Vacation—Part 2…

On Tuesday, we went to Dollywood for the day!  It was HOT, but we had a good time.  Dollywood is such a nice park with very friendly workers, clean facilities, and a lot of shade, which is nice on a hot day!  The only negative of the day was Selah pretty much would not let me put her down.  Forget the stroller…she acted like she was being mauled if I tried to put her in it.  We were there for about 7 hours, and I probably carried her at least 5 of those hours!  Let’s just say my left bicep doesn’t need a workout for awhile!  She was happy though and enjoyed herself.  Myla and Henry loved everything about the park as well!  I tried to take as many pictures as I could, but not as many as I would have like because I had Selah in my arms so much!

All smiles while waiting for Bodie to buy our tickets!

Sweet sisters in matching dresses…love it!!

Henry and Mimi

Soon after this picture we rode the ride called “River Battle”.  Everyone could ride it, so we all packed on. It is basically a water ride, and when you enter the line, there is a sign that says, “Warning:  You WILL get wet"!!!  Well, we all got SOAKED!  You basically ride through at about 2 mph and the other people riding as well as people stationed around the outside of the ride shoot you with water guns.  And let me just tell you…they show no mercy for a lady holding a baby.  Me and Selah were so wet!  She loved it though, and it actually felt pretty good to get cooled off!

Myla loved this pink cowboy hat and stuffed animal in the gift shop, so since we weren’t going to buy it, I thought the least we could do was get her picture!

Selah loved the bear cub in the gift shop.  The funny thing is she would pretty much only let me put her down while we were indoors.

Bodie, Henry, Myla and Mimi

The kids loved the area of Dollywood called the “Country Fair”.  It was the kid area, more or less, but it also contained all of the fair type games.  Ever the competitor, I knew Frank would try his hand at the basketball shoot.  You had to make 3 out of 4 to win a big basketball.  He only made 2 on his first attempt, so he won a small basketball.  Well, I went next and made 3 out of 4.  I got the big Lakers ball for Frank, but he wasn’t satisfied.  Of course, he had to try it again.  He did make 3 out of 4 the next time, but instead of getting a big ball, he got 3 small ones so all the kids would have one.  They loved them!

Myla, of course, wanted the pink ball.  Who cares that it was a Tennessee ball!!

Frank giving Selah her ball.  She threw that thing around forever while Mimi and Henry rode the ferris wheel.  I chased that ball down as long as she was happy!

Mimi and Henry on the ferris wheel.

While we were still waiting on Mimi and Henry, Myla decided she wanted to play a game, so she played this fishing game.  You got to pay $4 play until you won, so it was the perfect choice.  She finally caught her fish….

…and picked out this puppy dog as her prize.  She was so proud of it and carried it around the rest of the day!

When Henry got off of the ferris wheel, he wanted to play too!

Next we found the little kid rides.  Myla and Selah LOVED riding on the rides.  I rode with them the first time, but then I realized that Selah was going to do just fine without me on them, so I squeezed (literally) myself off of there and let them go it alone.  Henry joined soon after he got off of the big swings.

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Happy as little larks going round and round and round…

After riding the ducks, they moved on to the little pigs.

They had the whole ride to themselves!

Next was the bumblebees.  This one went up and down as well as around, and they all loved it too!

Selah would laugh and clap the whole time the ride was going!

Going up high!

Lastly, Mimi, Myla and Henry rode the Veggie Tales Roller Coaster.  I was shocked that Myla agreed to ride it, and then she got in a seat all by herself!  Who knew?  She seemed to enjoy it, but I don’t think as much as the other rides!  She told me it went “really fast”!

Right after this picture, Selah finally fell asleep in my arms.  We walked over to the 50’s show thinking she would sleep through it.  But, as soon as we sat down, she woke up!  So I brought her outside to the sidewalk and she played for 30 minutes straight with a cup of ice and I got to do my favorite thing….people watch!!  FYI, if you go to Dollywood, every restaurant and vendor has free ice water.  Very nice on HOT days!! 

Vacation–Part 1(b)…

After I posted my “part 1” post of vacation, I realized I had not put pictures from our dinner on Monday night.  We went to a place in Gatlinburg called Howard’s.  It was kind of a hole in the wall, but the food was excellent and they offered free parking, which I think is what really got us in the door!!  Parking in Gatlinburg can be a bit of a challenge!

Selah LOVED drinking out of a big cup with a straw all week.  She is pretty good with it!

Myla was laughing at something Bodie was doing, I am sure.  I just loved this picture because it is a “real” smile!  Sometimes it is hard to get those in posed pictures!

See what I mean…this “posed” picture is more of a fake smile, but it is a smile none the less! While we were waiting on our food, I took the kids out on the back deck and it was so nice.  There was a “mountain stream” as Henry called it running down under the building!

Selah loves balloons so she was so excited when the waitress brought her one!

Selah got some love from Bodie after supper!

Vacation–Part 1…

Last Saturday, the girls and I struck off with my parents and my nephew for a week-long vacation to Pigeon Forge.  We had a great time!  It was a LLOONNGG drive with a 15 month old, but we survived it!!  I took lots of pictures, so I am going to do several posts from the trip.  We were so sad to say goodbye to Michael, but someone has to stay home and “bring home the bacon”.  HA!!

