Gatlinburg, Part Two

 The rest of our stay in Gatlinburg was great.  We only had one day of rain, and it really didn't mess things up too much, because we went to the Ripley's museum (both interesting and gross), and indoor mini-golf. (Not a shock that Sam won by a mile.)  We went back to town to visit the arcade, too.

Our last night there, we rode the sky car to the top of the mountain.  That was fun!

At the top of the mountain is a ski resort, and a small mall.  Sam stared longingly at the snowy slopes, the people skiing, and said he wanted to come back sometime and do that.

Inside, we looked around a bit.

Then decided to go ice skating!

The boys were very good at it.  Me...not so much.

Back down at the bottom is was one last visit to the arcade.  The boys had a blast.

And yes, they can work together when it's something fun!  This game was a hoot--Sam and I both won 500 tickets on it, and later we kept trying and winning again and again.

Here is some nail-biting action from the "horse race" we all did.  I won, and a stuffed tiger was mine!

The boys cashed in too, we came home with a stuffed sea turtle, and a huge whoopie cushion.

We had a really wondeful week, and I'm so glad we went.  Maybe we'll do it again next year!

Gatlinburg, Part One

This year the boys had a new school vacation called "Winter break."  A whole week off in the middle of February!  We decided to hit the road and go to Gatlinburg for a few days!

At the top of the mountains, we ran into a snowfall.  The boys were thrilled!  It was very pretty while we drove through it.

The boys especially liked driving through tunnels.

The next day the snow was still on the ground when we woke up. 

It very quickly melted away, though, but we had fun while it lasted.

The time share we stayed in was very nice.  The boys hooked up their video games and got busy entertaining themselves while Mom showered and got ready for the day.

Then it was off for the highly anticipated trip to WONDERWORKS!

And yes, the place is upside down.  The story is that a crazy science lab was picked up from the Bermuda Triangle by a wild tornado, and dropped down here in the USA.

Inside the museum, there are rooms filled to the hilt with hands-on science things.  The kids can "fly" a space shuttle, see how fast they can throw a ball, experience a hurricane force wind, an earthquake, and all kinds of stuff.  They can lie on a bed of nails, ride a flight simulator, learn about sound waves, and best of all, we can climb around on a three-story high obstacle course, suspended above the floor!  Yes, we are connected a system of safety harnesses and rails, but still--it's not for the faint of heart.

After a day at the museum, we went into town for a quick walk that evening.  Marty found a corn dog.

I found some ice cream!

We went up in the "Space Needle!"

View from the Space Needle!

All in all, a spectacular first day in Gatlinburg!

ThirTEEN at last!

Sam has been talking about becoming a teen-ager for months.  He has hopes that being a teen will involve later bedtimes and more freedom.  I don't know about that....yet.  But we couldn't let such a big birthday slide by too terribly quietly.  So we went to our favorite party joint--the local bowling alley, and had a great time.

Sam invited four friends, and they began the evening with pool and arcade games.

Then it was on to pizza and sodas and lots of, um, "Boy humour."  Marty and I kept our distance while the jokes flew.

Sam asked for a cookie cake, so that's what we got.  Does it look a little less-than-professionally decorated?  Well, that's because I had to to do the writing myself.  I did my best.  The boys seemed to think it was just fine.

After cake, the boys picked up their bowling shoes and after a huge production of putting on the shoes, entering names into the scorekeeping machine, and selecting bowling balls, we were ready to bowl.

And of course bowling was only half the fun.  The other half was clowning around for each other!

There were lots of laughs all around, then we had cake.

Then, onto Lazer Tag!

That went pretty quickly, and before you know it, it was time to go home.

Poor Sam has been sick all week with a nasty cold/flu-like thing (which Benny and I also had, but not as bad.)  When we got home, he opened his presents, then collapsed in a heap on the couch and was asleep in five minutes.  It's a shame he didn't feel so great on his birthday.  But just the same, he's a teen "at last." I would have been GLAD to rewind "twelve" if I could, believe me.  But nope.  Time marches on.  And now I have a 13 year old son.  A son who likes video games, soccer, his pets, music, friends, and bowling.  He still watches some cartoons, and once in a RARE while, he'll let me hug him good-night.  He likes to play football and jump on the trampoline.  He is an honor role student who excels at math but doesn't like reading.  He is patient, and kind.  He's a good guy. 

I just can't imagine how fast the next five years will go past.  My goodness.

Happy Birthday, Sam!

Super Sunday

It's time for a Superbowl Party!

Mom and Dad came up to visit and watch the game.  The weather was so warm that we sat outside for a while.

We had tons of food.

The boys were divided--Sam wanted the Giants to win, Benny wanted the Patriots.  The rest of us just wanted to see a good game and funny commercials!

We ate and ate and ate. And we watched the game.  We livened it up by betting on total score at the end of each quarter.  The winners were Marty, Benny, Mom, and Dad!

We topped off halftime with this fun football cake Mom brought.  And--it was a good game.

The winners?  The Giants!  It was a close game and a good one.

See you next year!