Our Smoky Mountains Vacation

We had a great trip! The kids were very surprised and excited when we told them we were going on vacation. Ron was able to take the dogs to the kennel and completely load the van without them noticing Friday morning. We went out for breakfast and then told them what we were up to. Tyler's reaction could not have been more perfect! The kids were surprisingly well-behaved on the entire trip, including all the time spent driving.

Our goal for this trip was to spend time walking on paths through the woods, explore the creeks, maybe see some wildlife, and just enjoy being together. We did all that. Here are some pictures from our trip. I know there are a lot, but that's the nice thing about looking at them on here. I'll never know if you get bored and stop looking!



On Saturday we stopped at some of the overlooks, played in the creek, and visited Clingman's Dome. We did NOT climb to the top, but we did walk a short way on another path.

Saturday night we made S'mores. It was quite a messy experience: notice the marshmallow on Tyler's sleeve & the chocolate on Danielle's face. I think I had some on the seat of my pants before we were through!

On Sunday we walked on some trails, saw the gap, and drove to Cherokee NC.

We did the touristy thing and visited the live bears while in Cherokee. Ron and I always feel bad for the bears, who are degraded into performing for their food and are quite plump; however, we always pay the money to see & feed them. The kids enjoyed it.

Tyler & Ron explored this working mill in the rain. I can't remember the name of it, but it's powered by a turbine, which Tyler can fully explain.

We ate dinner at Huck Finn's Catfish House. We ate there the last time we visited, too, but Danielle didn't enjoy it as much.

Souvenirs - Tyler picked a cork gun. He LOVED it and only got in trouble with it once.

We fit a lot into our day on Monday. We stopped to explore the same part of a stream that we visited on our first trip to the mountains with the kids. Below is a picture of Danielle the last time we were here and this time. We also had a picnic (below), visited the Tuckaleechee Caverns, and drove around Cades Cove. I don't have any pictures of the caverns, but that was a really good tour! The caverns are very large and beautiful, and it wasn't crowded at all. Interestingly, the caverns were first discovered by two little boys about Tyler's age (6). I can't believe they were brave enough to venture down into a place so completely dark! Anyway, I think that tour ranked at the top of our favorites this vacation.

We had lunch at the campground outside Cades Cove. Hopefully you can tell by the pictures that it was such a beautiful area! We enjoyed our auto tour of Cades Cove, too. We saw wild turkey, a big black snake, and lots of deer. Tyler enjoyed looking at the buildings, too.

Tyler really wanted to ride the go-carts, so we spent Tuesday morning at The Track. Danielle really wanted to ride the Wild Woody ride, too...until going down the first hill. We found something more her speed instead.

Tuesday afternoon we played in another creek. We also saw a salamander. Apparently there are 30 species of salamander living in the Smoky Mountains, which has earned it the nickname "Salamander Capitol of the World".

On our last day we stopped at the IHOP for breakfast before leaving. We've never eaten at an IHOP and were pleasantly surprised! This guy was outside the restaurant.

Kindergarten Orientation

Tonight was Tyler's kindergarten orientation. He got to meet his teacher, see his classroom, explore the bus, and check out the cafeteria. He found his desk, which was divinely placed directly in front of the teacher's desk, and introduced himself to the little girl sitting across from him. He even tried to shake her hand! The kids sat at their desks and colored a picture of a school bus while his teacher addressed the parents. I didn't realize how "together" he was until watching some of the other kids and listening to our neighbor talk about all the issues her son was worrying about. I was so proud of him. (I also didn't realize how much taller he is than most kids his age - his legs didn't fit under his desk!)


Ron and I were SO relieved after meeting his teacher today. She has EXPERIENCE! Both as a teacher and a mom. I didn't realize how important the mom experience really was until I became one. If we had had teenagers of our own before Ron was a youth pastor, I'm certain it would have improved the way we related to them or things we did with them. (I remember my mom saying the same thing about my youth pastor. She was right.) Before our pediatrician had children, she could only relate to me through her work experience and text book knowledge, not as an emotional, over-reacting mother of a sick child. That's how we felt about Tyler's childless preschool teacher, too. His teacher this year has been teaching for 20 years. She took a break from teaching to stay home with her children and then came back. This year she sent her oldest son off to college. She has experience.


Our school district starts school next week. The kindergarteners are starting on a staggered schedule the following week. Half his class will attend on Tuesday, the other half, including Tyler, will attend on Friday, September 7. There are 18 kids in his class, including Tyler. He will attend school full days every Tuesday and Friday and alternate Wednesdays. Given the choice between being picked up/dropped off or riding the bus, he has chosen to ride the bus. He's pretty excited because every Friday is pizza day. He's ready to go.


We are leaving for an impromptu vacation in the mountains tomorrow. We thought we'd get away as a family one last time before school started. We haven't told the kids we're going and are hoping they will be pleasantly surprised.

