Gatlinburg 2010

This year for Fall Break, we decided to go to the mountains, since I do not take babies to the beach. I value my sanity too much for that. Because Aubrey is only 2 months old, this trip would be somewhat of a trial, since I have never taken one so small on a long trip. After talking with my dad about where I would put all of the luggage, how I would manage nursing a baby while out and about in Gatlinburg with the family, etc., we came to the conclusion, that we would LOVE it if Grandddaddy came to Gatlinburg with us to help with the baby. While most women would cringe at the thought of leaving a 2 month old with a granddad, I had no worries. The one thing my dad always says is, "I don't know anything but babies and bush-hogs!" While we all agree he knows MUCH more than that, we do know that he is king of the babies. He is every bit as good with babies as me and my mom! While we were out with the 2 older kids, Granddaddy, or Pappy as Annaleigh calls him, stayed in the cabin with Aubrey!

Jason and I started each day pretty late, but we were all full after a huge breakfast!

Pappy stayed with Aubrey in the cabin while we took Annaleigh and Alden into Gatlinburg for the Ripley's Aquarium.

We all took our picture beside the "How Tall This Fall?" display...

Alden was convinced he was a fish, too!

This turned out to be the funniest story! At the end of the penguin area, Alden saw this picture and started making mean faces, but we couldn't figure out why...He finally had to tell us that this was the real "Penguin" from the old Batman movies!!

Roll Tide Scarecrows...

After the Aquarium, we went to the Mirror Maze.

After this, we also went to Ripley's Moving Theatre, but since it was moving, we don't have any pictures of that. When we got back to the cabin, Granddaddy and Aubrey had had a wonderful day! That night, we roasted hot dogs and marshmallows. I was shocked that none of my children or my hubbie liked roasted marshmallows! That did, however, leave lots more for my daddy and I!

This was a picture Annaleigh took of the outdoor fireplace complete with a TV! One cool thing is that while we were here, the rescue of the Chilean miners was taking place, so we were able to watch it all on TV while were were outside!

The next day, Jason, Alden, Annaleigh and I headed out to Cade's Cove. It is really one of Jason and my favorite places.

We had a wonderful picnic in Cade's Cove. The fun part was watching cars drive by as they were watching us! Now I know what animals in the zoo feel like!

Daddy and Alden horsing around.

My beautiful boy...

Totem pole...

My gorgeous girl...

Hanging out before dinner one night...

On the last day before we left for home, we decided to take a ride on the famous Gatlinburg chair lifts. Jason and Annaleigh, and Alden and I rode the first trip while Granddaddy stayed with Aubrey. For the record, you can take babies on the chair lifts for free, but I nicely told the lady she was crazy and that I would not be taking my baby with me!

On the next trip, Daddy stayed with Aubrey while Granddaddy rode with Annaleigh, and Alden and I went again too, just for the fun of it!

Our last stop was Clingman's Dome. As you can see, it was really windy, and we didn't stay long at all!



Destin 2010

Well, we're back from the BEACH, and we ARE NOT covered in tar or oil!! We consider that a sucessful vacation given the circumstances.  We left for the beach on Saturday and came back on Friday, so we are basically sun'd and fun'd out! We had a fabulous time and the weather was really wonderful considering it was giving thunderstorms everyday. It really only rained us out one time and then only for a couple of hours.

We watched the news every day, tracking the oil. There's a great website for the Destin area (http://www.thedestinlog.com/) that we check fairly often. When we returned home on Friday evening, Jason happened to check it and it said that tar balls were just then washing up on the beach in Destin. We really dodged that bullet.

Some of the highlights included the dolphin and sting ray sightings, the movie by the pool (Planet 51), and some great one-liners by Alden! My favorite was when he kept saying he wanted to go to the "cat pool." I finally figured out the he meant the "kitty" pool! Of course, in referring to it, I had said "kiddie" pool, but for a four-year old, that's what he heard! There was also the drama where a child did her business in her suit, it fell out, and she proceeded to pick it up, much to the horror of her poor mother! We have lots of memories from this vacation, especially as it's the last one as the Baggett Family of FOUR!!!

Here is the trip in pictures!

These are from the Lazy River at our hotel.

Leaving for Dinner...

Although you can't see very well, this is also Pregnancy Week 29!

The next ones are from the Crab Trap, which we loved because we had such a great table and view.

Play area at the Crab Trap...

Back to the Beach...

These are from the Splash Garden at our hotel. Alden loved it, and Annaleigh did too!