A few weeks ago, we got given tickets to the Braves game. Our seats were behind homeplate in the players’ family section. Really good seats! Drew couldn’t go because he had a soccer game. Since we had six tickets we invited Rob’s Step Dad, David, his brother, Nick, and Alex brought a friend along. We had a great time even without a win from the Braves.
A few weeks ago we went to the 200th Anniversary of the Battle at Horseshoe Bend with Alex’s Cub scout den. We enjoyed hearing the stories as well as seeing the demonstrations. Demonstration of children’s toys Demonstration of how children would make yarn Demonstration of the militia Making of arrowheads This Native American is Seminole-Creek There was a large contingency of Creek Nation Native Americans there from Oklahoma there to honor their ancestry who died during the Battle at Horseshoe Bend. Dancing See more pics here.
Friday afternoon, I dropped Drew off for Winter Retreat 2014. I get chills to see the 100’s of teenagers anxiously waiting to load the 7 charter buses to drive away. Shocco Springs in Talladega, AL hosts both the Youth Retreat and the Family Church Retreat.
If you missed my post about Day 1 & 2, you should read it here first. Sunday we got up pretty early so we could hit the slopes before the crowds. We ate breakfast at the hotel, rode the tram back up the mountain, got our ski boots and skis, and then it was time for ski school for most everyone. Waiting for our lesson to begin Not long after we took this pic we saw Drew as well as most of the other boy scouts, flying down the mountain like they’d been skiing for years. The realization hit that…
Friday we headed out in a caravan with Drew’s troop towards Gatlingburg for a weekend of ice skating, snow tubing, skiing and more fun. We got in around 1am, handed out keys to boys, and found our way to our cozy little room. Driving through downtown Gatlinburg to our hotel Saturday morning we got up and shoved down some hotel breakfast before hitting the town. Who can’t go to Gatlinburg without drooling over the caramel apples, taffy, and handmade candies?
This past weekend we went to Birmingham for our Cub Scout Winter Trip to McWane Center. We did this back in 2012 and had such a good time. It is such a fun trip and is so easy for the leaders. As the Cubmaster’s Wife, I am so happy when there’s less work for him! Laying on a bed of nails. Watching how the shape changes as it begins to spin Drew got the High Cycle stuck! Alex waiting for the IMAX movie to start About to work on a Belt Loop We got placed on the 3rd floor this…
After Rob and I got home Monday, we had a quick turn around to get ready to hop in the car and drive 7 hours down to Tampa for Thanksgiving. We had originally thought we’d stop part of the way and get a hotel, but we ended up driving all the way. We got in around 2am. Wednesday we hung out with Grandma, Grandpa, and Cousin Tara. We had lunch at a yummy restaurant and then, went to Linda’s house to see her farm. Thanksgiving Day we didn’t have the traditional turkey and dressing. We instead had homemade pasta. Before…
The end of our long trip culminated with visiting of 2 more families. Saturday we enjoyed a visit from Rob’s sister, Jill and her husband and their new baby girl. So exciting to get to meet our newest niece. Alex had fun playing with his new cousin.
Day 8 of our trip began with kolaches at Mornings Kolaches. Yummy! Then we headed to Johnson Space Center aka NASA for a busy, fun-filled day.
On Day 7 we got up bright and early and told Granny goodbye. The boys had decided the night before that they wanted to go see the baseball stadium at Texas A&M, which would add some time to the trip. Hence the reason we got up super early. We first stopped on our way out of town to do a quick exploration of TCU‘s campus. I can’t remember if I mentioned it earlier, but Drew has a goal to go to all major college football stadiums in the south (or something like that.) Here he stands inside Amon G. Carter…
Day 6 started by us taking Drew over to my Dad’s house. Drew had told us that he wanted to go cycling with my Dad while we were in town.
This past weekend we were able to take advantage of Labor Day weekend as Rob’s cousin threw a “non-funeral” birthday celebration for her Dad, Rob’s Uncle Frank. Since Drew was marching during halftime Friday night and didn’t want to leave after halftime we elected to get up at before the Rooster’s Call and get on the road early Saturday morning.
Wednesday was a day of just hanging out and visiting. We started the day off with a trip to Denny’s for breakfast with my Granny. Then, we went back to her house and hung out for a bit. I had been waiting to hear from my Dad who we had planned to eat lunch with. We ended up picking him up from the hospital where his girlfriend was being treated for West Nile Virus. There was a Braum’s not far from there. We enjoyed ice cream, since we were still full from breakfast. When we got back and not long…
Monday we said our goodbyes to Maria and fam. Then it was back on the road headed to my favorite state, Texas!!! We were surprised to see some “mountains” in Southern Oklahoma. We went to a scenic lot and saw that Oklahoma is the hope of the Reflection seismograph . Not long after that we saw this just that made my heart sing. **cue the sounds of angels singing**
Sunday was another fun packed day. We started our day off with breakfast and church. Then it was on to Bricktown for afternoon. We walked around and took a bunch of pics of the kids.
We left Friday after Rob got off work. Our first destination was Moore, Oklahoma, where Rob’s sister lives. We knew we couldn’t make it the entire 13 hours, so he made plans to stop in Maumelle, AR. We arrived around 1 am and quickly got to bed as we knew we needed to hit the road early the next morning. I didn’t take any pics on Day 1. Saturday (Day 2) we popped out of bed, grabbed a snack from the continental breakfast, and were on our way! We started to get hungry about an hour and half away from…
Chalet ~ Day 1 ~ Day 2 ~ Day 3 ~ Day 4 Sunday we had to rise early and get packed and clean up the chalet before the 11am check out time. We were just in the nick of time and headed out on our last day of adventures. One of the things we had wanted to do on our trip was go to Cherokee, NC, but we decided to wait until on our way home to cut down on driving time since it’s in the direction of home. Cherokee is about an hour away from Gatlinburg, but it’s…
Chalet ~ Day 1 ~ Day 2 ~ Day 3 ~ Day 5 Saturday, we got up, ate breakfast, and went to Ober Gatlinburg. It had been raining, so when we got there, the Alpine slide wasn’t open yet. We decided to go ahead and get the activity bracelet, and took the ski lift all the way up to the top of Mount Harrison.
Chalet ~ Day 1 ~ Day 2 ~ Day 4 ~ Day 5 The next day of trip we rolled out of bed at the crack of dawn. Wolfed down some waffles and quiche and hit the road towards Cades Cove. Cades Cove is a very popular attraction, which is about 35 miles from Gatlinburg. This isolated valley was the settling place for 100s of settlers in the 1800’s. It’s preserved homesteads, beautiful mountain views, and abundant wildlife are reasons why 2 million visitors come every year. John Oliver’s Cabin
Chalet ~ Day 1 ~ Day 3 ~ Day 4 ~ Day 5 On the 4th of July, we slept in a bit, which was much needed since stayed up till nearly 2am the night before. We enjoyed waffles for breakfast, while discussing the plans for the day. We loaded up the car and went to Laurel Falls for a little hike. Before heading out on the trail, we noticed a sign that said “No Pets Allowed.” This was not a good start, since we had brought Daisy along for the adventure. Grandpa said he’d sit back with her, since…