Prepare to be Geek-ified

Plans changed a bit as Sunday progressed, and we ended up having a lot more time Sunday afternoon than we originally planned.  After driving through Cades Cove, we parked in downtown Gatlinburg, and strolled the streets there.  Sounds like we did a lot of strolling this vacation. :)  We stopped for lunch in a little pub kinda thing (there were several of those there.  I guess that is what you get for vacationing in a place known for its moonshine).  Then headed back down the mountain to find some way to spend the rest of afternoon.  Low and behold, this is what we found:

MagiQuest

I apologize for the small thumbnail pictures.  I am not smart enough to figure out how to download them full size, so you should probably go to the link and check it out for yourself.  But it was a surprisingly good time.  It is basically a video game that you play in real life.  You are given a "wand" that is connected to your information and, should we ever choose to go back, your previous games will be saved.  They have several realms and places,

 and you go on quests where you look for things, and point your wand at them. 

They are then saved, and you go on more quests where you store more "runes" and "potions" and things.  The quests are given through clues and poems, and you have some figuring out to do.

I was kind of surprised that I enjoyed myself as much as I did.  I am not really into video games, much less those kinds.  I prefer Tetris and Super Mario Brothers :)  But, I did enjoy myself!  Yes.  I can be a geek sometimes.

Right as our time ran out, or children showed up, and a joyous reunion was had by all.  We allowed them to stretch their legs, and play one game at the place of our rendezvous.  Then, we loaded back up in the car and drove home.  It was a long, and treacherous trip, filled with road construction, a stop for "dinner" at 9:30, and some driver switching.  Finally we arrived home around 4am on Monday, where hubby headed back to work after a short nap, and I hung out at home all day with the kids.  (Don't let him fool you though, I drove a majority of the way home while he slept ;)

I don't really know all that the kids did up with their cousins.  I know they played and swam.  And watched Brave (which turned out to be too much for them, FYI).  Needless to say, a good time was had by all.  And thus, our vacation(s) came to an end :)

Cades Cove

Sunday morning.  Ah.  Bittersweet.  Our vacation was coming to an end, and we had at least 6 hours to drive after we picked up the children :p  But, we had some time in the morning, so we decided to take a scenic drive through Cades Cove.  It did take a bit to get there (more than we thought it was going to) and it took longer than we thought.  It is an 11 mile, one way driving loop.  But, it was slow going, and the whole trip took us a bit more than 3 hours.  Be forewarned. 

That being said, the views were spectacular!

How would you like to live out here?

Ok, so I wouldn't really.  Not if I have to live in this (although wondefully built sans air conditioning) log cabin.  It was nice to see the history and to walk through things.

Hubby kept imagining himself walking out of the front door and being greeted by this.  I kept imagining "running" to the grocery store. 

Our retirement may be kind of interesting. 

So long as he does all the grocery shopping, we may be ok :)

There were several places on the driving loop to park and walk.  The above log cabin being one of them, and the grist mill being another.

It was a nice way to spend the morning.  In nature.  With no rush yet, as we had no where to go. 

Saturday

I have a thing for Christmas decorations.  I know, I know.  It can be dangerous.  It can be expensive.  It can be pretty silly to spend a small fortune on decorations that will only be displayed 1 month of the year.  So sue me....  After our experience of rolling down the hill, we were looking for something to do for an hour or two before lunch time.  Right on the boardwalk of Pigeon Forge is an assortment of shops called the Christmas Village.  And man, could I spend a while in there.  Correction: I did.  We walked and walked and walked and walked.  We looked at things and picked up things, and eventually did buy things.  Hubby was awesome as he walked through with me.  I didn't realize how lucky I was until we left the store, and I saw several men sitting on the benches outside...  Hubby actually came inside with me.  Man, am I a lucky girl :)  While I am sure I could have spent thousands of dollars, and several more hours inside, we started to get hungry, and I left with 2 things.  First, this adorable personalized Gingerbread house:

And second, this super cute little snowman ornament.  I just really loved the idea of cute little Kelsey peaking over the fence rail :)

Saturday afternoon passed in a blur, and we ended up being a bit late for our show that evening: the Lumberjack Feud.  The food was pretty alright (although, I preferred the food at the Dixie Stampede).  The show, however, I thought was slightly better than the previous nights.  However, be warned that there are a few jokes that lend themselves to a 12 year old boy's sense of humor...  You know, jokes about "natural gas" or "log dropping".  But, overall, it was humorous and we enjoyed it :)

After the show got out, we again found ourselves wandering the town.  We stopped in a boot place.  We bought hot and now Krispy Kreme donuts.  Then, ended up in a "General Store" where we again spent several hours strolling and looking.  We brought home some taffy and 1.5 lbs of fudge.

