Our Trip to TN & the beach

I went through the pictures we had taken of Tennessee and I really thought there were more. So, I am sorry...we are bad picture takers! In order to round out things, I am including pictures of our trip to the beach on Saturday.

But first, let me fill you in on our trip! We left to visit Matt's grandparents & parents in TN the Wednesday before Memorial Day. This is somewhat becoming a tradition for us to visit them over that holiday. It gives us a break from the stifling heat and lack of rain of where we live and we have a chance to see, in addition to topography, lush green deciduous trees (i.e. the one that lose their leaves in the fall). Our lawn was quite brown and crunchy when we left.

Sigh...

We drove through the day with Katelynn and she was remarkably good! She had her moments 3/4 of the way through the trip where she was like "this car seat is not working for me anymore, Mom & Dad!" and honestly, we couldn't blame her one bit. Once we got there she woke up and was very excited that Grandma had a puppy. By the time we got settled down to sleep it was after midnight and Katelynn was wired. She wanted to explore the new place, hang out with the puppy and bark at him and Matt & I were less than enthused. She eventually fell asleep after an hour or so and then proceeded to kick me the entire night (despite the fact we were in a king sized bed, Katelynn had to sleep perpendicular to us).

Thursday we took it easy. I went shopping and had lunch with Grandma while Matt & Katelynn had a "Daddy & daughter day". That night Matt's parents made it down.

Friday Matt's parents and the three of us went to Dollywood. That happens to be what the Tennessee portion of the pictures are of. There were some kiddie areas that she could just burn off energy and have a blast, which she did! :)

Saturday the five of us decided to go to Great Smoky Mountain Natl Park, do some shopping in Pigeon Forge and try to take in a show. The show didn't happen since the show Matt's parents wanted to see with Katelynn wasn't performing afternoon shows. The Natl Park was interesting. We took some wrong turns and ended up in Cades Cove (instead of Clingman's Dome....but don't worry, we'll eventually make it there!). Cades Cove is a preserved settlement from when all the land of that area was incorporated to create the park. It was beautiful, rustic and full of gnats. Despite the gnats, it was my favorite part of the trip.

After the park, we made our way to Pigeon Forge where we grabbed a bite to eat, let Katelynn play at a kiddie park and then I was turned loose to shop at the Old Mill Plaza. I must say that crystal is some people's thing. Fine china is other people's thing. Pineapples appeal to yet other people. :) But pottery is what I love. I bought the cutest little honey pot. I should take a picture of it...sorry, I digress.

Sunday we went to church with the grandparents and generally took it easy. Matt took me out that night for ribs (just the two of us to celebrate our anniversary...5 years, can you believe it??? Who would have thought?!). Then we went to a local park and watched the ducks and water. So beautiful!

Monday we drove back home. Katelynn again, was good as gold! She was very happy to get home though. We were surprised to see that our lawn was green again and in need of a cutting. Ever since we've been getting rain. Yay!

The following Saturday was our anniversary. We got ourselves a babysitter and went out to a movie. Prince Caspian was what we saw and we highly recommend it! But if you haven't watched The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe, please rent that first. It will help with the context of PC!

We had some plans with our friends to have dinner with them this past Saturday night, but one of them was sick and didn't want to expose Katelynn to his germs. I think she would have been fine, but I do appreciate the thought! :) So we were wondering what to do, since all of the sudden our Saturday had opened up. Next thing I know, we're packing the car to go to the beach. We went to a beach that did not have public facilities and you know it was a nice secluded beach. There were more sand crabs running around than people. It was great! We held on to Katelynn's hands and walked her up to the surf. Previous experience has shown that she is rather leery of the ocean. Not this time! She LOVED it! She loved it even when she got plastered by a wave. She was splashing her feet and giggling & cackling. She also loved playing in the sand and when we left, she was covered head to toe in sand. We decided on the way home to clean up and then go to a local pizza place for supper. By the time we got home, however, Katelynn was snoring. Of course, she woke up when we got her out of the car seat and then she flipped out when I took her into the bathroom to give her a bath. (Bath time always means that bedtime soon follows.)I didn't blame her for being upset, but I grit my sandy teeth and got her cleaned up.

She was very cute & polite at the pizza place. We handed our menus over to the waitress & said thank you. She started to go inside when Katelynn said (unprompted, I might add!) "Thank you!" What a conscientious little girl!

Well, I know I've written a book. That's what happens when I don't post for a month.
Sorry! We are looking forward to our guests this summer and before you know it, we'll be home to visit as well. :)

Tennesseebeach