Tennessee, Tennessee

I'm on vacation right now...  Have you missed me?  We're in Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg/Great Smoky Mountain National Park.  We spend the first half of the vacation doing tourist-y things, and we're spending the last few days enjoying God's beautiful nature.  Here are the highlights so far:

Friday:
Picked the kids up from the church, as they had been at church camp all week.  We have done this deliberately the last 2 years... they are very talkative the first hour or so, telling us EVERYTHING about camp.  Then they spent the next few hours chilling, because they were SO exhausted!  Spent the night in Lexington, KY.

Saturday:
Woke up late... ate at Crackle Barrel (what Sis calls it), then drove, drove, drove some more.  Got into our area and were SHOCKED by the crowds of people!  Stopped @ grocery store & headed to our cabin we're staying at.  (Are you thrilled beyond words yet at how exciting our trip was up to this point?)  Cooked dinner (say WHAT???) and enjoyed each other.

Sunday:
Woke up even later...  and were super lazy for most of the day.  We let the kids catch up on their lack of sleep from camp.  Then we got all cleaned up and headed into town.  We went to the outlet mall (yay!), then to Corky's BBQ, which is Don's 2nd favorite place for ribs (he can give you the top 3 places if you ask him).  It was DELISH!

Monday:
Went to the Dollywood water park (that's not really what it's called, but it's attached to Dollywood, and I'm too lazy to go find out what it was really called) ALL day long.  I could have taken pictures, I guess, but if Momma's in charge of the camera (and I am), there is NO ONE who will be taking my photo in a swimsuit!  So, you'll just have to imagine the fun.  And it WAS fun! 

Tuesday:

As I put on Twitter, we embraced our inner redneck on Tuesday.  We spent the day at the Nascar Speedpark.  That was so fun watching the kids race.  And it was fun that the outlet mall was right next door.  :)

Wednesday:
We headed to the National Park, and drove into North Carolina to go hiking as a family.  The kids aren't completely into hiking, but they know how much I enjoy it, so they go along willingly. 

Then, WE WENT WHITEWATER RAFTING!  This deserves all caps, because I am a BIG chicken when it comes to water.  I go on float trips armed with long sleeves & a big hat (to keep from getting sunburned) and a life jacket.  Even if the water is shallow.  So, for me to go whitewater rafting in CLASS 4 RAPIDS (again with the all caps) is a big hairy deal!  But I did it.  And it was SOOO fun!  It helped that we had life jackets and helmets on, AND we had a guide with us.  We ALL loved it... Madison has begged to go every day since.  I wish I could have gotten one of the pictures of us, so you could see how scared I looked, but they charged a ridiculous amount of $$ for a whole disk of photos.  Just trust me that I had a fake smile on and the kids had huge, genuine smiles going (and Don was just a hardcore rafter).  Then headed into town to a steakhouse, then went to the late show of Toy Story 3.  Days like this make me LOVE vacation and living on our own schedules!

Today (Thursday):
We drove 2 hours into the National Park (I keep wanting to call it a forest for some reason).  What beautiful views!  Then we stopped at a recreational area (Tsali), where Don mountain biked while the kids and I hiked.  We stopped for a hillbilly bath (that's what Bub called it),

then headed to a quaint, small-town pizzeria.  We came home happy and exhausted! 

We've only got a few days left, but I love that we're making so many family memories!

And we're off!!!

Headed to the Smoky Mountains...


Updates soon!

Date Camp Week Update

So, Date Week (oops!) Camp Week seems to be going well.

Luckily, I know the kids' counselors well, so I feel comfortable

AND I know they're cell phone numbers, so I can stalk them with texts.

This is the text photo I got 2 nights ago that said

"It's Quiet Time"

Hmmm...

At least her gag is purple

GO TEAM PURPLE!

Then last night, I got a text from her counselor asking if she could confiscate Sis's book

Because it was making her anti-social.

I think it's funny to take away books, but I wholeheartedly agreed.

She sent proof.

Do you like the way I've been blurring the other kids' faces?

It makes me feel like I should work for 20/20 or something.

The kids come home tomorrow.

I've had a great time focusing on my marriage this week.

But now I'm ready to have some concentrated family time.

We leave for vacation as soon as the kids get back in town.

Like, we put their dirty clothes in the trunk and leave.

Woo hoo!

Camp 2010

It's that time of year again... church camp time

For the kids, that is.

Not Don and me.

We're not the "hang out with hundreds and hundreds of children" type

We are more the "hang out with our two kids" type

The kids left on Monday morning.  *sniffle sniffle*

They'll be home Friday afternoon.

That's a long time to be gone, isn't it?

But they'll have a great time.

Right?

The kids have certain colored teams they are on.

Bub is on Team Red.

So guess what we did before he left?

It's a little tough to get the full effect here

because it's still wet from his "dye job."

GO TEAM RED

And then there's Sis.

She's on Team Purple.

She and I decided to try her color on our own

(rather than have it professionally done).

I feel like this might be my calling...

I even begged Don to let me dye his hair.

He said no.

Isn't it cute?

We did one streak,

and then all the tips.

GO TEAM PURPLE!

The nice thing about the kids being gone so long

is that the counselors are nice enough to text me

to keep me up-to-date on how the kids are.

Last night I got these two pics that said,

"Hi, Mom!"

A shake and pizza.

All seems right with the world.

Check out my post from last year (here)

I can't believe how much older the kids look this year!

I miss mah baybies!

Summer Look v. 2

Tank Top, Denim Shorts

Funky knee socks

Summer Look v. 1

Skinny Jeans with a wide cuff

Fun Wedge Heeled Sandals in a fun color!

Matching Profiles

Love is in the air!

No, not them!  They're just friends!  And too young!  :)

It was this beautiful couple, E & W.  E has babysat Sis & Bub, especially in the summers, for years now.  And we love her!  Wanna know how much??  Any time a bride/groom has asked Bub to be in their wedding in the last few years, he's stood there politely while they asked, then politely said, "No thank you."  Seriously. He's had NO desire to be in a wedding.

But when E asked???  There WAS no question, really.  Of COURSE he would be in E's wedding!!!  And Sis when she was asked to hand out the programs and bubbles?  Well, she's NEVER turned down an opportunity to get dolled up!

Once the ceremony was over, I took the opportunity (opportunities?) to take photos of all of us, since it's not very often that we're all dressed up at the same time.  If you are someone who gets a Christmas card from me regularly, you may just have one or two of these on your card this year...