It simply isn't a vacation if you don't gain a few pounds :p

Zorb!

Saturday morning, like a crazy person, we got up early (I know, right...  Early!  ON VACATION!!!  Anyway...) and headed over to the local Zorb place.  I had seen things like this in random places, and was happy to find there was something like this nearby.  We kinda have a thing about doing something physical/different/dangerous when we are on our anniversary trips.  It keeps us young :) 

We signed in, filled out the paperwork, and took our shoes off.  Then, we headed up the hill (one at a time) and strapped ourselves into the Zorbit ball.  Then, we did this:

They stopped to take a few pictures. 

Then we did this:

And let me just say, there is no graceful way to exit this baby....

Here is a view of the course.  There are few different courses, depending on the kind of ride you choose.  And that metal thing going up the hill is a conveyor belt to get the balls back to the top.

And, of course, Kelsey was with us too.  Happy little puffy eyes and all :)

Pigeon Forge, TN

Friday morning dawned a bit dismal, and slightly rainy, but mostly great because I got to sleep in. Because of our late night perusing and dawdling, Kelsey slept in quite a bit.  So much so, that I almost missed breakfast.  Thankfully, we made it in time, after which, I returned to the room, and got ready to go, showering, packing and enjoying the free HBO as I watched Harry Potter, Part 2 :)  We left around lunch time to head to our REAL vacation.  Hubby and I had planned to spend the weekend in the charming little town of Pigeon Forge, TN.  Tourist traps and all :)

We arrived in time to check into our hotel, then head directly to the Dixie Stampede.  The show was pretty good, and the food was quite yummy.  You couldn't even smell the manure!  I would not have been able to afford to go with all of the children, but for the two of us, it was alright.  The show got out around 8, and rather than go be old fuddy duddies and return to the hotel, we decided to see if there was anything we could find to do on the board walk.  Assuming Kelsey would allow us.

Turns out, there was quite a lot to see there :)  For instance:

Cap'n Jack Sparrow was there.

 Hubby has been told on multiple occasions, by many different people, that he looks like Nic Cage.  While this isn't the best example of Mr. Cage, we thought it worth getting a picture of the two of them together :)

 Then I bumped into Forrest Gump.  He was kind enough to share some of this chocolates with me.  I am closing my eyes to make the "not knowing what you're gonna get" even more not knowing-er :p

One of hubby's favorite kick butt action heroes.

 Brad Pitt even allowed me to bestow a kiss upon his cheek.  Never mind the weird nose hair look of the picture.  In real life, he was much more attractive.

 Then hubby went a few rounds with Rocky.  Gave him a good work out.

 And I played a quick game of b-ball.  Michael Jordan was a decent opponent, but he was no match for this high-jumping momma!

We made a few wishes...

And stole a few hearts.  (That face that KStew is making in the back ground is her "completely jealous face", not her "constipated" face...  See!?!  We knew she could act!)

What is with hubby always getting into fights?!?!

 Then, he was beamed up to the star ship.  Thankfully, they returned him, no worse for the wear.

Mr James Bond was nice enough to present me with a flower!  I think it is because I over looked his bad hair day.

 Don't ask.

 It's another of hubby's favorite super heroes!  The Pacifier!!!! :) *snort snort*  Get it?!?!

Amazingly, through it all, Kelsey was a trouper.  She smiled at strangers, and was mostly happy in her stroller....  In short, she was an amazing fashion accessory.

 Although she was completely outraged at the way this man treats women.  She staged a protest.

Hubby's dream job: Mall Cop.

Or maybe it is to own thousands of dollars and control the lives of many people.  I can never remember....

 Her heart will always go on!  And yes, she has the most fantastic grin that you can't see because she is looking down at me :)

 Hubby's gf.  Kinda hard to tell, but I am pretty sure it is supposed to be Hillary Duff.

 He said they are real.  I can't argue.

 This cowboy even made a trip back from the grave just for a photo op.  Wasn't that nice?  PS- I don't think he was really that tall...  anybody know?

 Shoot 'em up!

Whew!  What a busy night on the board walk.

Next time you have a hankering to see celebrities, no need to go all the way to LA.

My Staycation

 Two Wednesdays ago, we loaded up the children into our newly repaired van (and by newly, I mean hours old transmission and newly refreshed a/c {Thanks little fishies!}) and drove.  And drove and drove and drove.  First, we met up with my my fabulous in-laws in the middle of hither and yon.  We feasted, then departed, 3 children lighter.  The older children were going to spend their annual week with Nana and Pop, this time allowing little brother to tag along.  I was a bit worried about him, only to find he probably didn't think twice about me. 

