In Closing,
I didn’t get a chance to finish anything more than Sunday on the way home (and the “Day of Departure” post) so I’ll have to try and finish the rest in the near future before the memories slip, slip away. The drive was pretty good, after that rough patch the kids mostly slept (just the occasional stirs and rustles) and I got an hour or two of sleep too. Tom tried to get some sleep while I drove but wasn’t able to nod off so he ended up driving almost the whole way. I did stay up with him for the last stretch until we made it home a little after 5am. Tom took Sophie to bed and after some coaxing she finally fell back asleep until they got up a little after 8. Max however had a bottle and was set to fall asleep when he pooped. So I figured it probably should change him rather than leave him to stew in his own stink. After that, sleep was spotty for the both of us so it’s fair to say that I’ll be ready for bed tonight. All in all, I think it was the right decision leaving when we did; it made it easier on the kids to sleep through until we were home (and thus probably made it easier on us).
Until next time!
Day of Departure
I’m writing these out of order (but will post in order – feel like disclosing this fact just in case it helps make sense of my ramblings) so before I tackle Monday’s post, let me recap our last day here at Sterling Springs in Sevierville, TN. I’m going to try and get as much done in the car as I can (my camera is somewhere in the back so pics may or may not make it to this post by the time it ends up on the blog.)
Friday (x2). We arrived on a Friday and pretty much stuck around the resort and settled in. Today was basically the reverse of that. We didn’t do much until after Max’s first nap and then Tom and I headed down to the pool for one last swim (maybe for the summer) with the kiddos. Michelle, Craig, Caitlyn, and Ingrid went into town to check out the Titanic exhibit which turned out to be a worthwhile trip for them and then they headed to the Apple Valley Winery (name?) and stocked up on some of the local “juice”.
Sophie sure does love the pool but Max was kind of being a stinker today. Really, he’s been building up quite a temper this week. He’s really perfecting that whole “standing” thing and would get so upset if you would move him away from whatever he was standing on (usually something dangerous like a dining room chair or the stone-top coffee table.) Other temper-inducing events included taking away shoes so that he couldn’t chew on them, stopping him from climbing stairs (he was able to make it up one before I put an end to his Mt. Everest training), or any time you removed him from what he wanted to do. He had a rough week on the wood floor, banging his head a few times and yelling about that too. He did get a chance to hang out in the pool some – he liked it when I was carrying him out of his floaty tube and he could look at and poke at my sunglasses.
It sure seems like Sophie has aged about 6 months this week (Max maybe only 2). Everything she says and does just seems so much older. She is definitely going to miss Tom when he goes back to work on Monday. Seeing her today in the pool she could care less what I was doing as long as she could be with her Daddy.
After the pool we went back to the cabin, quick bath for the kids, put Max down for a nap, shower for me, then start to get stuff ready to pack. When Max woke up we headed out to Golden Corral for one last dinner (Sophie fell asleep about 5 minutes out despite my best attempts to keep her awake; Tom tried to stay in the car for a few more minutes and then bring her in but it took sitting her in a chair to get her to wake up.) She could have been a real monster but she actually pulled it together and ate a little, including an ice cream cone. That’s something she really has perfected this week! Tom taught her how to eat the chocolate off of the outside of ice cream bars and sundae cones and now there’s no stopping her!
After dinner it was a quick 1 hour of packing and loading, then off to Michigan before 7. We decided to leave before the kids fell asleep to maximize their sleep time in the car and avoid the logistics of having to pack the Pack and Play and where to put Sophie to sleep (so we wouldn’t have to wake up Ingrid at 1 am). It’s 9:15 now and the kids are sleeping, so it would seem like this was a good plan…unless you had witnessed the events from about 8-8:45. First, Max wanted the rest of his bottle. Good, nothing wrong with that. Then he pooped…big and stinky. OK, still good. Sophie’s not asleep yet so it’s a good time for him to get a little more comfortable for the trip. So we get back in the car and he just can’t get settled to sleep so after some loud crying I figure I’ll make him another little bottle and he’s just about to sleep when Sophie says she has to pee. Well, at least she said something and isn’t yelling. Tom stops at the next exit but there’s nothing there so we just stop on the side of the road and he’s going to just hold her instead of getting out the potty. But she starts screaming since she’s afraid of cars and there’s a semi parked down the road behind us that she thinks is coming to get us and we’re kind of at the intersection so she thinks those cars are constantly coming for us and then her pants are on the ground so she’s blubbering about that but Tom doesn’t understand that is one of her issues at the time. Oh, did I mention Max had forsaken the bottle at this point and was screaming in chorus? Because he was. Then comes the potty chair exchange between me and Tom (conducted over two screaming kids and passing traffic while I’m in the back of the van):
TOM- Where’s her potty chair?
