Okay, if you're anything like me, as soon as you get back from vacation you realize something: you need another vacation after all the stress from the first vacation!
Well, maybe not quite that bad, but I ran across this giveaway from Fun & Frugal and had to share - and hopefully earn some points in the process ;)
"Looking for something fun to do this weekend? Something different? Something WILD? Why not head out to the Wilderness - Wilderness at the Smokies, that is. Located just a short drive away in Sevierville, TN, Wilderness at the Smokies is the region’s newest and largest waterpark resort, and it offers adventurous travelers the perfect blend of fun and relaxation. Snuggled up next to the foothills of the scenic Smoky Mountains, Wilderness at the Smokies is situated on 700 acres in one of the nation’s most popular vacation spots. Visit us at www.wildernessatthesmokies.com or call 877-325- WILD (9453)!"
Check out that link - doesn't that place look awesome!? Wouldn't my four fun lovin' kids, hubby, and I love to win a free stay at Wilderness at The Smokies? Ummmm, let me think about that....YES!!!
Because I am such a nice person and great friend, I will even post the giveaway link here...but hurry, it ends tomorrow!
http://www.funandfrugal.com/2009/08/win-a-two-night-getaway-to-wilderness-at-the-smokies-in-sevierville-tn-500-value/
Fingers crossed and prayers said - right?!
Showing posts with label vacation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label vacation. Show all posts
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Monday, August 10, 2009
Nashville
So my wonderful mother in law, Jody, called us up about a month ago and asked if we wanted to meet her in Nashville for the weekend, sometime before school. She was having severe grandchildren withdrawals and, well, who am I to keep them from their grandparents?!
Chad has 5 days straight off, every third week - pretty awesome, right? So, we planned the two night stay in a motel (with a pool, a MUST), for this past weekend. Jody insisted that all four kids stay in her room, which means Chad & I had a lovely king sized bed and room to ourselves...HEA-VEN.
Seriously, have I mentioned how much I love my mother in law today?!?!?!
She is about the only person I know that thinks that sort of thing is fun. I'd almost rather eat paint that spend two whole days in a motel room with my own kids. They are great kids, well behaved (though energetic) kids, in my (and Jody's) opinion, but it's just usually not a relaxing environment. You find out just *how* long they can really watch cartoons. Turns out, not that long.
Anyway, so we met up and she was in Grandchild Heaven, loving all over her grandbabies, and Chad & I were in, well, Vacation Heaven. We all went swimming, walked the huge Ole Opry Mall, petted stingrays (not me, of course -gross AND dangerous!), played putt putt golf in the dark (Glow Golf!), ate tons of junk food (IHOP, the kids' favorite), swam some more, and watched a lot of cable tv (realized I REALLY miss cable tv!).
The highlight of the weekend for me was catching up with old friends from Japan. We met Jenny & Kurtis about 5 years ago when we were all stationed in Japan. Jenny and I were pregnant together - she with her first, Aidyn, and me with Micah. They were born 11 days apart. We haven't seen them since we left Japan in June of 2005.
We found each other on myspace about 6 months ago and, lo and behold, they live in Nashville now! They picked us up Saturday night and took us to Wild Bill's Buffalo Wings - so delicioso! Of course, I talked so much that in two hours I managed to eat just 5 of my 12 wings. Luckily Chad was there to help me out ;)
We talked, laughed, and caught up on who is stationed where, who got out of the Air Force, and how hard it has been to get a job and home in this ecomony. They were in the same boat we are now, until recently. Up until the middle of June of this year, they were living with his dad, looking for a decent job, then trying to find a house with some land in their price range and area. They ended up living 30 miles outside of Nashville in a beautiful doublewide on a permanent foundation, on 5 acres of land. It's like they have my house!!!
They begged us to move to Nashville, come visit any time, stay with them when Chad had interviews, etc. It was like we had never been away from each other the past 4 years!
So, that said, we've already started following up on some pointers they gave us on jobs in the Nashville area. We actually looked there when we first got out of the military but since we didn't know much about the local job market, we didn't have much to go on and eventually quit looking. When we first discussed where we wanted to live two years ago, Nashville was #1 on my list.
It just feels like we've come full circle and that maybe the whole weekend was an appointment set up by God. We'll see. If I've learned anything, it's to not put my own expectations on anything and just let God work it all out.
So, that said, here are the many pictures:
Proof he *can* still move his butt ;)
She had a pretty bad case of poisen oak or sumac and wouldn't let us take many pictures of her face :(
I got in the pool with my tshirt on over a bathing suit and Katie flipped out. I told her, I used to have to wear a skirt & shirt to swim! They have NO idea sometimes LOL.
