Tree Trimming

Just Call Me Ellen...

...wife to Clark and mother to Audrey & Rusty. This is how we felt last week on our much anticipated family vacation. It had the makings of wonderful...a whole week, fun travel and time with just the four of us as well as time with family and friends. Here's the good, bad and the ugly.

It had great moments. We started off with a visit to the Clantons in Spartanburg. We so love them and always enjoy our time together. Greer loved baby Will and the big boys had so much fun.
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We moved on the next day to Gatlinburg. We did love the gorgeous drive to get there through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park...I can't imagine how awesome this must have looked a month ago!

After some confusion with our hotel booking, we tried to go eat at a restaurant recommended to us by friends. Closed. Of course! We already knew that one of the main attractions (Dollywood)that brought us to this area for the week was also closed that day. Starving and needing lunch, we stopped into the first place we saw. Not a great idea.

Next, we went for a tram ride up to Ober Gatlinburg. The ride itself was neat for the kids.

But, we were a little disappointed with not that much to do once we got up there. The boys decided to ride the alpine slide and really enjoyed it, but that was about it. Greer and I watched and waited...

Our next stop was a motor trail to drive and enjoy the beautiful scenery. Unfortunately for us, we didn't realize how early it gets dark in the mountain woods and missed a lot of the views. The last half of the trail was a bit scary and dangerous in the pitch dark.

We did enjoy a stop off at a creek at the beginning of the trail.

Our next big plan was to go see the festival of Christmas lights by trolley. We drove over to the ticket office to get the tickets before going to dinner.

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Kids waiting for Daddy to get our tickets under the giant Christmas tree at the aquarium...

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You might have already guessed what we would find out. Sold out. TWO months ago! I have been picked on before for planning too much ahead, but boy was I wishing I had done more of that this time!! Dejected, we took off walking to get some dinner and enjoy some of the downtown shops.

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As with lunch, we happened to choose poorly for dinner and left frustrated to spend so much money on terrible food. So much of life is about managing expectations. I also had a completely different idea of the shops that we would find. I was thinking cute boutiques and funky toy stores. Instead, we only ended up being interested in one...

At least it was yummy!

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Finally back at the hotel, we settled in for a cozy night at a really nice place. Once the kids were asleep in the adjoining room, we sat down to enjoy a nice fire together.

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Out of nowhere, Gehrig had a coughing fit, Greer woke up and we spent the next 2 hours getting everyone back to sleep. So, B & Gehrig slept in one room and Greer & I in another. Not exactly what we had in mind. Those expectations will get you every time!

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The next morning, we woke up cranky and got the "blue screen of death" on our laptop when we checked the weather. Seriously?! We decided to head out of Gburg after doing a couple of quick things. The first was the shining moment there...ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, can you hear the angels singing?? Pancakes! Good ones, at that!

I am not that picky of an eater, but I'll tell you that after two horrible meals, this was a taste of heaven!!! Gehrig got his pancakes with M&Ms and Greer with chocolate chips. Dee-lish. Thanks, Em!

We tried out one of the miniature golf places as we left town and really just felt weirded out by all the black lights, 3d and creepy circus stuff. Fastest 18 holes ever and great fake smiles.

Every year, we love going to Virginia for Thanksgiving. We left Gatlinburg Wednesday to head that way and were so glad to see everyone!

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Cute pic of Gretch, Mammaw & B.

Gehrig had so much fun with the big kids. B's cousin, Jacob, especially spent lots of time with G. They played outside and in, and Gehrig barely spoke to us for 8 hours straight!

Greer was a little more wary of the 70 or so family members there and showed a little 'tude until she got more comfortable, about 5 hours in. At first, she would only talk to Mammaw & Pots, Gretchen and the Bournes. But by the end, she didn't want to go.

So, the Griswold part of this leg of our trip was the hotel situation. So sorry for all the complaining, but boy it was hard. It was extremely hot and stuffy and made us all feel sick, itchy, coughy and unable to sleep. At one point during the first night, I found myself curled up in a ball at the top of the bed since Greer was stretched out sideways in the middle. I dared not move since she was finally comfortable! Thankfully, she was back in her bed the next night, but we still didn't sleep well and packed up to come home a day early. On our way home, Greer fought sleep hard (as usual in the car), but finally, FINALLY, it won.

I learned a few lessons from it all...

1. Watching a Griswold family vacation is much more fun than living one.

2. We are more a beach family than a mountain family, especially with young kids.

3. Even when things are going wrong, it really would be better to laugh than ruin it more with a sour attitude. (Why is this so hard for me in the moment?!)

4. Staying 15 mins away at a good hotel is better than staying 3 mins away at a bad one.

5. Traveling is so much easier with a good car-sleeper. Next time, we'll bring the benadryl.

6. Home is really, really sweet. :)

Guitar Pull

A country music concert even for the non-country music fan! Loved the laid back setup of the annual Guitar Pull. My favorite act of the night was Josh Turner.
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And such a fun date night with my hubby!

Fall Ball

No one signed up to coach Gehrig's tball team this fall. As much as B would love to coach Gehrig's little league teams, his work schedule is crazy during football and baseball season. But when he got the call that their team would have to disband if B didn't take over as coach, he couldn't refuse. I know that it was a lot on him, but I am so thankful that he did it. He is such a good coach and is amazing with kids!

And Gehrig? At the very first practice, I heard him in the dugout say to a teammate, "See that guy over there? He's the coach...and he's MY dad!" Absolutely-melt-your-heart-proud.

Next to having his daddy as his coach, Gehrig's favorite part of this team was having his buddy Cole as his teammate!

Team meeting.

On deck.

Running bases.

The cheerleader. :)


Trophies!

It was a good, quick, busy season. A couple of Evans' ball players helped B coach as part of their senior project and did a great job!! Goodbye tball field until the spring!

County Fair

The boys finally made it to the fair on its last night...and boy did they have fun!

G thought the human cannonball was so cool.

Sweet happy fun face.

Perfect fall night when you're 4.