Vacation Day Six and Seven

Lots of Swimming and Dollywood!  What else could you want to do?  :-)  They were having Dollywood nights that week.  It is their last week before school bash where you can get in at 5:00 for just $25 and they are open until 10:00.  So, we did that.  :-)  It was a nice overcast evening which helped with the heat.  It did rain for a little bit and they shut down the rides until the lightening was gone.  The girls did great loving the rides.  Jaylyn progressed on the rides nicely trying bigger rides each time.  A man was talking to me about his six year old coming on her birthday and tried the Tornado roller coaster and loved it.  So, we told Jaylyn that and she said, “Sure!”  But she had no idea what it was really going to do.  And, it was late by this time, so you couldn’t see anything.  I think TJ said he went upside down about 4 times.  She came off smiling, but says that the upside down part was scary and she probably won’t be riding that again. 

First stop – Carousel

Dumbo!

Have you ever seen an elephant fly?

Waiting for the rides to start back up after the rain.

Me and Jaylyn having a fun time going up and down!  TJ and the other girls were right down below us watching,  

More flying

Teacup fun!

Me and Adley got a turn.

That was fun!

You will have to look for me and Jaylyn on the swings

Even Leighton got to have some fun!  Adley taking care of her.

Quack, quack!

She found the buttons 

Riding the bees.  The man running the ride thought it was funny that she never took her thumb out of her mouth. 

Go, piggie, go!

Oink!

Here is Jaylyn’s favorite ride.  She had to work up to this one.

Can you find them?  They are spinning around in circles and going back and forth up and down.  She rode it again with me later.   

The next day was pretty relaxed.  More swimming.  By this time, the girls were very comfortable in the water and Jaylyn was swimming under water with her goggles.  Then, we just went into Gatlinburg again for dinner and some more strolling.  We got us some fudge and taffy.  Fudge, good. Taffy, okay.

Leighton loved being in the little kids pool.  She could reach the bottom and just walk around in her ring.  She liked the other kids too.  She would laugh at them and they would play with her. 

Adley preferred to be in the little pool too jumping around in her ring.  But, the last couple of times, she did great floating by herself in her ring.

Jaylyn getting in.  It was a little chilly that day, but didn’t take long to get warmed up.  

Should we hit the pool again?

Goggles!

Blue eyes!

Overall it was a great family vacation.  Lots of time laughing together.  Adley still talks about the bear house.  They wish it could be their house.  We drove home that last day and stopped to visit our friends, Josh and Carmen.  Their two kids are close in age to ours and are friends too.  We have missed them since they moved to Louisville for seminary.  They are doing great and will be finished with seminary this year, I think.  The only bad part of our visit was the sudden and scary episode after dinner.  Their little boy, Bryce who just turned 4 this month, fell out of his chair with a seizure.  Scared us all to death, for sure!  We called 911 and what a blessing that the girls were upstairs playing and didn’t have to see any of that.  We brought Trista up to the hospital for them later and he was released that evening.  So, far there have been no results of any medical conditions that would have caused that seizure.  He is doing fine, praise the Lord.  Please continue to pray for their family as they have this new issue to worry about and as they finish up seminary in efforts to get out on the mission field – possibly Brazil. 

Vacation Day Five

Going on a bear hunt. . . .   This was in our head this morning as we got ready to go for a hike.  We hadn’t seen any of the bears around our cabin and the girls were sure we would see a bear some where.  We headed for the Sugarland Visitor Center and checked out their little museum.  They had lots of native animals and creatures “stuffed” for you to see.  Then we went on one of the their nature trails that was short enough for our family, or a certain three year old.  The girls enjoyed the walk.  They liked the two bridges we got to walk across.  There was a small waterfall at the end of the trail and then we hiked back.  Since everyone was HOT and tired, we decided to go for a drive and do one of the “auto tours”.  Cade’s Cove is one of the most popular spots and they have a neat driving tour.  You can stop and get out, or walk or ride bikes and explore.  There are many historic cabins and churches and you can go see some of those.  You also have a high chance of seeing wildlife, especially if you go early.  It was a lot of driving to get there and a good chunk of time to drive through the tour so it was a bit too much for the girls.  Then it was back dinner in Gatlinburg and back to the cabin for the hot tub!