You know me, always playing.
Fun time! Me & Chad, Jenny & Kurtis - isn't she gorgeous? She is going to be a dental assistant in 2 more weeks, which is perfect because she has a perfect, white smile!
Views like this one made me appreciate the beautiful state of Tennessee all over again.
Chad has 5 days straight off, every third week - pretty awesome, right? So, we planned the two night stay in a motel (with a pool, a MUST), for this past weekend. Jody insisted that all four kids stay in her room, which means Chad & I had a lovely king sized bed and room to ourselves...HEA-VEN.
Seriously, have I mentioned how much I love my mother in law today?!?!?!
She is about the only person I know that thinks that sort of thing is fun. I'd almost rather eat paint that spend two whole days in a motel room with my own kids. They are great kids, well behaved (though energetic) kids, in my (and Jody's) opinion, but it's just usually not a relaxing environment. You find out just *how* long they can really watch cartoons. Turns out, not that long.
Anyway, so we met up and she was in Grandchild Heaven, loving all over her grandbabies, and Chad & I were in, well, Vacation Heaven. We all went swimming, walked the huge Ole Opry Mall, petted stingrays (not me, of course -gross AND dangerous!), played putt putt golf in the dark (Glow Golf!), ate tons of junk food (IHOP, the kids' favorite), swam some more, and watched a lot of cable tv (realized I REALLY miss cable tv!).
The highlight of the weekend for me was catching up with old friends from Japan. We met Jenny & Kurtis about 5 years ago when we were all stationed in Japan. Jenny and I were pregnant together - she with her first, Aidyn, and me with Micah. They were born 11 days apart. We haven't seen them since we left Japan in June of 2005.
We found each other on myspace about 6 months ago and, lo and behold, they live in Nashville now! They picked us up Saturday night and took us to Wild Bill's Buffalo Wings - so delicioso! Of course, I talked so much that in two hours I managed to eat just 5 of my 12 wings. Luckily Chad was there to help me out ;)
We talked, laughed, and caught up on who is stationed where, who got out of the Air Force, and how hard it has been to get a job and home in this ecomony. They were in the same boat we are now, until recently. Up until the middle of June of this year, they were living with his dad, looking for a decent job, then trying to find a house with some land in their price range and area. They ended up living 30 miles outside of Nashville in a beautiful doublewide on a permanent foundation, on 5 acres of land. It's like they have my house!!!
They begged us to move to Nashville, come visit any time, stay with them when Chad had interviews, etc. It was like we had never been away from each other the past 4 years!
So, that said, we've already started following up on some pointers they gave us on jobs in the Nashville area. We actually looked there when we first got out of the military but since we didn't know much about the local job market, we didn't have much to go on and eventually quit looking. When we first discussed where we wanted to live two years ago, Nashville was #1 on my list.
It just feels like we've come full circle and that maybe the whole weekend was an appointment set up by God. We'll see. If I've learned anything, it's to not put my own expectations on anything and just let God work it all out.
So, that said, here are the many pictures:
An Aquarium Restaurant in the Opry Mills Mall
Stingray petting aquarium
Indoor Carousel
Mammaw Jody - isn't she gorgeous?
Yep, she & Ben petted the stingrays!
Check out Micah's face! I was totally expecting him to fall in and me have to push Chad in after him!
I have always loved seahorses. Chad says, but they don't DO anything!
To which I reply, they're beautiful - they don't have to do anything!
See the three that couldn't be bothered to look at the camera?
Glow Golf - it was pitch black in there but my flash did it's job. See Ben & Micah in the background, making their golf balls glow? It was their favorite part of the day, I think LOL.
See Ben cheat?
See Micah shoot like a pro?
Right after this picture, Micah took a huge swing and about decapitated Chad & Ben. How sweet is this shot, though?!
Proof he *can* still move his butt ;)
She had a pretty bad case of poisen oak or sumac and wouldn't let us take many pictures of her face :(
I got in the pool with my tshirt on over a bathing suit and Katie flipped out. I told her, I used to have to wear a skirt & shirt to swim! They have NO idea sometimes LOL.
You know me, always playing.
Fun time! Me & Chad, Jenny & Kurtis - isn't she gorgeous? She is going to be a dental assistant in 2 more weeks, which is perfect because she has a perfect, white smile!
Views like this one made me appreciate the beautiful state of Tennessee all over again.
