Summer vacation, last two days.

 Above: For my sister..... I have actually heard that this is a pretty cool museum that has some artifacts from the ship. It also has a room with stars with air and water that is set to the temperature of what it was like the night the ship sank. I think that would be pretty neat to feel that perspective a bit if you are a huge historic/Titanic lover like Matthew is. (Until you come out and instead of being in a vast ocean, you are surrounded by trees....and realizing that you are in Tennessee, surrounded by trees.) The building alone is pretty cool though. I think I would like that as a fountain my back yard the way the water looks like the ship is cutting through the ocean. That mini van doesn't show the size of this building very well either, it is set back from the road a bit, so perspective is lost, but it is pretty big! The fountain is taller than me but looks so small in this photo.

(I am having to post our vacation backwards so that when I am all done, it will be one constant story.)

Our last couple of days, on our way home....

We drove through the Smokey Mountains. It was so pretty and much like the Grand Canyon, you just cannot photograph it to get perspective of how big it really is, or feel what it is like to be there. Just in one word: beautiful. We enjoyed a drizzle through part of it, and loved passing over the creeks, then coming around a corner and seeing how high you were on the mountain. It was misty in some areas, sunny in others. I would love to go back and spend some more time there. I have heard a lot of people rent cabins, which is probably what we would like to do.

Our purpose of coming back this way was not only to take it slow on the way home and enjoy the trip, but also to see a little bit of Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge. I've heard a lot about it, and what to expect. If you go expecting it to be fancy, it certainly is not. It is kitschy, it is touristy and caters to family friendly stuff. It reminded me of Las Vegas but more family oriented. It is crowded and fast paced. There are silly museums, Hillbilly Golf, glow in the dark mini golf, a ton of multi level go cart tracks, arcades, an abundance of pancake houses (they are everywhere! They must love pancakes here.) plus a lot of other restaurants. We ended up eating at Fuddruckers, because we were so happy to see one after not having one since moving to Kentucky. There is a building in Florence that was a Fuddruckers, and we feel like it mocks us. Like it is saying, "You wish we were still here. You want some hamburger patty with that gallon of hot cheese don't you?" The kids even said as we were leaving, "That is the best burger I've ever had."

Gatlinburg is actually separate from Pigeon Forge. Gatlinburg is much more concentrated, and reminds me of the beach areas in California, where so much entertainment is packed into a small area and the best way to get around is to walk. Traffic was really bad driving down the main street. The kids seemed excited, as we kept hearing "OH! OH! Look at THAT!" from the back of the van as we rolled slowly down the street. You could smell food everywhere.

I've talked to several people who have grown up as this place being a part of their childhood. To a kid, it probably seems really cool. I've also heard them say that the old hotels probably haven't been changed at all in that time either. A lot of them did look like they were barely hanging in there. Kind of stuck in time along this road. We stayed a night over in Pigeon Forge.

Pigeon Forge is a short drive, but everything is spread apart. Much like Las Vegas and how there  is the strip and downtown....that's probably the best way to describe it.

So we drove on over to Pigeon Forge. Dollywood is also here, and it is supposedly one of the best amusement parks in the US. Having just spent a week in Orlando, we weren't interested in that part of it....but I would like to go there at some point.

Megan and I spotted a Tanger outlet mall. We knew that was one thing we wanted to do, and we had cruddy luck at the one down in Florida. I was determined to bring a new purse home from this trip. I spotted a Coach outlet and Megan and I went to do some shopping while the boys walked across the street and went to the Ripley's Believe It Or Not museum/arcade place. (I think these two places alone will be our destination next time. We all had a great time, and the boys were happy as could be after finding pinball machines. They love old school pinball!)

Megan and I walked around for hours. I found my purse. I'd say it pretty much found me the second I walked in the door. I realize the outlets have different bags than the normal Coach stores, but this has everything that I was looking for. Perfect size, perfect pockets, and it's the perfect shade of pink. It is ideal for summer. Megan fell in love with a pretty leather Fossil wallet that we both could not stop smelling. Among other things....so we will definitely be coming back here, hopefully in the fall. I would like to stay in the National Park area and spend one of the days shopping.

It was a good ending to a perfect trip, but at this point we were ready to be home. On our way back we stopped at the last Xaxby's in Lexington. (SO GOOD.) - and then drove home. It was nice to start recognizing the areas and counties we were going through. I can say, after a long road trip and seeing several states, Kentucky is beautiful.

Summer 2012

Above: Boys playing Legos on the deck. It is such a beautiful day today.

So......A few weeks ago marked the last day of school, and the beginning of summer vacation. I will have to post about all of it backwards I guess, but thinking of posting all of the photos from vacation seems kind of daunting. This is my "getting my toes wet" first post back. It's coming though..... an update on all we've been up to. I hate having big gaps in my blog because when I go back and look years later I wonder what in the heck I missed.

In short - Mike back. Busy with work, house projects. Testing weeks at school, ceremonies for wrapping up elementary school, ceremonies for wrapping up middle school, high school scheduling, middle school open houses, vacation to Florida and Disney World. No matter what, it has all been a blur. What was a countdown on a widget has expired. Another one started.....Africa.

Back to our other routine. Slower summer days. Still some house projects going on. A week off of work.

 

I am a proud tomato mommy. For awhile I have been babying this plant - my first tomato plant. We have a bit of a garden on our deck with tomatoes, green peppers, cilantro and basil. If all goes well I may do more  next year. I also have some potted flowers that are all doing well. I'm pretty proud. I have been checking my tomato plant daily since bringing it home in it's little seedling pot. I literally squealed for joy when I looked yesterday and saw TWO little baby green tomatoes. It's so cute, and little. I talk to it, I love it....and then someday I'm going to EAT IT.

We have been spending a lot of time on the deck. Mike worked really hard removing the old fence that was falling down in the backyard. We have a great view and it has just been nice to utilize the outdoor space. My favorite thing to do the past couple of days is watch this mommy Robin and one of her babies. The nest is on the light fixture on my neighbor's house. I would see the mom fly back and forth for a long time, and would hear the babies chirping when she'd bring food. The babies must all be out of the nest now, but I see a mom and a scruffy looking thing behind her in the yard all the time. She'll take a few bounces forward, then the baby does. Usually five bounces and then she stops. (Yes, I've counted.) Then the baby bounces five bounces forward, but still behind her. It's so cute. Then occasionally she'll pull out a worm and the baby flaps and goes crazy until she feeds it. Then they start bouncing again.

Today I watched them again. Except she flew down the slope of the hill back towards the house. The baby stood there. Then flew. Except it overshot and did some weird loopy thing against the house near the nest. Then back to mom. Then back to the bouncing. The baby bird seemed fine. So far this is my summer entertainment.