SHAUNA- On Max’s side under his seat.
T- Can you hand it to me?
S- I can’t reach it, it’s under his seat.
T- No, the potty chair. It’s by your head.
S- That’s the high chair. The little potty chair is on Max’s side, come around and get it.
T- Not the one underneath (referring to the Dora seat in the floor Stow-and-Go space).
S- I know. Trust me, it’s on Max’s side under his seat.
(Maybe not word for word, but you get the gist of it)
Tom does come around and get the potty chair and Sophie won’t sit on it outside (cue amped up screams) so he has to put it on the front seat and she finally peed there.) Talk about having a potty break in comfort! Once we got on the road, she was pretty much ready to cash out after the scream fest so that left just one. Max had a hard time falling asleep but finally I kind of snuggled up close while he finished his bottle and he dozed off. Which leads us to now. On the road again, on our way home.
I may not add much more to this post, and if that’s the case then this is the ending of another Fox Family Adventure. I do want to add some pictures from Sophie’s, Michelle’s, and Ingrid’s cameras but it looks like I’ll have to wait until I get home to get Ingrid’s so it may or may not make it on the post. Still have a long drive ahead of us tonight so maybe I can finish up the earlier days’ entries.
Go Faster!
We parted ways for a little bit today to do a couple of different things. Craig, Michelle, Caitlyn, & Ingrid went to the rummage sale at Dollywood’s Splash Village (I guess they close the park for a day and have a sale but it was a bit of a bust) and then to the NASCAR speed park to ride go-karts (well, Craig & Caitlyn went there and Ingrid & Michelle went across the street to the very large Tanger Outlets.
We headed to “The Track” with our munchkins to give Sophie a chance to ride a couple of fair-type rides as well as a couple of turns on a go-kart with us. We weren’t really sure what we were going to do (rides require points, you buy points at the window ahead of time but there’s different deals…the lady behind the glass figured it out and basically said, here, this is what you’re buying. She also commented on the wagon.)
First up was the go-kart track (mostly because it was right next to us anyway). Tom took Sophie for her first go-kart ride around the wooden track; it had a spiral ramp and then came back down by where Max & I were waiting. She seemed to be enjoying herself (though she did cover her ears at first…not sure if it was the go-kart that was loud or the wood track they were driving over). 
[Max in his wagon cage]
After karting around a bit, it was time to head to the kiddie rides. Since parents ride free with the kiddos, we tried the Merry-Go-Round first so Max could get out of the wagon a bit. Tom got Sophie to sit on a giraffe – they don’t go up and down like the zebras but it was a step up from the bench that she wanted to sit on. I took Max to another giraffe and off we went. Sophie liked it, Max loved it, I thought I was going to get sick. I couldn’t look up – just stared toward the floor so I couldn’t see things spinning.
The next ride Sophie picked was like a kiddie version of the teacups. Insane if you ask me. To add to the spinning excitement, the guy actually would give her car a little spin every time. Insane. The worker was pretty good, he would slow her spinning down if it looked like she was getting a little queasy or spin her faster other times. She really got a kick out of it.
Tom took both kids on the train. After the merry-go-round I figured I’d sit out the seemingly innocent ride and not make a mess of the train. I wasn’t sure how Sophie would like the whistle that the guy blew every time they went past but she was good with it. She likes to say “choo-choo, all aboard!” so the train was a good ride for her.
Swings were next: they had the mini version of the swings that you see at the carnival so it was a perfect step up for Sophie since she LOVES swings. I think she actually got a little bored with that one actually.
Sophie had spotted the little arcade so she sweet talked her Daddy out of a couple of bucks for some games. After winning some tickets, we crossed the bridge over to the other side of the park to try out the other go-kart track. Tom stayed on the upper-level while I took her down for the ride. She had fun trying to steer but after a little bit she was asking to sit on my lap to steer on my side of the kart. When we walked to the go-karts she had been eyeing up the bumper boats so after our spin on the karts I took her up to Tom for a bumper boat ride. I guess her side of the boat had the control for the squirt gun so she had a good time getting the other riders. The go-karts didn’t have other people on the track so the boats was the first time she could engage others.
After a quick snack we crossed back over to the other side of the park to use up her last ride token. After much deliberation, Sophie chose the airplanes. She picked out her blue Snoopy flier and she was up and away. I took Max out of his wagon cage to watch Sophie and he had fun waving “hi” to his big sister. Rides complete, we headed back across the parking lot to cash in Sophie’s tickets. She was able to pick out two Dum-Dums and a pencil so she was in heaven.