We turned around and retraced our highway steps back to hubby's job site, where Kelsey and I hung out in his hotel room, while he busted his butt doing construction-y things.  After having gotten up somewhere around 5am that morning, to make sure everyone was loaded and packed, and to make sure we arrived at our midway point on time, I was more than happy to sit down in the hotel room, lay Kelsey down for a nap, and do absolutely nothing.  Poor hubby didn't have that opportunity, as this portion of his trip was still on the clock.  And while I didn't want to rub it in his face, I did enjoy having less children to watch, no responsibilities, and the cable TV all to myself. 

Thursday, hubby again departed the hotel room, lamenting his taking of the car, thus leaving me with the inability to leave the hotel.  As his wife, it was my duty to make him feel better, which I did to the best of my ability, by saying things like "Don't worry about me.  Kelsey and I will be fine."  In truth, I was kind of ecstatic.  I got to eat breakfast I didn't make, and didn't have to worry about dishes.  I turned down the air to 68* and didn't worry about the power bill (this portion of the trip was planned.  I even brought a few extra blankets for Kelsey.  I looked forward to wrapping her in her swaddle blanket {which I hadn't been using as much at home because it was a bit on the warm side} and brought socks to keep my little piggies warm). 

This picture was taken at home, but I do love it so.  And, she looked very similar to this in the hotel.  Promise.

 Sweet sleeping beauty.  My current favorite burrito :)

I also looked forward to taking a nap.  In the middle of the day.  Or at the beginning of the day.  Or BOTH!  I laid Kelsey down for her first nap, and snuggled into the crisp sheets of the hotel room bed, covered by a thick comforter, because it was 68* in the room.   It was delicious! :) 

And then I continued to lay there because I was having a difficult time falling asleep.  Then Kelsey woke up (I popped her pacifier back in and she went back to sleep).  Then hubby called.  Then hubby came back to bring me an early lunch because he had a lunch meeting (bless his soul).  Then Kelsey woke up for real.  And my early morning nap dream was smooshed to smithereens.  *Sigh* 

Never fear!  Thankfully, after hubby departed and Kelsey went back down for her afternoon nap, I was able to snuggle down and sleep for a bit before taking a shower with no one at the tub side crying that their toy was broken, or not being played with.  It was refreshing.

That evening, hubby took me Downtown, where we ate dinner in an outside cafe, cruised the picturesque shops, and enjoyed listening to a concert as we strolled the green space by the river.  When it started raining, we used the excuse to grab some ice cream.  It was a nice, relaxing part of our 10th Wedding Anniversary trip.  The more exciting part came next.... :)

The Gargle

The vocal progression continues!  Such a sweet little gargle sound :)

Cross Stitching

For reasons I can't begin to comprehend, I have cross stitched birth announcements for each of my children.  Never mind the fact that none of them have been done until the child is at least a year old, in Dylan's case, two.  The important thing is that we select one almost as soon as we discover the gender, then I start it in the hours of insomnia before birth.  I get far enough into the design to apply the ink print of a baby hand and foot, then promptly put it down, to be thought about in a "I really should get that done" kind of way for months. 

Kari, who is my crafty girl, has seen me wrestle with several cross stitches by now and has decided she wanted to try one too.  One of the many things she decided to do over the summer.  Luckily, I happened to have one that should be simple enough for her to do.  I showed her how to separate the strands and thread the needle.  We went over the graph/design/picture, and she has successfully completed 2 rows.

 Unfortunately, since then she has lost her needle.  I shudder to think about where/who/how it will be found.  And I am not a good enough mother to give her the needle from the cross stitch I am "currently" working on so she can continue.  Someday, I will remember to pick one up for her at the store.

Until then, it sits on her dresser, waiting to be finished.  It makes my heart sing to know just how much like her mother she really is....  Sniff :)

Frog Princess

I love it when they are still young enough to hold their legs up for no reason.  I also love her bald little head and round little face.  She is such a sweet little Froggy Princess!

Blue biwis

One of the things my friends passed on to us, were some frozen blueberries (which Dylan pronounces "blue biwis").  In an effort to shake up breakfast a little bit, I threw them into the blender, with some ice and a little bit of vanilla yogurt.  I would say the result was a success.  (Please note that Kaitlyn is the only one dressed in this picture.  Also note that she selected her own clothes.  Thank you.)

 Nothing quite like a blueberry mustache in the morning.

 Or in your teeth.  Yum!

 Even my picky, non fruit eating little man drank his down.

I love these dirty little face :)