Shots

Yesterday Danielle had her 4 year check-up. She's still tall for her age (90th percentile) and proportionate in her weight (75th percentile, glad it's not the other way around!). The nurse did notice that her scapulas are uneven, which may indicate a problem such as scoliosis. Ron and I had already noticed her spine seemed a little crooked before this visit. Since her muscles are still developing, they decided not to take xrays for another year. Hopefully she'll outgrow it, but since my brother and I both have scoliosis, the odds probably aren't in her favor. They also had her read an eye chart. (She was 20/20 in one eye and 20/30 in the other.) Fortunately I really didn't know for sure if she was going to get any shots, so I didn't have to deal with that before hand. But she did indeed have to get a shot...two of them.

Waiting for the nurse to bring the shot needles in after the exam is over is the worst part, I think. It gives the child time to think about what is coming and to work him/herself up into a good panic by the time the nurse returns. At least, that's what happened the last time Tyler had a shot. Danielle didn't get quite as panicky, but she was nervous. In an effort to take her mind off the task at hand, I told the kids about one time when I was little and had to get a shot. This is how I remember the story, the reality of the event may actually be different, but this is how I remember it:

I was three and had to have a shot. I was wearing knit pants and maroon knee socks (no shoes). When I knew it was time to get the shot, I ran away from everyone and back out to the waiting room. Sesame Street was playing on the tv in the waiting room as I hid between two big plants. My hiding place wasn't that secretive because the next memory I have of the event is being back in the exam room, lying on the metal table. I had a sucker, but I don't think I had had my shot yet. I remember kicking my legs and flailing my arms. And then the most memorable part of the experience happened - I had my sucker in my hand while waving my arms around and managed to get the sucker stuck to the toe of my maroon knee socks in the midst of my flailing. Not only did I have to get a shot, but I lost my sucker in the process! (It's funny to me now that I don't remember the shot at all, just the sadness of losing my linty sucker. )

Danielle and Tyler both laughed. Then Tyler patted my shoulder and kindly said, "It's ok Mom. That was ok." Danielle was much braver than I had been. She cried for about 45 seconds after she got her shots, confessed she didn't "like the pointy end of those things", and then soothed her pain with a hug from her brother and a watermelon dum-dum. She wore her circle Snoopy band-aids like medals the rest of the day and worked out whatever anxiety she still had by doctoring her baby when she got home.

Un-Noteworthy Events of the Past Week

As many of you know, I used my birthday money to buy a very inexpensive sewing machine. The last time I sewed on a sewing machine was in the 8th grade, which was sadly about 20 years ago. (Am I really that old??) I have always thought it would be fun to learn how to sew, so instead of spending my birthday money on winter clothes for the kids (as I usually do), I actually spent it on myself. It took me quite awhile to work up enough courage to even open the box. Once I opened the box, I read through the instructions, felt overwhelmed, and stuck everything back in the box. After a couple days, I finally worked up the courage to thread the thing. Then I put it back in the box. This past week Danielle asked me to fix a seam on one of her Barbie's bags. The time had come to actually sew something. Somehow I actually managed to get a stitch in the seam! Danielle was so excited, she was certain I could make her Barbies a pillow now. So I tried. After I turned the bobbin the right way, I found it a little easier to sew. :) My pillow certainly wasn't perfect, but it was in Danielle's eyes. With all the praises the kids lavished upon me, I must admit that I felt pretty good about myself. Barbie looked satisfied, too.

Another thing I've wanted to learn how to do is to create hairbows. There are lots of websites that will provide me with a document that will teach me how to create money-making hairbows...after I send them $19.95. I don't really care about making money with them, but I would like to be able to make nice bows to match Danielle's outfits (without spending a fortune). I refuse to pay someone for information like that, so I took apart one of Danielle's inexpensive bows to get an idea. I would really like to learn how to make the bigger ones with contrasting grosgrain ribbons...blah blah blah...but I'll have to work my way up to that. Anyway, I bought some barrettes from the craft store today, found Ron's glue gun, and pulled out some extra ribbon I had from another craft. Here is my first attempt. I don't think it's too bad. Danielle, however, declared it was quite ugly because she doesn't like plaid. I tried to explain that it was the only ribbon I had, but she didn't care. "Ugly ugly ugly," she said.

In other un-noteworthy news this week, Danielle took great pride in painting her fingernails by herself.

Our smoke detectors went off for no explainable reason around midnight Tuesday night. Ron and I allowed ourselves a split second of panic before we raced upstairs to rescue the kids. Danielle was already out of her bed, tears streaming down her face. Tyler was still asleep, mouth hanging open. The smoke detectors stopped almost as quickly as they started, but it took us all awhile to settle down. But, we were not on fire and we were able to review our fire emergency plan with the kids, so I guess it all ended well (especially the part about not being on fire!).

Tyler interrupted our conversation at least 3 times this weekend to declare he knew the words Ron and I were spelling in an attempt to talk around him. Each time he was exactly right, which means we're going to have to practice our igpay atinlay.

We're getting ready to start our last free week before school starts. Danielle has preschool orientation on Tuesday, and Tyler has kindergarten registration on Thursday. Can't believe the time is finally upon us.