Saturday morning, Daddy got all the love he could from Myla before we headed out.  Myla has a Dollywood cup that Michael’s coworker, Erica, let us borrow.  We ended up not taking it to the park because it said it was for the 2010 season, but then we got to the park and people had last years cups, and you could get the $.99 refill in them still.  Oh well, better luck next time!!!

Myla was so excited to go on vacation!!!

Selah was all smiles just a few miles into the trip!  She actually did pretty well, but she is not a big fan of the car seat, so she was always ready to get OUT!!

First breakfast in the condo…powdered donuts!  This picture makes it look like Selah enjoyed them, but she only took one bite and wouldn’t eat anymore of it.  She will usually eat anything, so I was shocked she didn’t like powdered donuts!

On Sunday morning we took it easy and recovered from our drive!  Selah enjoyed playing in the cooler out on the balcony!  Silly girl!

Later on Sunday we went to the pool.  This was the only picture I got at the pool all week because I had to be one step behind Selah the whole time.  They had a children’s pool but it was 18 inches deep, so if Selah tried to sit down or fell down, she went completely under.  This happened several times, and it didn’t seem to bother her, but it made me a bit of a nervous nelly!  She warmed up to the water through the week and really enjoyed her time at the pool. Myla and Henry were like little fishes!! They would have been perfectly happy if we had stayed at the pool all day every day, I think.

Sunday night we went to Logan’s for supper.  Here are the two “big kids” before we left.  They got referred to as the “big kids” all week! 

Mimi and Selah waiting on our table at Logan’s.

Myla L.O.V.E.D. the peanuts at Logan’s.  She ate so many of them.  She also loved the rolls.  I think she had 4 rolls and peanuts for supper!

After supper, we came back to the condo and went to the playground and putt-putt golf course.  Selah really enjoyed the swings.

She also loved trying to climb up the slides.

Frank and the big kids were going to play putt-putt, but I don’t think Myla ever hit a ball.  Right after this picture, she decided to join us on the playground.

Bodie and Henry stuck with it, though, and had a good time.

Bodie giving Henry golf lessons!

Myla loved swinging too, and Mimi was able to teach her how to keep herself going good after she had been pushed.

Later on that night, Myla enjoyed some chocolate ice cream!!

On Monday we went to a place called Parrot Mountain.  It was literally UP a mountain!  I was driving and had to put the van in low gear.  I was afraid we were going to start rolling backwards!  But, it was worth the trip.  They had BEAUTIFUL birds just out on perches and in cages throughout the place.  And the landscaping was gorgeous!  The people that own it are obviously Christians because they had scripture displayed everywhere and even had a prayer garden.  Myla loved sitting in Henry’s seat while he and Bodie went inside to get our tickets!!

Bodie and Henry at Parrot Mountain

This cockatoo was one of the first birds we saw.  Of course, Myla is usually very uneasy about new things, and Parrot Mountain was no exception.  She kept telling me, “I don’t want to go in.  I just want to go back to the van.”  Well, this bird helped her warm up because he talked so much!  He kept saying “Hello” to us and then he would laugh and laugh.  She thought it was funny.

Here she is telling him hi!

I’m glad I got this picture because it documents the ONLY time that Selah was in the stroller the WHOLE trip!  She would have nothing to do with it anywhere we went….even Dollywood…for 7 hours.  Guess who carried her?  More on that later!

Bodie, Mimi, Henry and Myla

Beautiful parrot!  Isn’t God so creative??  These birds were gorgeous!

We were able to feed the birds while we were there.  Henry loved it!!

Bodie acted silly feeding the birds!

As I said, Henry loved getting to feed the birds.  Myla stood outside while we were all in there, but she eventually came inside.  Then she decided she wanted to feed the birds too, but as soon as one landed on her arm, she screamed and dropped her cup of nectar!  Oh well…I was so proud of her for at least trying!

“Hey, fella…who you lookin’ at??”

Mimi fed the birds too!

Henry and Myla in front of one of the fountains.  This picture kind of gives you an idea of how pretty the landscaping was.

Myla and Mimi

Myla and me

If you are going to Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg, I would definitely recommend Parrot Mountain!  And, if you want to purchase a bird while you are there, bring $4000 with you, and you can take one home!! I couldn’t believe how expensive birds are!

Up next…Dollywood!

Vacation...

(Sneak peak from Dollywood)

The girls and I have been on vacation with my parents in Pigeon Forge this week. I just didn't want the 5 people to read my blog to think that I had fallen off the face of the earth. HA! We get home tomorrow, and I will have updates with lots and lots of pictures to share!! Have a GREAT Friday!

So Proud…

This morning, Selah and I were playing in the play room while Myla was coloring at the kitchen table. (She must color at the kitchen table so Selah doesn’t get her little hands on crayons…otherwise, she thinks the world is her canvas and will go about “decorating” everything).  Anyway, Myla asked me to come and look at what she had done.  When I looked at her page, I about started crying because she had written her name.  I seriously have NO idea where she learned to do it.  She has begun recognizing her letters very well, and she would occasionally write a letter here and there, but then all of a sudden, she writes her whole name.  I just thought it was the sweetest thing!  She was so proud of herself, too!  She is growing up so fast!

I had to document the very first time she ever wrote her name!  That piece of paper will be saved, for sure!