A New 'Do

Kate's sporting a cute new 'do thanks to Vicky, Brad's girlfriend! It's SOOOO cute and fits her little personality perfectly.

Vacation 2010

We've been back for a couple weeks now, so it's about time I posted some pictures!!

We had a blast in the Smoky Mountains. We stayed in a cute little cabin in Pigeon Forge, TN.



There was a big front porch with cute rocking chairs.







Jack slept up in the loft in his Pack N' Play.













Kate loved the foosball table in the loft.









The back porch had a hot tub and a nice view.





We arrived on the 3rd of July after a 14 hour trip that was supposed to take 10! We literally rolled in, checked out the cabin, dumped our bags in the kitchen, grabbed a pizza, and were off to get seats for the midnight 4th of July parade.

The kids fell asleep in the car, so Kate was obviously less than thrilled when we pulled her out of the carseat and strapped her into the stroller to go sit on the side of the road for an hour and a half waiting for a parade to start!







Poor girl was cold and all we had for a blanket was the bag that our camp chair was in. It was actually pretty chilly.

She perked up when the actual parade started.

We slept in on the 4th and had a lazy morning in the cabin.

Then, we headed out to Smoky Mountain National Park.

Let me just show you how thrilled Kate was to be there. ha!

There's a smile... totally fake, but a smile!

And, this picture is pretty much Kate in a nutshell!

That night, we watched the fireworks in Gatlinburg.





After the fourth of July, I completely lost track of the days. I have no idea what we did on certain days.

We spent a lot of time in the park... there was a lot to see. Doing that with a baby that HATES the car was quite the challenge. We had to take lots of breaks.



Jack probably would have been happy to ride like that. Instead, he just sat in that while we had lunch outside.

We hiked up to a big waterfall and played in the water.



















We went to a fun kid carnival place one night.





We played miniature golf.







We ate at some fun restaurants.



Gotta love that face!



We went to the aquarium, where they had a fun tunnel that the kids could crawl through and see the penguins.





Do you EVEN know how many pictures we have with this face? It was her response to us saying, "Smile". It's her way of showing her independence. ha!





Jack spent most of the trip strapped in the stroller... poor guy!



He did get to roll around a bit.



We baked cookies.



Kate proclaimed, "I just LUUUUUVVVVV cookie dough!"





Kate loved the big jacuzzi tub.



She especially loved the "hot pool" on our back deck.



She and I went swimming at the pool (which she called the "cold pool") and it was a little chilly. I asked her if she wanted to go back to the cabin and sit in the hot tub. We were sitting in the hot tub and she said, "I'm just mixing it up." After trying to figure out what she meant, she said, "First, I in the cold pool, now I in the hot pool... I just mixin' up the water!"

Then, as we were sitting in the hot tub looking off the deck, we saw some ducks. I told Kate they were coming our way. She said, "I want one." I asked her where she would keep the duck, to which she replied, "In my nest. It's really far, far away." ha!

We did A LOT of relaxing and just enjoyed being together. A good time was had by all!










As a sidenote, I noticed while looking through these pictures that 1.) I let my kid sit in the hot tub. 2.) I let my kid eat cookie dough. 3.) I kept my kid up until midnight. 4.) I let my kid eat staring up at the t.v. each day for lunch. 5.) I took my kid to the aquarium unaware that she was running a 103 degree fever.

Yep, dust off my "Mother of the Year" award! :)