Ingrid said she’d watch the kids one night so Tom & I could go out to dinner. We cashed in a little early and Michelle stayed back to help take the kids to the pool and Tom, Craig, Caitlyn, & I went to the NASCAR park since their pass was good all day. It was a scorcher on the blacktop, but we had a lot of fun on the different tracks. It was a little disappointing that the karts weren’t fast enough that you had to let off the gas on any corners, but it was still fun to spin around the track. Of course, it was more fun when you had a kart that was fast and could actually race around the corners. Tom got a chance to tackle the rock wall inside the building and Caitlyn got to play some games too. Craig, Tom, & Caitlyn also rode their carnival-type rides and roller-coaster; I stayed away for the sake of my stomach.
After dropping Craig and Caitlyn off back at the cabin, Tom & I headed out to the Old Mill for dinner. The place was definitely busy but their menu picks the sides for you (you can change them if you want) so the wait wasn’t too long. The food was good and it was great to have a dinner together without having to worry about feeding the kids first and keeping them happy. We strolled around a couple of the shops after dinner and looked at the trout in the river before heading home for our last night on vacation.
A Day of Rest
Wednesday, August 24, 2011 will go down in vacation history as a day of rest. We didn’t really do much at all except hang out around the cabin and the pool. It was good for all (including the kids – Max got a little more sleep out of his naps and Sophie benefitted from less go and more stay). If my memory is correct, this was also the night we had German goulash for dinner. The wonderful thing about the cabin is that it is nice to just hang out there or by the pool – lots of space and a great view.
Clingman’s Dome
After getting a taste of the Smoky Mountains with our Laurel Falls hike, Tom, Craig, and I decided to head up to Clingman’s Dome, the highest point in the Smoky Mountain National Park. I take no credit for this plan, Tom scouted it out (i.e., read it on one of the brochures that Michelle picked up at the Visitor Center the day before) and it turned out to be a perfect day for a hike as the air was a bit chilly. Now, this is the highest point in the park, but you get to drive all but the last 1/2 mile and that is on a paved trail – better even than the one the day before, this one was really a road leading up to the observation tower (which had a long ramp to climb rather than stairs). It was a great drive in because the views were amazing and I didn’t get car sick. The walk up was definitely steep but all in all, it might have been better to take the family on because it was shorter, there were benches to rest on, the views were AMAZING all the way up, and there seemed to be less risk of a toddler tumbling over the edge (especially one who likes to “hop!”)
The drive up was mostly uneventful but we did get stopped as they were just setting up for road construction so that was a bummer. One of the workers was walking along the rock wall next to the road and twisted his ankle and looked like he was going over. Watching the workers walk around suddenly was a lot more interesting while we waited for the lane to open!
It was pretty busy in the parking lot when we got up there (actually cross into North Carolina to finish the drive) but the trail and the tower didn’t seem crowded at all. The whole way up is lined with raspberry and blackberry bushes and other flowers; this is apparently attractive to bees as the ground hummed with them. Though this would have been a nice hike with the kids, it was nice to have a little more time to take some pictures. Mostly wooded but there were a few rock outcrops (noticeable at the end of the trail by the parking lot).
[view from the start of the hike]
[another blue butterfly but couldn’t get it with its wings open]
[view of a lake in the distance on the hike up]
The view from the top was fabulous: 365 degrees of Smoky Mountains! We could look down on Pigeon Forge, lakes in a couple of different directions, and saw an apparent fire off in the distance. I would recommend this to anyone visiting the park. The drive is great and the hike is short but has a huge payoff. The Appalachian Trail passes about 1/2 mile from the Dome and you can take another route from the parking lot that is a bit longer and a bit more rustic if you would prefer that option.
[zoomed view of lake (NC) from observation tower; can see some of ramp leading up]
[can see Pigeon Forge to the left just over the mountains]
[some shots of the road that we took in]
[looking back to the parking lot on the way back down]
Here’s some pictures of us on the way down; took some time for a few pictures and a little scrambling up rocks. Don’t step back Craig! Also tried to get the guys to go out on that rock a little bit…once I got up there I realized that yeah, turns out it’s not as flat as it looks from the ground! Couldn’t put them all in an album though, had to put some pretty ones up on the site to see nice and big!
After getting off the trail, we called Michelle & Ingrid and they planned to head to Gatlinburg to meet us with the kids so we could do a little shopping. Since we got there a little early and were hungry, we stopped at this little New Orleans cafe for a burger while we waited. I thought the buns were fabulous (kind of crunchy on the outside, toasted on inside, soft in middle) but Tom wasn’t apparently as impressed as I was! First stop was the Old West photo shop where we got a couple of family pictures (Ingrid can add these to her “criminal” collection at home!) Things went OK there; Michelle had to drop the hat on Max just as they were getting ready to take the picture and Sophie had a cute hat for the first few and then she wanted one like Max’s so we had to do a quick change so she’d leave one on. Michelle, Craig, & Caitlyn were up next and they had some good ones (apparently it’s also easier to keep a costume on a 10 year old…who would’ve thought?!) I especially liked their “comedy” one but they also ended up getting a serious one like ours.
