Our Trip to Gatlinburg

This past weekend our family took a vacation to Gatlinburg. We had a great trip and left with great memories. On our trip we let Riley and Ethan sleep in the same bed. They did great sleeping together and I think they enjoyed it. This was our cabin we stayed in.

On Monday night, we celebrated Tim's Birthday. On Tuesday, we took Riley and Ethan to an arcade, they rode rides at The Track, and we went swimming. 

On Wednesday, we went to Dollywood. Now that the kids are getting older they are able to do more there and we all had a great time! Their favorite ride was the River Rampage. They loved getting wet. Here are some pictures from our day.

On Thursday, we took the kids on their first hike. The hike to the waterfall was 1.3 miles. I was hoping Ethan would be able to walk some of it but he did not make it that far. So Tim and I took turns carrying him. Riley, on the other hand, did great walking!!

 On the way up, we saw a bear cub and a mama bear!!

On the way back down, Riley stepped in a BIG pile (of what we think) of bear poop. We took his shoe off and then he stepped in it with his bare foot. GROSS!!

There are days when Riley does NOT want his picture taken. So he makes this face that drives me CRAZY!

Tim and Riley making "The Face"

We had a great week and we are looking forward to going back to Gatlinburg in December with all of my family!

My Little Captain America

This has been my first week teaching Riley to read. This will definitely be a year to learn Riley's learning style. Right now he's keeping me on my toes because I'm learning I have to keep it interesting. We both enjoy doing his reading lesson on the couch. I love how laid back we can be! So far he is doing great and he's already reading a little. He can already read 2 books!!

I went for a walk on Monday with the boys and God gave me such a peace about having both of the boys home this year. I love that Riley can be in his Captain America costume and I can be teaching him at the table!

Visit with family

Last week we visited my family. It was good to see all of my family. Riley and Ethan loved playing with their cousins. One morning, my mom got out some her paints and let them paint outside.

Another morning we went to a park before it got too hot.

After the park, we went to GiGi's to get some YUMMY cupcakes!!

Our 4th of July Weekend

We've had an amazing weekend and it was so good spending time together as a family! Saturday morning we all rode in the Jonesborough Days Parade with Tim's dad to promote his car business- Buchanan's Auto Sales. Riley and Ethan were great little wavers!

Then we walked around in Jonesborough and Riley and Ethan jumped around in the inflatables, had snow cones, and the loved watching the ducks at the petting zoo. We came home to let the boys take a nap and then we headed to Tim's parent's house to let them swim. They had a great time! Riley has been working on learning how to swim this summer and he turned into a little fish! He was swimming without his vest and swimming underwater!

On Sunday we went to church. We had a laid back afternoon and Riley and Ethan played outside. I ran after the ice cream truck because the ice cream truck is just part of summer. It ended up being a snow cone truck and Riley loved it! Usually we watch Jonesborough's fireworks from our back porch since Riley and Ethan are sleeping. This year we let them stay up and we watched the fireworks at Tim's bank. They loved staying up late and they loved watching the fireworks!! It was well worth letting them stay up!!

On Monday, we all walked to the park. Tim ran a few miles while the kids had a picnic and then I ran when he came back. It was mega hot!! Then we came back home to let Ethan take a nap. Afterwards, we went to Menchies for some yogurt!!  Yummy!!! My favorite is chocolate yogurt with Heath and carmel! Then we went to Tim's parent's house to let the kids swim. They also were in the neighborhood parade.

They jumped back in the pool after the parade.

 Riley swimming underwater

Happy 4th of July!!!

Summer Pictures

These are a few of my favorite summer pictures so far.

Our Little Monkey

Myrtle Beach

Click here to view this photo book larger

I've been working for a week on a Shutterfly book of our beach pictures. I wanted to post it here so that you could see our beach pictures. By the way, I love the way Shutterfly has changed their layouts for their photo books. It was really easy to use and I love how it looks!


We had an amazing vacation! Riley and Ethan loved playing in the ocean!