Smoky Mountains and Dollywood Adventure

 

WE LOVE THE SMOKY MOUNTAINS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 We went to the Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies! It was awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!

 I SEE NEMO, and DORY, and BUBBLES, and..................

 Cracked Geode's from the gift shop, and a shark-tooth necklace topped off the Aquarium experience.

 

Entrance to Dollywood Theme Park!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

                                                                                              Lot's of pretty southern dresses were worn at Dollywood, it's a southern tradition kept in the park.

                                              A real steam engine train took us around the park, cool.

 

Here is to having fun in the stream in the Smoky Mtn. National park, where we had a picnic and played!

 Oh yes, I guess we need to say we camped in our "new to us" pop-up! It was great, and the campground was really fun too.  We had fun in the pool, and played w/ some new friends we met next to us.

 The last night we went to the Pigeon Forge "Island resort" where there was a big Ferris wheel and an outside venue with shops and colored water fountains with music-a really cool outdoor place.  As Rob said, if you got bored in Pigeon Forge, it was your fault!  We had a great time, see you soon!!!

Harry Potter Camp 2015

 Hailey and her two counselors; they were from Australia and England, respectively.  What made the Harry Potter experience that much more authentic was their authentic accents.  Camp Widjiwagan is a very good camp, I highly recommend it to all families!

 That is Hailey in her black Harry Potter robe; the Hogwarts official sign. It was a pretty big deal.

This is a glimpse of the cabin Hailey stayed in for the week-it doesn't look like camp does it? Compared to when we went to camp 35 years ago............hmmmm.......I would have loved to have AC!!!!!!

July 4th~relaxing for the holiday

 Emily and a friend at the neighborhood party on friday night July 3rd-the best fireworks in town are in Castalian Springs, TN!!!!!!!!!!!! 

 Saturday night we sat right down on our front porch to watch the fireworks again in our neighborhood~ now that's what I call relaxing!  Plus, it started to pour down rain right when the fireworks were done.  No problem!

 We all painted our nails the colors of USA-RED, WHITE BLUE flags on our toes!!!!!!!!

 AND on our fingers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!    Not shown are Rob's feet-yes, they didn't spare his toes either!

 It took a while to get all the stripes and stars on them, but we accomplished it all before the party started.

IT WAS A LOT OF FUN!!!!

Happy Father's Day~and Beyond

 Rob and the girls enjoying our new pool!~~It's been a nice place to just relax and take in the moments!

 Daddy and the girls went blackberry picking, and found some good ones behind our driveway on Joe's land.

Reflecting on many of the past two weeks moments of loss, hope, love and finally joy, these flowers were just a few of the many sent to Rob as he recovered from his time in the hospital. Thankyou to all who prayed for him and sent many positive thoughts our way.  They all payed off, as you can see by these pictures.  Life is so precious, every moment is a true gift.

Thanks to "papa", my dad as well for being such a great Dad, especially when the girls needed some family to be with while I was with Rob.  The pillows were made in the picture with Grandma Jan at their house while Rob was getting stronger to come home.  They are being well used right now!