Family Vacation

The same week that students in some parts of the country were just starting back to school, we were enjoying Fall Break. It is the one-week break we get off of school after the first six weeks of the school year (we get at least a one week break every six weeks). During the break, we took a short trip to Gatlinburg, Tennessee. I think this may be our first ever family vacation during which we didn't have a plan to meet up with anyone else. Just us, traveling, for the purpose of enjoyment. I'm using that "first" as an excuse to not really cull down the pictures very much!

Headed to the tram that would take us up the hill to Ober Gatlinburg, winter (mini) ski resort, summer amusement park.

A rare picture of the parentals together (thanks, C).

John actually did NOT like the ball pit, so this was a pretty lucky photo!

John's first chairlift ride. Terrifying. For us. It was a lot more terrifying when we were up higher, but I was too nervous to take pictures at that point. didn't want to turn around to take a photo, for fear that John would get excited and leap out of T's arms...

Baby on skates! I got him all the way around the rink once by anchoring his skates between my feet and using my arms to pull us around the rink! (he was done after that).

Headed back down the mountain on the tram. John called it a "boat", so we declared it a "sky boat".

Pancake breakfast. We were cursed with terrible service for almost the entire trip. 

The bad service drove us to the free moonshine tasting. You can now taste some moonshine at our house. 

Incline train to the top of Hillbilly Golf, in which you play mini golf down the hill.

At Ripley's Aquarium

The last restaurant meal of the trip (also the first good service of the trip). Thank you, local brewery, for your decent service, tasty beer, trivia game and food that does not pretend to be fancier than it is. Plus, look closely. That's SANTA at the bar. Yes, Santa. He came over and talked to the boys. Carter has been talking about it for days. 

Nature.

At the top of Clingman's Dome. Highest point in TN. Third highest east of the Mississippi. We have now been to the top of the highest point in TN and GA. Time to start counting, I think...

Notes: 1) I have carried John up to the top of the highest points in both GA and TN. 2) John and I are wearing the same ugly facial expression in this picture. 3) Thomas doesn't feel the need to take multiple shots of a picture in order to reduce the likelihood of ugly face. 4) The background here somehow looks totally fake, but I can promise you that it is real, and it was high up! 5) John is pretty much at the weight limit for this backpack, so he's on his own next time.

Spring Training Trip

As has been alluded to, I took a trip to Orlando with Cart Cart and the other Fowlkes' to see the Braves spring training for an extra long weekend. It was filled with lots of baseball watching, lots of eating (steak, hibachi, ribs, etc.), and admittedly not that many pictures. But here are a few: Champion's Stadium is the Braves stadium at Disney where they play. It is a great sports complex with multiple baseball fields where all levels major and minor league practice, lacrosse, field house for cheerleading (mostly, as best I can tell), and others. And of course, it's all branded Disney!

Sammy had a great time hanging out with the guys for a couple of days, watching ball and wearing sunglasses. He did have a hard time getting that monkey off his back, though.

Sammy did like the lacrosse net on the back field.

We all also went to Sea World and had a great time, saw the Shamu show, and rode the carousel.

For more pictures, see them other Fowlkes' blog post!

Arkansas Trip - Day on the Lake

We had a terrific long weekend in Arkansas with my parents. Here are some shots from our first full day, spent on the lake in Hot Springs Village. It was surprisingly cool and windy, which would have been nicer, had we not planned entirely for activities designed to keep us cool.

Kayaking in the morning 

Thomas armed with water squirters

On the boat in the afternoon

T attempting to water ski

And... failing.

Halloween

We spent Halloween in Hot Springs Village.

Carter wore the lion costume that my mom made, and my brother wore, when Patrick was a kid.

Since Carter was going as a lion, and since my mom has a friend who had costumes to loan us, we decided to dress up as a family (except for Patrick and dad, the grumps :).

Kirstin shows her appreciation for being strongly encouraged to costume...

Instead of going door-to-door, we went to a "trunk-or-treat" event at my mom's church. The cars park and people give away candy out of their trunks.

Magic Springs

Halloween was a beautiful day in Arkansas, so we got to play outside. Mama Helen and I took Carter to Magic Springs, an amusement park in Hot Springs. Carter wore his Super Why costume as his lion costume would have made it too hard to ride the rides.

Carter's favorite ride was the roller coaster, which had some good speed for a kiddie coaster. He did NOT care for the swinging pirate ship ("my tummy hurts!").

Mid-America Museum

Since it rained so much when we were in Arkansas, we had to find indoor activities to keep us occupied. One such adventure was a trip to the Mid-America Science Museum in Hot Springs. We explored the exhibits and did the flight simulator (which Carter LOVED!).

Collateral Damage

Patrick and Kirstin brought their dog, Maddie, with them to Arkansas.

Carter's stuffed animals have seen better days...

When Carter discovered the panda's injuries, he scooped it up in his arms, hugged it and said "It's okay! It's okay!"
We managed to get the crocodile fixed up before he even saw the damage, though it still looks a bit scarred from the experience!

Mama Helen & Daddy Phil's House

As per usual, we brought the rain to Arkansas. Sadly, most of our days have been rainy, limiting our outdoor activities, but we've been making the best of it. And Carter's been appreciating all the TV he gets to watch since we can't play outside.

Enjoying the fire pit on a rare, rain-free evening

Learning how to play toddler games on the iphone

Playing Super Why!

Napping boys