A Beautiful Day in the Park

We decided to spend Saturday at Panther Creek State Park in Morristown. I had never been to that park before but after a little research I found they had a playground (and a pool) as well as the hiking and biking trails. The girls love to play on playgrounds, so I wanted a place where they could enjoy that. We took Lauren's bicycle and the little red car for Allison to ride in, but we didn't make it to the trails to ride. The girls were having too much fun on the playground. We took a picnic lunch and enjoyed eating on a blanket under a tree. Who could believe that the temperature was around 80 degrees in July with low humidity. What a blessing!!

Here are a few pictures from the day.

Both girls love to swing. Lauren has learned to swing on her own, but Allison still requires pushing!

Lauren climbing

Allison in her shades

Daddy chillin' out on the the blanket

Lauren chillin' out like Daddy

Family shot of the picnic

Climbing through the tunnels

Lauren posing at the top of the tall slide

Lauren on the Merry-go-round

Sweet sisters sliding together

This picture isn't supposed to be on this post....but I can't get it off!!!

Free Food

I had seen the advertisement several times at Chick-fil-a about free food if you dress like the cow. I did not plan in advance to do this, but today as we were coming back from swimming with Gina and her twin nephews, Lauren said she wanted chicken from Chick-fil-a as we passed by the store there on Clinton Hwy. I responded by saying we had to get Allison home for her nap. While checking email this afternoon I read on the KnoxMoms website about the free food again. So around 4:30 this afternoon I told Bill we should go to Chick-fil-a for dinner. That meant scraping together something to make the whole family look like cows so we could eat for free. I was ok with just getting a free entree (according to info I read on line) for Bill and I by just putting a few spots on a white shirt for us. The website I read said that if you dressed from "head to toe" you could get a full meal, but if you only dressed up with one thing, you could get the free entree. Well, they were most generous and we came out eating for free. What fun to eat for free at one of the girls favorite places. The girls had lots of fun getting ready and seeing all the cows at the restaurant. As I was leaving I heard the cutest little boy say, "Daddy, everybody looks like a cow here!"

Anybody else out there have free chicken today?

Lauren with her cow ears

The girls mooing like a cow. I love Allison's mouth in the picture!

Lauren was saying "Eat more chicken!"

Daddy with the cow.

Allison trying to squirm away from the cow!!! Neither of the girls wanted to get their picture taken with the cow!

Fourth of July Picnic

We spent the holiday weekend with my parents and enjoyed a fun Fourth of July! After arriving at their house on Friday, mom cooked fried chicken, mashed potatoes, fresh corn on the cob and fresh green beans!! Then for dessert we made homemade ice cream!! (So much for my Body for Life!) We went out to the house on the hill to see what kind of progress Dad has made on their farm house. While there we visited with Mary and Lane for a while.
Saturday morning we went to see Aunt Susie, Jim, Susan, David and Luke. Luke will be two on July 10th. Aunt Susie has a new Shih Tzu puppy named Abby and Susan has a dog named Chesney. You can imagine what fun my girls had with those two dogs in the house. NOT!!!! The puppy was very playful and wanted to chase them and lick them. If she came near the girls, they would run which made Abby want to chase after them. Finally the girls got down in the floor to play with Luke and some of his cool boy toys!!
Saturday afternoon Bill and I took Lauren over to the Blountville 4th of July Parade. Then after Allison got up from her nap we headed off to the weir at South Holston Dam. That's a favorite picnic spot for our family. We enjoyed burgers for dinner and s'mores for dessert! It doesn't get much better. Here are some pictures at the weir.


Lauren with her feet in the frigid water. The water comes from the bottom of the South Holston Lake. Our picnic spot was right on the water and it was noticeably cooler just because of the water. Both girls' feet were red because they were so cold. Didn't seem to bother either one of them.

Allison enjoying a s'mores

Umm, umm good!

Lauren eating the graham crackers for the s'mores

Allison and Pawpaw playing ball

Lauren on the bridge

The girls looking off the bridge

Pawpaw, Allison, Uncle Bill & Lauren looking at the weir

Lauren's skinned knee she got while running with Uncle Bill

We had a great weekend, but we missed our Heart 2 Heart friends on Sunday.

