The Gentry World: August 2011

Friday, August 19, 2011

Too Funny Not to Share.......

CHEESE!!!

Apparently someone put a little somethin' in her sippy cup!!

You talkin' about me??

Forgot to clean Grace's ear wax, Mom!

I took these pictures a couple months ago while the girls were in the bath and I crack up every time I look at them! So, I thought I'd share them with you.......all 5 of my readers! :)
Oh and we surpassed 8000 views on my blog! YAY!! If you read this regularly and haven't added your name to my list of followers, please feel free to do it!! I would LOVE to hear your comments!! :) When I eventually get this blog printed into a book for the girls, your comments will be included!! So comment away people!!

TOYEEEEESSS!!

Good thing Mom is looking b/c I REALLY want to dunk you right now!!

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Wilderness at the Smokies

WAHAHAHA!!!

Matt had his annual "hug it out in the mountains after playing 18 holes of golf then gossiping over Texas Hold'Em while sitting in the hot tub male bonding" trip in early July. Sooooo why not plan a girls trip!!!
Mom came down and we had big plans to live it up while the cat was away! We wanted to do something fun the first night because we were going to have a house full of boys and wanted to get the heck out of dodge! :) We booked a room at The Wilderness at the Smokies and were SO excited!! I have heard great things about this place and couldn't wait to check it out for ourselves! There is a huge indoor water park and two outdoor water parks. We got a little held up since Mom got stuck (as in STOPPED) in traffic for a while on the way down. By the time we got to the hotel, the water parks were already closed BUT we got a chance to look at them to get prepped for the next day. When we woke up, Mom and I got a wild hair up our bums and decided we NEEDED to stay another night to make sure the girls got in plenty of play time!! WHY NOT, right??
We had a blast and were excited to see that there were areas for the little tots AND big kids! We got to check out all three water parks and the favorites were the wave pools and the swings that bounced in the water. There was a GIANT bucket of water that dumped periodically and Grace made sure to stay FAR away from it! She did get a little brave on our last morning and I talked her into going near it where there were all kinds of "big kid" things to do! Anna was pretty content to sit by the edge of the water and let the "waves" hit her in the legs! Mom and I paired up with the girls and sat on a tube when the waves started in the pool. They were a TAD bigger than I thought and I'm pretty sure Anna had bruises on her arms from where I had a death grip on her as we smashed into the "rocks" and other people around us! That was a little scary I will have to say.
Unfortunately, I didn't get many good pictures because Matt had the camera at his man trip. Please take a minute to laugh with me at the first picture. That was the amount of luggage/STUFF that we had for what we thought was going to be ONE NIGHT!!!! WAHAHA!! Hey, you never know what you're going to need with two toddlers!!!!
Mom ended up extending her stay until the following Thursday to help me drive back to Indiana for Anna's birthday party. We had such a good time at the hotel, going to parks, ordering out, and LOTS of girl talk!!!! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU Nana for all you did!!! Come back again soon!!!

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Happy 4th of July!!!

Sparklers!!

Grace finally braved the sparklers!

The girls and I got home from Indiana on July 3rd with full intentions of going to a cookout up the street in our neighborhood. Buuuuut after we made the LONG trek home, we had two sleepy girls and one tired momma! We may have missed the cookout, but we were looking forward to letting off some fireworks the next day.
We are not to the point of taking the girls to a fireworks show quite yet. Grace DOES NOT like loud noises and Anna goes to sleep early. But Matt got us our usual pack of fireworks to let off at the house. Our neighbors came over with their kiddie pack and we were set.......or so we thought until we lit the first one! Much to our surprise, Grace WAS NOT a fan and to say she didn't like them might be the understatement of the year! We FINALLY talked her into holding a sparkler with Matt and she got a bit more comfortable. Annnnnnd then a spark hit her hand and it was all over!!! She spent the rest of the time standing inside the front door and even shut the door every time we lit one! This was SO strange since she usually has no fear with ANYTHING!!
We put the kids to sleep and the adults got into a little mayhem of our own: bottle rockets complete with a contraption attached to the deck with paint tape (classy!), a little vino, and some good conversation!!! Good times! Happy 4th!!

Hey! Where's my sparkler??

Maybe I'll just watch from inside!

I think I'll just stand inside!

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Our Return to Lake Tippy!!

Great Nana telling a story!

We got wind that Great Nana had some cabins rented up at Lake Tippecanoe for the last week of June and we jumped at the chance!! We used to go the the lake every summer for weeks on end, and I hadn't been since Maggie was pregnant with Sophie!!! I decided to take the girls for the week and introduce them to a little bit of my childhood.
BUT first things first........we had to make the 8hr road trip up to Great Nana's for a night and then another 3hr road trip the next day! I am pleased to say that (once again) the girls were great troopers and did FANTASTIC!! I honestly cannot ask for better travelers! We arrived at Great Nana's in time to take a couple rides on the gator before it was bedtime!
The next morning, we headed out as early as we could to head north. The memories came flooding back as soon as I rolled down my window and smelled that lake air! AHHHHHHH! There was no time for naps on the first day so off we went for the boat!!! Grace LOVED it and said "FASTER" at least a few million times within the first five minutes! Then the question was asked, "Who wants to go tubing?" Can you guess who was the first to say, "MEEEEE!" Yep, Grace practically jumped off the boat to get to the tube! We instantly started getting the thumbs up sign which means FASTER as she was tubing. The only problem she had was the occasional splash in the face from the rope......this girl DOES NOT like to be splashed in the face! Anna WAS NOT a big fan of her lifejacket but did LOVE the beach! She is so dang quick and got a couple handfuls of sand in her mouth before the week was up!
Unfortunately, Anna started getting up around 5:45am (YES, I said 5:45AM!!!) almost every day that week, BUT Aunt Cindy was there to save the day!!! She and Emilie helped out with the kids so much throughout the week and I am SO VERY thankful they were there!!! Between them and Great Nana, Aunt Pat, and Don, we were spoiled rotten! Our cabins were stocked with ALL the necessities. We had lunch or dinner waiting on us when we got off the boat. AND they took the kids when the mommies needed a little break! :)
We all had a blast during the day: boating, tubing, hitting the beach, building sand castles, eating ice cream and s'mores, finding "she-shelfs," etc!! Annnnnndd at night after the kiddos went to bed, the "big kids" sat around the campfire, had a beverage (or two!), and caught up on anything and everything! I can't remember the last time we were all in the same place at the same time!
We had such a great time and can't wait to do it again next year!! Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who helped out with the girls and catered to our every need!!!
Our fun wasn't over yet because the girls and I left the lake and headed to Bloomfield so we could spend two nights with Grandma! We got to see MORE family that I hadn't seen in years and the girls have never met! We did a little swimming, ate some MORE s'mores, and got in lots of "GGGRRRRRAAAANNNNNDDDMMMMMAAAAAAA!!!!" time before we had to head back to Knoxville to celebrate the 4th!!!
Here are a some pics from the week!! ENJOY!