Our summer started with BANG!!!! We met the fam for a summer road trip heading for a family reunion in Kentucky. Our first stop was in Tennessee at one of my Mom's partner's cabin just outside of Knoxville. It was amazing. The kids went fishing on the dock, roasted marshmallows on the fireplace on the deck and had a great time with all the family members we don't get to see often enough. We had a break through with Little Miss A...by the end of this pit stop she was picking up almost every bug that waltzed her way. :) WOW!!!
Our second stop was the family reunion at Jenny Wiley State Park. We did some line dancing (YIKES), went boating with family, took a hike with K & J (got lost but still had fun), ate lots of s'mores had even more fun with the fam. 
This was Mr. D's break through pit stop. Thanks to Aunt K, our son is now VERY aware of souvenirs. Of course the relentless boy that he is was CONSTANTLY asking if it was time to find souvenirs. As you can probably imagine, this line of questioning endured the entire trip. :)
The next stop was North Carolina. We stayed at the coolest RV park in Asheville...the views were breathtaking. We actually rented a van so we could stay parked and still get around. We went to the Biltmore...AMAZING!!!! Little Miss A loved the pool inside the house. Mr D was surprised every time we saw another bedroom. Commenting that "this place has too many bedrooms." It was very cool. Following the Biltmore, we decided that we were too close to Gatlinburg to pass up a visit. (J and I went with his family almost 14 years ago.) Downtown is just as we remembered. It was a trip in and of itself to get there, but was fun none-the-less. We decided we need to do Christmas in a big cabin one year. (Another trip in the making?)
The next day we took on the Blue Ridge Parkway. What an awesome road?!? We ate lunch atop the highest mountain in the East (Mount Mitchell) then continued on to Grandfather Mountain. Another place J and I have been together, but the experience was so much different this time. Not just that A & D were with us, but that there was this unnatural fog over the whole place by the time we got there. (I guess it's the smoky mountains for a reason.) So, we get to the entry gate and the lady says we can go up but there is ZERO visibility. Great, well we didn't go all that way for nothing, so we head up and fog is literally drifting into the van through the windows as we drive up. We slow to a creep just to ensure we don't drive over a cliff or anything. We get to the top and can't even see the bridge. While crossing over we seemed to be hanging in the clouds it was so cool! Once we got to the other side, the fog TOTALLY lifted and the sun came out. :) Perfect timing, right? It sure made for some seriously amazing pics. The really crazy thing is, just as we were ready to go, the fog rolled back in and completely covered the bridge again as we were driving away. WILD!!!
just getting to the top...
fog lift
rolling back in...After that it was back to the campground for a fun, full night of ABBA partying. We hit the road again FIRST thing the next morning heading to Florida. The road trip for the day was not bad AT ALL. (Then again we didn't drive the bus.) Once in Florida we took advantage of Grandma and Grandpa's oasis and enjoyed the pool and the "bubble tub" as A & D began to call it. (Without the heater on, it was like a really big bath tub.) The following day, we had a super fun beach day. The kids LOVED it. We found some GIANT shells...
J swears he has never seen shells that large on those beaches and he was born and raised there. J spotted a huge blue crab that we got to chase around. He tried to pick it up, but couldn't get around it. He was able to get a little white crab though. 
The kids loved tickling his furry legs and touching his shell. Once he was back on the sand, he ran side-ways like crazy. A fact that our monkeys thought was hilarious. They chased the poor thing all over the beach until it ran into a hole. Little Miss A and Mr. D had a blast on the beach. Though we've been to the beach every year, this was seriously the most fun they've had to date. No real "toys" to speak of, just water and sand!!! :) 
That night there was an Atlas rocket launch, so we went out to the port to see it. (It was cloudy, so we heard more than we saw, but it was still really neat for the kids to see.) We also got to see the cruise ships heading out to sea while we were waiting. The kids loved to see the big boats. (D was convinced there were pirates on board.) We really need to take them on a cruise. Disney has a new ship coming out in 2011, maybe that's another future trip. :) The rocket launch was followed by dinner at the port. The restaurant we went to had a beach out back which the kids loved. Grandma said she'd give them each a dollar if they scaled the lifeguard tower and danced on top. Of course they did...they LOVE money! :)
J swears he has never seen shells that large on those beaches and he was born and raised there. J spotted a huge blue crab that we got to chase around. He tried to pick it up, but couldn't get around it. He was able to get a little white crab though. The kids loved tickling his furry legs and touching his shell. Once he was back on the sand, he ran side-ways like crazy. A fact that our monkeys thought was hilarious. They chased the poor thing all over the beach until it ran into a hole. Little Miss A and Mr. D had a blast on the beach. Though we've been to the beach every year, this was seriously the most fun they've had to date. No real "toys" to speak of, just water and sand!!! :) That night there was an Atlas rocket launch, so we went out to the port to see it. (It was cloudy, so we heard more than we saw, but it was still really neat for the kids to see.) We also got to see the cruise ships heading out to sea while we were waiting. The kids loved to see the big boats. (D was convinced there were pirates on board.) We really need to take them on a cruise. Disney has a new ship coming out in 2011, maybe that's another future trip. :) The rocket launch was followed by dinner at the port. The restaurant we went to had a beach out back which the kids loved. Grandma said she'd give them each a dollar if they scaled the lifeguard tower and danced on top. Of course they did...they LOVE money! :)
can you see the Atlas rocket?
air boat The whole trip was AWESOME!!!! It's hard to be so far away from family, we treasure the times we do get to spend with them. I'm happy to report that A & D were both getting Aunt K and Aunt N's names right by the end of our trip. They were constantly interchanging them while we were on the road. With Disney giving free tickets on your birthday, we may have to head back to Florida when half of our family gets free tickets. :) So, hopefully we'll be back soon. We already miss everyone so much!!!!
1 comment:
wow. what an amazing trip . . . and as always, amazing pictures too! :) what a great start to your summer! :) sounds like it was filled with fun and memories!
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