Mommy's Monsters

In the spirit of Halloween coming up in the next week, thought you might enjoy these cuties in their monster jammies.  Hunter is really excited and can't wait to wear his costume and go trick-or-treating and I'm sure Brody will follow his lead.



First Sleepover

Breaking News!!  Hunter had his first sleep over this weekend at a friend's house and it was a success!!  There was only one phone call with a few tears after getting a slight injury, but other than that it went great and he didn't want to come home!  Looks like my little boy is growing up!

Prayer Request

Yesterday at church, Hunter's Sunday School teacher came up to Craig to ask if we were considering buying a new Cadillac.  Craig was puzzled, told her no and asked her why. 
Apparently the other week, Hunter's teacher asked if anyone had any special prayer requests.  Hunter's hand popped up and requested that his class should pray for his family in order to get a new Cadillac.  We figured it out and we're pretty sure this happened the weekend after my little brother bought his first car, which just so happens to be a Cadillac. 
So Uncle Alex, if you are reading this, know that you have a strong influence on your little nephew and he is dreaming and praying that he can have a Cadillac to look just like you.

Knock-Knock

Right now Brody is in love with knock-knock jokes.  Does he get them?  Kind of but not really.  He loves telling them and they make sense, but they're not too funny, but we pull out the fake laugh to make him feel good.  He will make a knock-knock joke out of any situation.  For example, today at lunch:
Knock-Knock.
Who's There?
Grilled Cheese?
Grilled Cheese who?
Grilled Cheese is yummy!  So good!

Another classic:
Knock-Knock.
Who's There?
Brody.
Brody Who?
Brody Zappe.

Another good one:
Knock-Knock.
Who's There?
Hannah.
Hannah Who?
Hannah cuts my hair!

Our house is pretty much the land of knock-knock jokes.  Are they funny?  No, they just make sense, but somehow have a way of putting a smile on my face.

Bitter Sweet

This is the kind of story that I thought only happened in the movies.  Sad, but touching all at the same time.  I hope that Craig and I are able to grow old together and that the time span between the two of us departing earth could be similar to this couple.  And just think, Craig and I only have to live to the ages of 91 and 93 to be married for 72 years.  Kind of crazy when you think about it that it really is possible.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44960859/ns/us_news-life/

Why Tennessee?

Every time I told someone that Craig and I would be heading to Tennessee in October, the most popular response I got was, "Why Tennessee?".  Well, why not?  Craig drove through on a band trip once and said it looked gorgeous and that he always wanted to check out the Smoky Mountains.  And I had always heard that Nashville is so much fun with lots to do.  So after googling the areas and a little research we decided that TN would be the perfect place for us to go on a little get-away.  After seeing our pictures, you may just want to go to TN too!

I knew we had made a great choice as soon as we got off the plane in Nashville.  Dierks Bentley even welcomed us to Nashville!  How cool is that?  Ok, so it was just over the loud speaker, but still, I think I can say that he welcomed us.  Him along with Tim McGraw, George Strait and Kellie Pickler.  We got our rental car and it was gross.  Scratches everywhere, stains inside, and I thought it was an ugly car.  So, we decided to complain and got ourselves a Chevy Malibu.  Much nicer!  We hit the road towards Gatlinburg as we would spend most of our time near Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  We had rented a cabin for our days there and from the pictures online, it looked cute.  But sometimes pictures can be deceiving.

We were not disappointed when we pulled up to this cute cabin!  It was just as nice as the pictures and totally beat a hotel.  It was completely secluded being surrounded by trees on a slope of a mountain.  It was amazing.  And complete with a full kitchen, living room, washer/dryer, pool table, air hockey table and hot tub on the back deck.  Pretty amazing and the price was right!  We were tired from a day of travel, but also a little hungry, so we headed to downtown Gatlinburg, had some food and walked the strip.  After relaxing in the hot tub, we hit the hay so we were ready for the adventures that awaited us the next day.

The next day we head to the park.  We had seen the mountains in the distance and they were beautiful.  We couldn't wait to head into the park and do a little exploring.  This was at the first spot we pulled off at.  There was a hint of color in the trees and it was breathtaking.  And even the drive was great.  The majority of the time it was like you were in a tunnel of trees and every now and then there would be a clearing with mountains surrounding you.

We drove just a little further into the park and came across a trail to hike.  We grabbed our water, a couple snacks and set off.  The only thing we read on the sign was that it would take 2-3 hours round trip and it was 2 miles up and 2 miles back.  No big deal, right?  Oh no, it was exhausting!  If you are ever at GSMNP, and decided to hike the Chimney Top Trail, make sure you bring plenty of water, some snacks, good shoes and be ready to get your heart pumping, make multiple stops to catch your breath, and feel burning in your calves and thighs.  Seriously.  Apparently we didn't read the sign completely, but once we returned we discovered we had just made a 1,700 foot elevation change and that it was a difficult trail.  We learned that really fast.  A trail that had rocks and tree roots as your steps.  A trail that was super steep.  A trail where you had to climb over rocks in some parts.  But it was totally worth it!  The view at the top was beautiful and there were manys streams and a few small waterfalls along the way.

At the summit of Chimney Top.  We didn't go all the way due to our shoes feeling slippery on the rocks that you had to climb.  And since we wanted to live and see our boys again, we decided why risk it. 

