Scenes from Summer

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More Scenes From Christmas

We spent Christmas eve and day in Florida at my husband's brother's house with them and with their parents. We always enjoy Christmas on the farm with our family and all of the animals. Our dog Bella considers it a Lowe dog family reunion! Some of these photos have already appeared here, and some are new.

More cute pics from Gatlinburg

White Water Rafting in the Smokies

I've fallen way behind in keeping up here! I'm putting up some old photos and post-dating them.

The highlight of our trip to the Smokies had to be our whitewater rafting experience on the Pigeon River. The folks at Nantahala Outdoor Center know how to make it fun.

Our guide, Jon, tossed MB right into the river before we set out. She came up spluttering, but with a huge grin. She managed to claim the seat right in the bow of the raft, and Jon took every opportunity to make sure she got splashed.

This was mostly a float trip, but don't discount it! We enjoyed the scenery and a few small rapids. Of course, NOC posts photographers along the banks to snap photos that they know you'll pay for later. (In case you were wondering how we got all these great shots...)

Gatlinburg 2010- Part II

Click here to read Part I of the travel log from our family vacation to Gatlinburg, TN.

After our trip to Wonderworks on Day Two, we decided to explore more of the area's natural attractions. We took a drive and enjoyed some beautiful Smoky mountain vistas. It was super hot, so strenuous hiking didn't sound like a great idea, but we did take a short nature walk to a small waterfall at the Sugarlands Visitor Center. Mary Beth worked at her rock skipping skills in the little creek that ran along the trail. We had intended to drive to Cade's Cove, but in keeping with our relaxed vacation attitude, failed to check the gas gauge before we left. When we realize that we wouldn't make it there and back, we decided to just enjoy a shorter drive and the views we saw along the way.

Short Hikes Close To Gatlinburg

At the visitor's center, the friendly guide gave us good information about short hikes suitable for out-of-shape adults with a 7-year-old child in tow. Laurel Falls Trail is paved (suitable for strollers) and the round-trip distance to the falls and back is about 2.6 miles. The Alum Cave Bluff Trail is 4.6 miles round-trip, but you don't have to hike the whole trail to see cool sights. It runs along a mountain stream, and there is a natural rock arch at 1.5 miles. If you can make it .3 miles farther, there's a beautiful view. Both of these are accessible off of Little River Road.

Afterwards, we drove back into Gatlinburg where I bought myself a pair of Teva's at the Nantahala Outpost Center store. Cool place. By this time, the heat had sparked a summer storm so we browsed a bit 'til it passed. Then we headed off to look for a grocery store. We grilled at the cabin and ate supper on the porch. If it hadn't been so hot, it would have been the perfect opportunity to enjoy the hot tub. Instead, we enjoyed the ceiling fans!

On Day Three, we went white water rafting! We have pictures coming, but it will take a couple of weeks to get them, so stay tuned!

Gatlinburg 2010 - Part I

We've just returned from a summer adventure to Gatlinburg, TN.

We spent a couple of hours at the Biltmore on the way. I've visited several times, but Kevin and MB had never seen it. Since I was there last, they've cranked the ticket prices way up. They've also added a whole shopping village, a plant shop at the gardens, and more shops at the stables. The house itself is mostly the same, so I guess those increased ticket prices buy you the privilege of spending more money at the shops. At any rate, we enjoyed seeing it - it's still as grand as ever. Mary Beth was wowed.

We arrived at our cabin that evening. More on the cabin in another post. We enjoyed supper at the Alamo Steakhouse. We had very tasty food and a short wait made more bearable by the ducks playing in the stream out front. Online reviews of this place seem to be at one extreme or the other, but our experience was quite good, I'm happy to say!

Day Two started with a trip to WonderWorks in Pigeon Forge. Okay, it really started with sleeping late - we didn't want to hurry anywhere! By late morning, we finally tore ourselves away from our comfy cabin and drove into PF. Mary Beth had a blast at Wonderworks!

