Vacation

It is a tradition for the kids to gem mine while we are in Gatlinburg. They like hunting through the dirt and rocks to find gems. Then they bring them home and fill my house with them. Lovely. #2 has decided to try tumbling them to see if it improves the value. He tried selling them to a friend today and the friend offered 50 cents. #2 was offended, but I thought it sounded like a deal. He just doesn't see them as rocks like I do, and apparently as the friend did.

This year we tried Splash Country. It is a water park adjacent to Dollywood. The kids were disappointed by the long lines. It is the price you pay for vacationing in the summer. I like the opportunities of homeschool vacations in the fall and spring. J-1 said the water park was his favorite part of the vacation.

My sister-in-law and I took the kids riding in the National Park. For kids who hadn't ridden much, didn't speak the language, and really had no clue what they were doing, they did well. The guide was very patient with the group and we had a good time. I would have enjoyed it more if the horse weren't so big. I think that was part of the reason I was jostled so and got such a bad headache.

We enjoyed walking downtown at night. That was one summer difference you don't get in the other seasons. During the summer season there are entertainers every couple of blocks to stop and listen to or watch. One night a family of harmonica players stopped to join a guitarist. They were just walking by and decided to play along. The guitarist let them join in and the impromptu performance was a treat.

We were able to spend some time in the great outdoors, which was my favorite part of the trip. I wish we had had more time for lazing about in the park. This particular spot was enjoyed immensely by the children. They swam in the river all day. That night we met up with some family in the area and they told us there have been a lot of copperhead sitings in that area this summer. We did find a couple of snakes, but we didn't get close enough to discover their names. ------------

I just downloaded 239 pictures, so I guess you will be getting more as the days go by. The last couple of days have been busy with our visitor. Yesterday we picked blueberries, went to a free movie, and shopped. I took the van to Sam's Club to have the tires balanced and ended up with a bigger dilemma. The wheels needed aligned terribly and the back tires had worn through on the inside tread. So today I headed to the shop to get an alignment. This afternoon we went bowling and took J-1 to a karate lesson. Time is flying. Only 2 weeks left with our new son.