Hooray for Dollywood

Today was the first trip to Dollywood for Lauren and Allison. We were fortunate to go with my Mom and Dad, my brother, and April, Mackenzie and Josiah. David joined us after lunch. What a great day we had! I can't say enough about how beautiful the weather has been this week. We had great weather on Tuesday when we went to the zoo, and today.....ahhhh....what
perfect weather for our Dollywood visit.
I have to admit that I have not been a huge Dollywood fan in the past, but going today with my children, brought a whole new appreciation for the place. I enjoyed the park through their eyes. And what a wonderful experience it was for all of us. I got a season pass, and plan to take the girls back as many times as we can make it. Here are a few pictures from our day.

Lauren sporting a hat we saw outside a shop

The girls in front of the water fountain

Lauren loves her Uncle Bill......they are big buddies

Allison and Granny on the Lemon Twist

Mackenzie and Lauren on the Pigs

Their faces tell how much fun they had together

Weeeee.....

Josiah and Allison on the Pigs

The four kids on the Bees

As part of Kid Fest, we saw the show Lama Lama Red Pajama
My girls love that book. Here they are with Mama Lama and Baby Lama.

Mackenzie, April and Josiah on the Carousel

Allison and PawPaw on the Carousel

Great picture of April and Josiah driving the convertibles

Mackenzie and Allison are in the black car

Allison and Granny waving

The girls in the Rain Forest area

We are looking forward to future visits to Dollywood. The girls were great. Even with Allison there during her nap time, she was an absolute angel. Hooray for Dollywood!

Zoo Trip With Friends

With the beautiful weather we are having this week, I asked our friends April, Mackenzie and Josiah if they would like to go to the zoo with us. We had a picture-perfect day weather-wise and had lots of fun with our friends. April and I decided that it is so much easier taking our kids to the zoo together. The four little ones grabbed hands as soon as they saw each other at the zoo entrance and off they ran. April and I had a hard time keeping up with them pushing our big double strollers! While we didn't see a lot of animals today, the kids did enjoy lots of playing at Kids Cove, which is something Lauren and Allison haven't done much. (We usually get caught up seeing the animals and then we're too tired to enjoy the play area.) This was our first time in the water there, so it was a real treat. We loved spending the day with our good friends.


Lauren, Mackenzie, Allison & Josiah


Allison, Josiah & Lauren petting the camel

The Zoo has a new exhibit, the Wee Play Zoo. It's an interactive area that is enclosed (and air-conditioned :)) that lets the kids do all kinds of fun things. The girls enjoyed making pizzas in the Pizzooria Concession Stand.


Lauren & Allison making pizzas

Mackenzie and Lauren with their pizzas

Allison ready to cut her pizza

Say "Cheese", or should I say "Pepperoni"

Josiah and Allison splashing at Kids Cove

Mackenzie, Josiah, Lauren & Allison having fun in the water

Allison on the frog sprayer

We had so much fun with our friends today, we've planned a trip to Dollywood on Thursday. Can't wait for the fun there. That will be the girls first trip!! Lauren is beside herself with excitement!

Daddy's Girls

Happy Father's Day to the most wonderful Daddy any two girls could have. I am so thankful for Bill and the terrific father he is to our two girls. We have had several days of celebration with Dad's. Thursday we celebrated Father's Day with Bill's family by going out to dinner. After dinner we all took the kids to the park to play. It was a beautiful evening.

My parents came down Saturday morning and we had breakfast at Cracker Barrel. Then Mom, Dad and Uncle Bill took the girls for the day and let Bill and I enjoy some time together. I thoroughly enjoyed my day with Bill. Then we grilled burgers for dinner and had some delicious home-grown tomatoes courtesy of Bill's Dad. There's nothing better than a grilled burger with fresh tomatoes!!! Then we made homemade ice cream!! Yummy!!

Today my parents went to church with us and afterwards we took the Dad's out to eat at Aubreys.

The girls got Daddy an ice cream maker, a shirt and a DVD. He really liked the ice cream maker!

I am so thankful for my Dad! I was always a Daddy's girl growing up and can fondly remember sitting on his lap when I was way too big to be sitting there. Today I enjoy watching Dad with my two girls and am again thankful for the wonderful man he is.

Happy Father's Day Bill and Dad! Love you both!