The rock wall was a big hit. She climbed it twice! There were lots more fun attractions including a bed of nails and an unusual game where you control the movement of a ball with your brain waves. Mary Beth soundly beat Daddy at that game!

Stay tuned for Part II!

Beach Trip

We were smart this year and went to the beach during the week BEFORE July 4th weekend. There were still crowds of people, but not so many that it looked like St. Simons Island would sink into the ocean. The munchkin got in plenty of good daddy/daughter time.

The ducks are always happy to see us!

Beach Trip

Mary Beth, Bella, and I had a great time last week at St. Simons Island. I found that it was a challenge to be there with a dog who couldn't be left alone, but it was balanced out by the fun of watching her play on the beach and meeting lots of fellow dog lovers.

Mary Beth attended a camp about butterflies! She had a great time! On one day, they went out to the beach to fly homemade kites, and the reporters from the local paper showed up. Mary Beth was on the front page of the newspaper!

While Mary Beth went to camp, I took the dog to the beach and let her run off the leash while there were few people to disturb. There's no doubt that she's part Labrador retriever. She absolutely loves the water! However, she absolutely does not love being left alone, and since we didn't want the condo to end up with damaged door frames or window blinds, we had to take her everywhere we went. This meant no trips to restaurants. So, we enjoyed lots of picnics on the beach and at the park. It was fun to be outside so much! We did manage to spend a little time at the condo pool with the aid of doggy valium and Bella's crate. Even with the valium, I had to keep popping inside to reassure her. We did manage to spend as much as an hour and a half at the pool this way before she'd begin non-stop barking. We hope that these problems will sort themselves out as we continue gradual crate/separation conditioning and as she matures. Otherwise, she's such a great dog! So, I've resigned myself to making this the "summer of the dog" as we work on these issues.

Scenes From July 4th Week

(Click on the pictures for a full-sized view.) We spent most of the week of July 4th in Punta Gorda, FL at Kevin's parents' home. Unfortunately, my car spent the week (and part of the next week) in Sanford, FL where it died as we were making the drive. We had a good time, even with the shadow of a huge bill for transmission service looming over us.


Mary Beth discovered that sparklers are fun! We enjoyed our own fireworks on the evening of the 4th and she wasn't afraid of the flying sparks one little bit. After she went to bed, the grownups watched the city's fireworks display from the porch. We had to get up early the next day because we wanted to be on time for the departure of the Key West Express from Ft. Myers! The boat ride is 3 1/2 to 4 hours. It moves at quite a fast clip! Standing on the upper deck will certainly give you a new hairdo.

Once we got to the island, we wanted to have lunch at Sloppy Joe's, the bar that Ernest Hemingway is said to have frequented, but it was packed with people. No problem. There were plenty of other spots to eat.

After lunch, we headed down Duvall St. to Hemingway's house. The tour is a good one, and Mary Beth had lots of fun finding six- and seven-toed kitties! The tour guide would point them out for her whenever he saw one. We thought it was fun to discover that there are live webcams set up for viewing the Hemingway cats online. Click on the link to see what the kitties are up to! After visiting the Hemingway house, we stopped for ice cream at Haagan Dazs and then for a T-shirt at Margaritaville. We decided that Key West definitely deserves a return visit.

On the next day, we took a drive to Sanibel Island, one of the best beaches anywhere for finding seashells. Mary Beth found tons of pretty shells to save. We're still trying to dream up some good crafts that use seashells.

Aunt Amanda and Uncle Keith showed up on the next day, and we enjoyed spending time with them as well as Grandma and Grandpa. All in all, it was a fun trip, and a happy way to celebrate the 4th.

Thanksgiving on the Farm

We spent Thanksgiving with the Lowe family at Aunt and Uncle's farm. Aunt and Uncle have 3 horses...and 3 dogs, and 4 cats, and 3 birds. Can you guess why MB loves to visit? This year, we enjoyed playing with Spencer, the new black lab. He proved that he was just as tolerant as Indy, the Boston terrier that allows MB to wrap him up in blankets like a baby. The cats wisely stayed under the beds except for occasional checks to see if we were still there.