Day 4

Meemaw and the Hardings went to Dollywood for the day.  The girls and I were waiting to go on Saturday with Larry so we went to our favorite gem mining place in Pigeon Forge.  Then we went to Granny's water park at Westgate.  That night I think we went with everybody to Ripley's Mirror Maze.  This was Reesi's favorite.  She laughed and danced the whole way through and when she found the end she went back through backwards over and over with Parker and Austin.  

Gatlinburg-Day 3

Day three turned out to be a rainy day.  We hit the Aquarium in the morning where Lesli and Jeff scored military Ripley's tickets for everyone.  We got a great deal and got to go to all 8 of the Ripley attractions throughout the week.  We then did a little gem mining downtown Gatlinburg, walked around, ate more Mexican at a different Mexican restaurant, and ended the night sitting out on our deck painting toe nails and telling stories.  

Gatlinburg-Day 1-2

We started out our vacation in Gatlinburg with all of Larry's family.  Well, all of his family except him. He got stuck at home running a sports camp and didn't get to join us until Friday.  The girls were so excited to share a cabin with Meemaw and all of Lesli's family.  We started out the Saturday night with the Mexican place by the Aquarium and walking around downtown.  Elye's first mission was to get a stuffed animal, which ended up being a Smokey Mountain Bear.  The next morning we set out for a hike to Grotto Falls.  Elye made it all the way up, running half the way.  I think she used up all her energy the first half of the hike because she had to be carried down the second half.  It's no good having shorty legs.  We also headed to Granny's and Papa's place at Westgate and swam in their indoor water park.  

 Elye, with her park map ready to go

 Reesi and her fanny pack

 We made it to Grotto Falls, but somehow I didn't get a picture of the actual waterfall.

 Mexican on the river

The crew, minus jeff.

 We celebrated Lesli's Birthday

 Pancake Pantry

Swimming Lessons

Elye started swimming lessons again with Nancy Anderson, our favorite swimming teacher.  She taught Reesi for several years and our cousins.  When Elye started swim lessons she would not even put her face underwater and was terrified of her first lesson.  I actually think it wasn't until the fifth lesson that she stopped crying.  She was always fine when she got there, but dreaded it.  We were so impressed with what she learned.  She finally loves to go underwater.  Her favorite is for me to stand in the pool and let her swim back and forth from the steps.  We are so proud of our Elye.

Cumberland Park Splash Pad

Last week we met Julie, Easton, Jenny, Grace, Lyla, and Piper at the Splash Park by LP Field.  The kids, especially the little ones, love that place!  We brought our lunch and played for a couple hours.  It is the perfect meeting place between us and Julie so we will probably do it again soon. Every time we drive by downtown and Elye sees the field she always talks about how that's where she goes to play in the water.  It's one of her favorites.

Reesi's Fifth Softball Season

This was Reesi's fifth softball season and her second season with the Lady Lions.  This team is full of all her favorite friends from school so she has a great time.  This season we moved to kid pitch.  Reesi didn't pitch until the last practice of the season.  She decided to try it out.  The next day the coach put her in the game and she did great!  The coach never had to come in and pitch (after 3 walks the coach pitches the rest of the inning) and she even struck two batters!  We were so proud of her and her team!  It was a great season.

Owl's Hill Field Trip

Our class took a field trip to the pond.  I wouldn't get in because Analeise's older sister told her about when she went on the field trip and somebody got a leech on their leg.  Some other girls were freaked out too.  But, of course, the boys loved it.  Jack caught a leech and Analeise had one on her shoe.  The biggest thing I caught was a baby giant water bug.  It was a fun field trip, but I was creeped out.

Blog post by Reesi

Loving Her Bike

Elye got a new bike for her birthday and she is loving it!  She is always wanting to go on bike rides around the neighborhood.