What a trip!

Whew!! What a trip we had this weekend! We needed to get away for a few days so we took a trip to Dollywood for the weekend. We spent all day Friday at the park and had an absolute blast. We had never been to Dollywood before and I was surprised by how nice it was. Clean. Well planned. Lots of great rides. The weather was great too -- not too hot and even a bit overcast. It was perfect! Then, we spent all of Saturday swimming at the hotel pools. I say "pools" because we, in fact, swam in all three of them. Don't ya know it! The girls wanted to make sure that they were not missing out on anything.

I love that we could spend the weekend as a family just doing something crazy and fun. To skip and dance our way all through Dollywood is what it is all about. To see Boo's and 'Licious's faces on the roller coasters, water rides and gut-turning rides made it feel like I was a kid again. (By the way, Boo is the older. 'Licious is the younger. I had considered giving Mark a code name as well but then could only come up with names that he didn't approve of . . . he didn't like "Smoochies" cause it didn't seem manly enough. Oh please! He didn't like "Slim" because he thought it was kind of wimpy. He liked "Razor" until I explained how I came up with that one. With a sarcastic grin and a roll of my eyes, I explained it was because he is as sharp as a razor. Come on, honey! You. Are. Razor. Sharp. So he will remain "Mark". Wait till I start posting "Markisms". Then you'll be calling him Razor too. Love you SMOOCHIES!) To see the girls board scary rides with reckless abandon . . . against my better judgment . . . reminds me that they are growing up, becoming individuals . . . and that maybe MY judgment is not always necessary.

They took swimming lessons the last two summers and I was debating about whether to sign them up again this summer. Not after this weekend! At the end of last summer they were good swimmers. But yesterday they conquered new feats. Letting Daddy launch them high in the air into the water. Jumping into the deep end unassisted and swimming to the wall. Swimming underwater for lengths that, I gotta say, made me a bit nervous.

Can you tell we had a blast?

Again, whew! Pigeon Forge, TN is a real zoo though. It is bumper-to-bumper traffic with everything built wall-to-wall all along the main strip. For a gal that used to live in a big city, send bad guys to jail, parallel park DAILY all while wearing a most stylish suit and high heels, I sure missed this:
I took this the other night on the way home from my first photo shoot. I snapped this less than 2 minutes from my house. That is just they way I like it. Sometimes the little suckers get loose and I shoo them back to their pasture. I can't have them chomping on my flowers or vegetables! Besides, they leave terrible tracks and other "presents" in my yard.



No matter how much fun we had on our little trip, there is no place like home.

Nighty-night ya'll!
dana