After that, we headed back to the cabin, changed and headed to South Carolina for dinner with my cousin and her husband.  So fun to see them, see where they live and have many laughs with them.  We drove back that evening but could hardly stay awake.  We ended up pulling off at a rest area about an hour away from our cabin and slept for about an hour.  After that, we hit the road and got back around 2 AM.  Talk about a long day!  But lots of fun!  The next day we headed back to the park because we had hardly seen any of it.  We did a lot of driving, hiked part of the Appalachian Trail and went to see Clingman's Dome (the highest point in the park with a great view).  We also saw some elk in a meadow that evening.  The part of the park we explored that day brought us into North Carolina. 

 On the Appalachian Trail.

 Clingman's Dome.

View from the Dome.  Hints of color in the tree tops.

After a day filled with hiking, taking in the sights, we headed back to Gatlinburg for supper.  We were completely exhausted, but walked up and down the strip (as if we hadn't walked enough that day) and headed back to the cabin.  The next day was our last full day in Gatlinburg so we decided to get up early because there was still park of the park we had wanted to see, called Cades Cove.  We had read that Cades Cove is the best place to see wildlife and I told Craig that we couldn't leave until we saw a bear.  I was determined.  Well, lucky for me we did.  We were at a cute little cabin and some people had asked us if we had seen the bears up the trail.  We hadn't gone on that trail, but instantly I knew we had to.  After all, I did come to see a bear, right?  They told us there was a mama bear with her two cubs high in the trees.  They said we would hear them rustling in the tree tops.  So, we meandered our way up the trail and sure enough heard them.  But we couldn't see them.  We waited and waited, looked and looked, but nothing.  The forest was so dense it was hard to figure out exactly what tree they were in.  And was that rustling really from the tree tops?  Or were they now on the ground?  Kind of an uneasy feeling not knowing where exactly the bears were, but knowing you can hear them and that they are close.  But finally, my husband with his great vision spotted them and pointed them out.  They were high in the tree tops and we were only able to spot one cub.  We decided it would be wise to skedaddle since we hadn't seen mama bear yet, and we all know mama would do whatever it would take to keep her cubs safe.  I was satisfied, but was still hoping to get a picture of a bear.  We continued to drive and came across a congested area.  Everybody was out of their cars looking at a bear!  It was nestled in a tree, and kind of hard to pick out.  It looked like a little black blog.  I took a picture, because we were running out of chances.  A few yards up the road though there was a little black bear hanging out in the tree.  I snapped a picture as we drove by.

Isn't it cute??  We continued to drive and drive and did some hiking.  Saw a really neat mill, another bear and finally decided to head out of the park because it was 1:30 and we still hadn't had any lunch.  We thought Cades Cove would be a quick couple hours but somehow turned into somewhere between 4-5 hours.  But it was really neat and we knew we could have seen a lot more if only time allowed it.  After a great lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe, we went to Cooter's to get a picture of the General Lee for Hunter, get Hunter a couple souvenirs and played some mini-golf.  Kind of a disappointing course but still had fun.  There were a lot of neat courses, so next time.  We did our touristy shopping, enjoyed some ice cream and then went to the moonshine distillery.  Who could refuse free samples?  It was neat seeing how they made it and fun trying it.  We were able to try 6 different flavors-apple pie, grape, hunch punch, a cherry soaked in white lighting, and 2 white lightnings-one strong one and then an even stronger one (which I couldn't do).  The apple pie was our favorite hands down so we bought some to bring home :)  Yum!  I guess we might just have to have a moonshine party one night so you can try a little sample.

Outside of the distillery, there was an amazing bluegrass band called Monroeville.  They were great and it was fun sitting in a rocking chair listening to music.  We then headed to dinner at the most obnoxious place ever-Dick's.  I thought it was funny, slightly entertaining, but I could tell Craig may have been slightly uncomfortable.  It is a crazy atmosphere and we can definitely say it is a dinner that we will remember.  After enjoying our evening downtown, we headed back to the cabin to pack up so we would be ready to hit the road in the morning.

The next morning we headed to Nashville, TN!  Can I get a yee-haw?  Nashville was amazing.  We checked into our hotel, dropped off our bags and head to the Ryman Auditorium.  For those of you who don't know what the Ryman is, it is the old home of the Grand Ole Opry.  It started out as a church to begin with.  Many stars have performed there over the years.  And we were even able to go up on stage!  Pretty cool feeling knowing you stood in the exact spot as stars such as Elvis, Johnny Cash, June Carter, Dolly Parton.

I know we look pretty good on stage.  Star material if you ask me.  But you will not want to hear us sing.  Craig's ok...me, no way!  One guy told me that I beamed when I was on stage.  It was quite the compliment.  I assured him he did not want to hear me perform.  After the Ryman, we found some lunch at a great little BBQ place downtown.  You know it's going to be good when there is still a line at 1:30 in the afternoon.  After that we hit up Broadway and popped in and out of bars listening to some live music.  Then, it was time to head to the Grand Ole Opry for the performance that night.  We had a great time at the Opry and heard some amazing voices.  Some we knew of, others we didn't.  Either way, it was a great show.  Very entertaining and everyone sounded amazing.

After the 2.5 hour performance, we headed back downtown to see the nightlife of Nashville on a Friday night.  We found some food at Margaritaville and heard a great band.  We popped in and out of a few bars, but finally found a band we really liked at Legends.  We spent the rest of our night there enjoying each other and great music. 

As you can tell we had a great time in TN!  Many great memories were made and it was so nice spending some much needed one on one time with the hubby.  It was bittersweet to come home.  I didn't want our time to end, but was ready to come home to two little boys who missed us dearly.  Oh, and we missed them too :)  So, if you're looking for a great vacation spot with lots to do, head to TN!