By the way, I'll try to post more often now. I've been so busy house & job hunting, but I do want to document the process as we go, if only for myself. Thank you for all the great comments of encouragement lately. I take each one to heart and they are always timely and helpful.
God bless!
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Ya'll Come back now!
Mt. Airy, NC, is the home of Andy Griffin. If I'm not mistaken, they actually filmed the show there, back in the day when it was on location and not a bunch of studio sets in California.
Aunt Bea has a restaurant named after her, as does Goober. Then, the downtown area has his barber and other tourist traps. One of our faves is The Emporium. 3 stories of shopping and eating. Normally, I would not take 4 kids to a knick knack haven, but Beth thinks I am Super Mom and she is Super Aunt, so she talked me into it. I'm amazed we didn't get kicked out...it wasn't exactly kid friendly:
Aunt Bea has a restaurant named after her, as does Goober. Then, the downtown area has his barber and other tourist traps. One of our faves is The Emporium. 3 stories of shopping and eating. Normally, I would not take 4 kids to a knick knack haven, but Beth thinks I am Super Mom and she is Super Aunt, so she talked me into it. I'm amazed we didn't get kicked out...it wasn't exactly kid friendly:
They had a whole section of dog stuff - Katie found her Happy Place:
See the Monkey Backpack/leash? See it NOT doing it's job?That rocker, by the way, was like $250!
Seriously, Katie's "happy place"
And this is my happy place :)
I have a friend that cut his twin boys' door in half, and put bars up the top half. He didn't go all the way up, and woke up one morning to find the couch, carpet, and walls covered in syrup, ketsup, and all kinds of fun stuff. They had climbed OVER the bars. That is totally a story I could relate to.Mock up of Andy's police desk:
Hello? Hello? Could you imagine still using one of those? 
Oh! funny story!
My mother in law laughed so hard telling me this: One day, when Katie & Ethan were with her that 3 weeks , after Chad's grandma died, the phone rang. Jody was talking to a friend on the phone when Ethan walked up to her and said "WOW! Grandma, how'd you do that?!" She whispered, "What are you talking about?" She said he just kept saying, "Wow, that is so cool! How'd you do that Grandma?" She finally realized he was pointing at the cord attaching the phone to the wall. She had one of those rotary phones mounted to the wall, with the cord plugged into the jack, and a cord to the handset. Ethan has grown up with cordless phones and cell phones -he was in awe and wanted to know how she did that. Now, don't that make you feel OLD?!
I just remembered...we did have one of those in Japan. Most cordless phones wouldn't work on base because of signal issues. But he was 4 years old when we moved here and apparently he doesn't remember it.
After a hard day of window shopping...cupcakes & Sprite!
This was our home for 5 days - Knights Inn:
I was very happy with the room and service. Especially with the cable tv :) It's been a looooong time since we had cable tv at our fingertips - and it showed!
Katie & the boys slept on the floor the last two nights, saying it was "more fun". I was made to sleep on the floor as a kid...I didn't think it was fun at all!
A little friendly wrestling going on :)I think he was getting even with his big sister by making her smell his diaper.
Thank God for vacations. And cable tv. And tent meetings. And family. And vans with vcrs. And tylenol. Amen.Friday, July 10, 2009
Vacations Rock!
You won't believe how many times I have been disconnected from my computer today! I've been trying to post this since yesterday but I am experiencing technical difficulties...which leads to computer rage. A lot like road rage, but with the ability to chuck stupid offensive car/laptop through window. To avoid that, I'll just publish what I have for now and try again tomorrow :)
Here is just ONE fun thing we did on our NC vacation last week:
Casey and her sour ice. Notice all of the yummy flavors on the little building behind her:
Here is just ONE fun thing we did on our NC vacation last week:
Snow Cone Time!
Casey and her sour ice. Notice all of the yummy flavors on the little building behind her:
Ben got "Spiderman" flavor - whatever that is LOL:
Micah got MaMaMaMa (Ninja Turtle). I reallly have to get him in speech therapy.
He was loving his green tongue. But not that direct sun in his eyes.
She had wedding cake with cream, but didn't like it. Switched to something green.
Ethan stayed at the camper to play Mario Kart with Aaron. We took him a Spiderman, which he loved. And that is what we did on Friday of our NC vacation :)
Micah got MaMaMaMa (Ninja Turtle). I reallly have to get him in speech therapy.
He was loving his green tongue. But not that direct sun in his eyes.
She had wedding cake with cream, but didn't like it. Switched to something green.
Ethan stayed at the camper to play Mario Kart with Aaron. We took him a Spiderman, which he loved. And that is what we did on Friday of our NC vacation :)
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