All Aboard

This fella gets a one on one date with Papa and Gamma. 
In his mind, he is a working man. 
He will be the one yelling, "All aboard!"

We traded the hustle and bustle of our real life for a day 

spent fishing, boating, bike riding, and relaxing in the country.

 (There might have been a little accident involving a gator, a birdhouse, and a grandma.)

Fun Day 2015

Friday was the last day of school for the year.  Wow.  That went fast..too fast.  Anyhoo... the kiddos had a lot of fun celebrating summer with their friends.  

Andrew and Olivia finished the year with all A's.  I don't share that to proclaim that they are super smart or perfect.  They worked extremely hard everyday and put forth their very best efforts for 9 solid months.  This year that equaled A's.  Hard work, determination, strong study skills, and consistency are what they learned again this year.  In my opinion, those are the true measures of success.

Yeah for summer and NO SPELLING LISTS!

Fourth and sixth grades will just have to wait because this momma has a summer of fun planned for her cutie patooties.

Sweet Memories {34}

The everyday moments that I sometimes capture are still my favorite.  

Smokey Mountain Vacation

We spent last week in an adorable cabin tucked deep in the curvy woods of the Great Smokey Mountains.  It was a super fun week spent creating countless memories with my loves and my parents.  It was breathtakingly beautiful with gorgeous panoramic views at every turn.  

We started the week by exploring Cade's Cove, and we even got to watch a bear in its natural habitat (meaning: it wasn't behind bars or in a cage folks).

Olivia enjoys few things more than catching tad poles.

We have quickly learned that Jaxson is not fond of cold water.  The temperature for the week topped out at a whooping 84 degrees in the sun.  Needless to say, all the water was C-O-L-D.

We spent the majority of two days at Dollywood.  The temperature was perfect, and the lines were short.  We also spent four freezing cold hours at Dollywood's Splash Country (waterpark).   Positive-no lines.  Negative-we crossed into the "I am so cold that I am miserable" zone.

Grandpa and grandma treated Andrew and Olivia to an entertaining Lumberjack dinner show one evening while Scott, Jaxson, and I hiked approximately 2 miles to view a gorgeous waterfall.

One of our favorite days was spent floating down the Little River.

While visiting Meramec Caverns last summer, Andrew and Olivia watched a group of children "mine" for gems.  Scott and I refused to spend the money for them to join in the fun.  They have talked about gem mining ever since.  Before leaving Pigeon Forge, we stopped at the Gem Mine.  They were not disappointed., and it turned out to be $30 well spent.  In fact, it topped Olivia's "what I loved most about vacation" list.

It took second place on this fella's list.  It was beat only by the river float.  This is a genuine Andrew smile.  Such photos seem harder and harder to capture these days.

There is nothing like a relaxing week spent exploring with the people you love most.  Thanks family!