 Just lounging around.  Leighton was looking a bit too old here hanging out on the couch.  (Other than the thumb of course.)

Hiking!  They look like a couple hikers, don’t they?  :-)

Over the log

Cool tree

Follow daddy

Cataract Falls – Not a huge waterfall.  A little disappointed in the nice people who took our picture.  They kind of missed the waterfall.  :-)

 We found a bear!  :-) 

Driving on our auto trail tour

Then, we hit a traffic jam.   You are not supposed to stop on the one way road to look at nature.  You are supposed to pull over. Well, there was a long line of people stopped looking at something.  Then the ranger came.  The people were getting out of their cars to go and see.  It turns out, there was a small bear up in the tree that hangs over the road.  So, everyone was trying to get a look.  The ranger started moving the cars, so we couldn’t really slow down and look either, but I snapped this picture out my window as we drove under.  He was pretty small.

Then we saw some deer right next to the road.  But, we see plenty of those around home, don’t we?  :-)

Smiling for the picture, but a little tired of driving around looking at God’s beautiful creation.  :-)

There are some nice scenic spots to stop and change a diaper.  :-) 

Hot tub!  Adley finally tried it. 

Vacation Day Four

Ahhhh, sleeping in. . .  Then getting ready for some fun at the Dixie Stampede!  (Even being two weeks after vacation, the girls have still been singing the Dixie Stampede opening song and “playing” Dixie Stampede.  It was definitely a favorite!)  Then what else could top off the day – the pool!

Stampede!!!

Having Fun!

They thought it would be fitting to wear their new airbrush horse shirts to the Dixie Stampede.  I didn’t get pictures, but they loved going down to pet the horses after the show.

Getting ready to jump in!

Jaylyn’s progression of the week – to the water wings.  Soon they were off and she was swimming like a fish.

Having some more water fun!

Vacation Day Three

We decided to go check out the pool and then after naps (only by Leighton), we headed in to Gatlinburg for some fun.  

On the cabin steps for a nice pic.  It was so steamy outside, this is the only picture we got before the camera fogged up!  Good thing they were all smiling.  :-)

Some photos inside

Silly                  

Time to eat – Italian restaurant in Gatlinburg

After dinner and some “Ben and Jerry’s”, we strolled a bit around Gatlinburg.  They love to see fountains.  Adley is holding up her penny to throw in.

Watching some taffy

Then we headed over to the Ripley’s Aquarium.  We had just been to an aquarium in New Orleans, but everyone kept talking about how great this one was.  So, we went anyway.  The girls always love looking at all the fish and sea creatures.

We loved this giant tank of very colorful coral reef fish.

The girls wanted to pose at each place, so here is yet another pose.

And another. . . although, not looking. . .

We had been to a Ripley’s Aquarium before.  I remembered enjoying the long tunnel that you ride/walk through under all of the sharks and other fish.  You get really close to the sharks!

Here goes another one.

Saying “Hello”

Just hanging out, laying on top of the tunnel

Girls playing around

Adley and her new friend, the penguin

Jaylyn is now taller than a penguin

Leighton wanted to shake his hand, I mean wing.

You may remember a shot like this in the New Orlean’s pics.  Jaylyn thinks these are so fun.  She cracked me up when she started “holding her breath” and doing a swim stroke.

Nice underwater pose, Adley

More playing around

I loved the colors with these jellies

Aquanaut Jaylyn

This is a shot after the aquarium fun.  It was getting late and we were picking up the girls’ air brush shirts.  I was in line and looked back to see Leighton in her usual relaxed stroller position and Adley kept stroking her head.

One last slide down the cabin stairs before bed.