Vacation #2 - Accident and Cade's Cove

In order to save a little money, we took muffins, eggs, and fruit so we could eat breakfast in our room every morning. 

Every morning we ate out on our little third floor balcony. Lily could also fit through these bars too, so we told her she had to stay away from the edge. On this fateful morning, she was being a little disobedient and as Jacob was guiding her away from the edge, she jerked away from him and her head hit the bars, giving her a bruise. As Jacob lunged to catch her, he spilled his coffee on her head and back. Oh, it was awful! We rushed her inside, stripped off her shirt and put ice on the burns. Thankfully the coffee wasn't *that* hot and her back didn't blister.

After getting all cleaned up, she and Jacob went out and read some books. That was definitely not the greatest way to start the day!

We decided to go to Cade's Cove, so we left around 9:30 (it opened at 10). We had no idea that it was going to be a really long drive to get there on curvy, slow-moving roads. At least the kids slept on the way there! 

At Cade's Cove, you basically drive along a one lane road and stop at different old sites (like cabins or churches). We let the kids sit in our laps while we drove to each stop. Lily loved driving!

I think we won't do Cade's Cove again until the kids are older. It was just kind of long for them, partly because there were a ton of people there and we had to drive through sooo slowly, but getting in and out of the hot car got wearing on them (and us). The scenery was beautiful though!

Yes, we carry the potty chair in the car in case we have any sudden needs for it. It definitely came in handy that day!

After we left Cade's Cove, we headed to Pigeon Forge. We went to the Three Bears General Store where they have live bears you can see. 

Lily loved the bears! She still talks about them!

At the General Store, we saw where they were advertising discounted Dollywood tickets. Jacob really wanted to go to Dollywood, but he wasn't really able to justify the nearly sixty dollar tickets plus tax! Anyway, to get the discounted tickets we had to do one of the "tours" for a time share, but they offered us two free tickets to Dollywood. We agreed to do the tour. 

Oh. my. word. it was insane to say the least! The 90 minute presentation turned into like 2 hours because the salesman said he had to have both of our focused attention. Um, hello! How do you do that with two little ones?! After him stopping for me to run Lily to the potty and to go change Levi's diaper, he finally figured out that it was impossible to have both of our attention. We did not buy in to the time share, and I can't tell you how happy we were to finally walk out of there with our free tickets to Dollywood! Jacob and I both agreed that the crazy two hours were worth saving us about $140!

After the long busy day, we headed back to the hotel, got showers and relaxed for the evening!

Vacation Day #1 - The Aquarium

My uncle and aunt own a time share in Pigeon Forge, so we were able to get a good deal on a hotel through their referral (or something). We saved up for this vacation and used cash so that we didn't go over budget. Anyway, our hotel was in Gatlinburg right next to the Aquarium. We went early on Tuesday morning to beat the crowd!

Waiting for Daddy to get the tickets. One nice thing about taking little ones is that they are free at pretty much all the attractions.

Lily really loved seeing all the "amials"

Crazy looking - it's head is pointing down.

The neatest part was this long tunnel where you ride a very slow moving conveyer belt and there are sharks, turtles, fish, sting rays, etc swimming above and around you! It was awesome!

There is a little kiddie area with fun things for children.

Levi enjoyed his morning nap in the stroller.

The spider crabs creeped me out!

In front of a tank with sharks and sting rays

There was a special exhibit with Penguins! Lily really liked them.

So neat!

I think she was a little afraid to crawl on the glass floor. ha!

Me and my girl

We headed back to our hotel for lunch and naps. We all took naps, and woke up feeling great! In the late afternoon, we went up the Space Needle. It was cool, although a little scary because Lily kept getting really close to the edge and her head would fit through the bars! Ugh!

We went to Mellow Mushroom for supper. Meals out with two littles is always pretty crazy, but we managed. Except for when Lily leaned over into the next booth and grabbed the baby's bottle out of their diaper bag! I was so embarrassed. 

After supper we walked around the shops in Gatlinburg. We went to one big outdoor/camping type store and Lily found a bunch of stuff she wanted. Ha!

We headed back to the hotel and crashed after a fun-filled day!

Where I've Been...

Wow, I can't believe I haven't posted in nearly two weeks! We have been busy, busy, busy! Sometimes I wonder if life will ever slow down. 

The first week of August we went on vacation to Gatlinburg/Pidgeon Forge, TN. It was a lot of fun, although we had our moments with two little ones out of routine. Ha! I'll post pictures soon, but for now, I'll leave you with a picture of these two crazy kiddos. 

Hope you have a great night!

Random Pictures

These are pictures I've been meaning to post for . . . uh, about a month!

 Playing together in the "play area" part of our living room

Lil' Man - he was about 6 months old here

He's a giggly boy, that's for sure!

I think she was trying to act like a monkey.

Playtime in Lily's crib. 

Um, yes, my son plays with dolls and I'm ok with it! :) He's going to be a good daddy one day!

Yum! Yum!

My teething boy loves chewing on his spoon!

Helping Daddy

When I was a little girl, I loved helping my Daddy. I have so many special memories of the time I spent with him. I remember many trips to the feed store and hardware store, helping him with the animals at the barn, hauling hay, cutting down trees, handing him screws or nails while doing projects, and so many more sweet memories. I look back and wonder if I was more in the way than helping, but I never remember my Daddy acting like I was.

It warms my heart to see Lily so in love with her Daddy. No matter what he is doing, she wants to be in the middle of it, "helping" him. She goes with him whenever he runs to Lowes, or the post office, or the bank. It's so sweet!

Break time - "It's awfully hard work pushing the broom." Ha!

I pray that she is always a Daddy's Girl!

19 months

Happy 19 months Lily!

• She talks up a storm with new words/phrases everyday. It amazes me how she just talks and talks and we can understand what she is saying!
• She is a climber - recently we found her stuck at the top of Levi's crib, she was almost in, her leg just got stuck! Also, we found her sitting on the tray of the high chair while Levi was in it playing. We have to get our bookshelves and corner cabinet attached to the wall ASAP!
• She weighs about 21lbs and is wearing mostly 18 month clothes, but still some 12 month stuff. She's gotten taller recently and 18 month dresses are really short on her, but 24 month/2T dresses are way too big in the shoulders/chest. So for now, she runs around in mini-skirts/dresses with ruffle bloomers underneath. :)
• She's doing great learning her letters, numbers, shapes, and colors. 

• She sleeps from about 7:30pm to 8am and takes 1 or 2 naps each day. 
• She is successfully potty trained (of her own choosing), although we still put a diaper on her at night. Sometimes she wakes up dry and sometimes she wakes up wet. 
• She still loves reading, playing with Levi, cooking with Mama, helping Daddy, playing outside, going to the park, and visiting family. 
• She eats great! Rarely is there anything she won't eat. Her new favorite thing is dark chocolate - um, yes, only because that's her mama's favorite thing!
• One sweet thing I don't want to forget: everytime she hears a siren from an emergency vehicle she folds her hands and wants to pray. It's the sweetest thing! We live nearby a hospital, so we stop to pray many times each day. 

We thank the Lord everyday for this little girl!