us to restart the computer and lose what we saved.  The last straw was helping Alexa with an assignment and trying to print an excel spread sheet - I think it took a good hour to get everything done - that was just the printing part and trying to fix a few typos, the project was done.  Pretty much after that I would turn the computer on to check e-mail and that was it (which would still take 10 min - 15 min. to recieve the e-mails and open each one.)  Tim tried his best to fix it but it just had a mind of its own.

So, after much heartache, frustration, concern, and lashing out at anyone who came near me while I was watching that stupid blue circle turn, we decided we had to get a new computer.  Since we are trying to be so frugal these days, I was really dragging my feet.  I didn't think a computer was a necessity - turns out it's much more so than I thought.  I can't believe how much we use it and how much my kids need it for school.  I wish I would have taken pictures of each of us as we sat waiting for the computer to move.  One night Alexa sat there with her head on the desk, banging her fist on the desk and moaning.  So for my birthday and Christmas, we got a new computer.  It just came yesterday and I can't believe how my life has changed already.  I haven't seen that stupid blue circle and right now, while typing, I don't have to wait for the letters to show up.  They are appearing as I am typing.  Can you believe such a thing?  So, now I can blog, Alexa and Olivia can get their projects done, I can do my Relief Society stuff, I can balance our checkbook, work on our budget, Tim can type up the bulletin for church, and whatever else comes our way that we see needs to be done.  We are set. 

Watch out, if I find a few minutes in the evenings, I might actually finish posting about our vacation!

Our Family Vacation, Part I

We spent a week in  Gatlinburg, TN thanks to Abuela and Grumps Van Buskirk for their Time Share points.  We had a great time - HOT, but great.  We decided that the first day we got there we would just go walk downtown and see what there was and what we wanted to do over the week.  There was a trolly that took us from the resort to the main strip.  The girls loved the trolly, from the look on Tim's face you can tell he didn't as much.

The four cutest girls I think I've ever seen.

It was so hot and humid - I thought this pic of Alexa captured how we were all feeling walking around in the heat.

In front of Herby!

McKenna loving the elevator.

I loved coming back from a long day and laying down not having to get to the laundry, answer e-mails, make phone calls, drive to appts.  I was living it up.

That night we watched a Dorris Day movie and painted our nails. 

What could be more fun for a house full of girls?

This is Tim enjoying our nail painting and movie night!

Actually, he did get involved - these girls love to have their daddy do girly stuff.

Dump Dinner!

I stole an idea from a friend on facebook.  She had done this with her family and I thought it sounded like something my kids would enjoy and it was easy-peasy to do.

We just lined the table with butcher paper, bought a whole cooked chicken from Coscto, bread from Walmart, the corn I had already blanched and frozen from a farm nearby, and green beans from the freezer.  We dumped it on the table and told the kids it was time for dinner.  At first they looked at the table like we were crazy and couldn't figure out what was going on but they decided they really liked it.  Not to mention, clean up was a snap.