Trying to shop in Gatlinburg wasn’t too much of a success. Sophie loves the stores but maybe a little too much (in one she was oohing and ahhing over everything and then said “This store’s perfect for me!”) Max on the other hand likes to stand in the wagon which makes pulling a bit of a challenge/concern. Oh, and it was hot! So much for the cool start to the day; it definitely heated up fast. Since I wasn’t getting much shopping done anyway (and we all know how much Tom likes to souvenir shop!) we decided to head back and hang out at the pool for the afternoon.
I did however promise Sophie we’d see the candy makers that we saw across the street from the photo place so Tom and Ingrid took Max to a shaded alley and I took Sophie to see the taffy being made through the window. I definitely wish that I would have brought my camera over as it was so precious how interested she was in the taffy machine that extruded the taffy along a couple of corkscrews and into the cutter to be cut and wrapped. She studied that machine (out loud of course) and explained to me everything that was turning, cutting, or pushing the candy into the basket. It really was great to share it with her. We went inside to pick up some candy and she saw a miniature version of the long sucker that Caitlyn had the day before and just had to have it: “Look! It’s like Caitlyn’s! It’s little like me! It’s perfect! Please!” I’m sure I would have got it anyway, but the exchange was too cute to deny her the sucker. We also picked up so taffy for Nana and Papa, including a few sticks of peppermint since that is the kind that we saw them making. When we were leaving they were throwing a new batch of taffy on the stretching machine so we got to stop and watch that be pulled for a little bit.
I’m pretty sure that this was the night that Ingrid, Michelle, and Craig headed out to the Memories show to see the impersonators. We hung out at the pool with the kids until around bedtime for Max – Sophie ended up staying late because she took a nap on the way back from Gatlinburg and actually fell back asleep on the couch once we got home. It worked out good anyway because I had some glow bracelets so she was awake late enough to use them and it gave her and Caitlyn something to do in the evening. Another busy day in the books!
Hike to Laurel Falls
On Monday we decided to head on into the Great Smoky Mountain National Park and do a short little 
waterfall hike. The hike was listed as 1.2 miles and the trail was paved. It ended up being a little much for Sophie but she was a trooper for most of it. The recent dryness probably didn’t do much to help the waterfall but it was still a neat end to the hike and the views up were nice looking back into the valley. Near the end it got pretty steep off of the trail but I wasn’t real comfortable because Sophie didn’t want to hold my hand all the time and I was partially terrified she was going to hop, hop, hop right off the cliff. The waterfall had an area toward the top where the trail ended that was open on the rock and you could sit and watch the upper fall and Sophie loved to throw things into the little pool. Others could also scramble to the bottom and meander among the big rocks but we weren’t that adventurous with the little ones.
My favorite part of the hike was probably sitting on the rock by the water pool and just finding rocks and twigs for Sophie to throw. It was nice to listen to the water running and even though it was kind of busy up there, when you’re that close to the rock most everyone is behind you and the water drowns out their noise – it was like we were just hanging out by ourselves. Hopefully she’ll gain an appreciation of the wilderness so we can keep up our outdoor adventures as a family!
(Sophie loves to pick up sticks when she’s outside and say “chugga-chugga choo”. I think she’s pretending it’s the whistle that the train lost in Diego when the Bobo Brothers steal it and run down the track with it.)
(Not sure what these guys were looking back at but this is a little drink break on the trip up. We had to stop once on the way up and once on the way down for Sophie to pee on the side of the trail. I couldn’t get her to look at me in any of these pictures; that’s kind of a new thing for her, usually she’s such a ham for the camera!)
(You can’t see it in this view back down a little valley, but most of the trail and woods was full of very large rhododendron plants. I can only imagine that a hike in the early summer would be absolutely beautiful. It didn’t seem isolated to this area so I imagine the whole park is full of the wonderful color of the blooms in June or so.)
It was great to get out and see the Smokies up close and personal – we even got a chance to see some butterflies but that was about the extent of the wildlife on the trail. My pictures are really rough, I was pointing with one hand while trying to hang on to Sophie with the other, sometimes not even stopping! Still including them because having something to look at and remember is better than nothing. Plus, if it’s fuzzy then it just matches my memory!
After our hike we went out to Mel’s Diner for a little lunch and then back to the cabin for some pool time. Another great day in the books!
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