Our 2nd Annual Busch Gardens Trip

We had such a blast last year we decided to go again! This time we invited our friends, the Arringtons, to come along. We had a fun and memorable time but the feeling was much different. First off, we had four kids to juggle instead of just one. Macy was cranky because she was getting over being sick and having a lack of sleep. And it rained on Saturday cutting our day in half.

Over all we had a fun time and will probably do it again. Macy loves hotels so much that we could just stay at the hotel and she would think it was the best vacation ever.

Callie, Macy, Anna

The 2 1/2 hour drive seemed so short compared to our 7 1/2 hour drive to Tennessee. The girls did great and went right to sleep when we got to the hotel. We did stop to eat at a newer restaurant by the hotel called Holy Mackerel. It had really delicious fish and chips.

First ride of the day- the tram!

Macy and Grant on the airplane

Friday was a beautiful day at Busch Gardens. Ja and I both love that park so much. It's beautiful with all the trees and different decorations and themes. It has great rides for adults and children. And the best part was, it was empty! We didn't wait longer than 5 minutes all day! Sometimes Macy was the only child on the whole ride. Her and Grant had a great time together on some rides. Grant is a little more adventurous than Macy so he enjoyed the roller coaster and log flume ride. Macy did go on them but only once. Grant rode each multiple times. We enjoyed funnel cake, a good lunch at the German house, and a good dinner at Uno Pizzeria. A fun but exhausting day. We stayed until closing time at 8!

On her ladybuggy ride. Her favorite.

On the dragon ride that goes up and down. Macy was having fun, she's just making a funny face.

Anna fell asleep during our lunch show.

Macy's first roller coaster date

both kids have cute smiles!

Macy was very excited to see Abby

The kids had a blast playing in the water fountains

And Zoe

Anna did great. She was quite the trooper with only two 20 minute naps all day.

Anna and Callie in their matching outfits

Saturday turned into a cloudy and windy day. Not so great for a water park but we braved through it at Water Country. This place was even more empty. Hardly anyone was there on it's opening day. I didn't blame them though, it was pretty cold. We stayed until 2 then headed back to Busch Gardens. By this time it had started to drizzle. We took the kids to Sesame Street land and Macy requested the roller coaster again! I was very impressed since she was very scared after riding it Friday. When she got off her lips were white! So riding it today she told me to hold on to her very tight. She screamed the whole time but in a good roller coaster scream. Ja said her face looked very frightened so we were glad the camera caught her look. We had to buy the picture because it was priceless.

We did ride Elmo's tower which was awesome. I was so proud of Macy for doing it sine it goes up high. She held my hand and screamed but it was definitely a fun scream.

Macy was so excited to see Elmo!

We tried walking further into the park but it started to downpour so we headed out. Everyone was completely soaked when we got to the car. Thankfully I had a change of clothes in the car for the kids. I was a disappointed we had to leave. One, because we paid for the ticket and couldn't get a good day out of it and two, because I wanted to have a day where Macy could do whatever she wanted. Friday she had to wait around for the adults to ride their rides too. But I know we can go back some day and try again. Macy was begging to go back to the hotel anyways.

Hanging out at the hotel

We enjoyed a delicious dinner at a restaurant called Food for Thought. I ordered a beet salad with candied pecans and raspberry vinaigrette which was very tasty. I could eat it a couple times a week. That night the kids went to sleep instantly.

Sunday we packed up and went to church in Williamsburg. Anna ended up getting poop on Ja's white shirt and suit. It was gross. We drove home and ended the weekend with a great dinner at Matt and Cassidy's house.

Now our summer travel plans are over and summer hasn't even started! We'll have to think of something else to do...

Macy took pictures of us leaving the park Saturday:

This is how we got Anna in from the car.

Macy's New Talent

Macy was coloring by herself one day. After a while she runs over to me with a huge smile on her face showing me her picture. She wanted me to look at her drawing and shoved it in my face. She had a look on her face that said "I can't believe I just drew this!" I almost started crying because I was so proud of her! 

This was her first time actually drawing a real object. I told her how proud I was of her and gushed over how great her person was. She takes another look at it and says, "I need to add hair!" She rushed back to draw the hair.

I asked who it was and she said "Macy! For my grandma." I asked if we should mail it to grandma and Macy was very excited about this idea. I had to scan it in first because I wanted to keep it for myself too.

Every day she would ask me where the letter was and if Grandma got it. She was anxiously awaiting Grandma's call to tell Macy how much she loves the drawing. 

Celebrating Mother's in Preschool

Macy had preschool today and she came home with my most favorite artwork from her preschool days. They talked about mothers and families and the "teacher" had them each answer questions about their moms. Here are Macy's answers:

My mom is 14 years old (I think she recently learned that number)

My mothers favorite color is pink and blue

My mother's favorite food is salad (I do always get salad at Cafe Rio)

My mothers favorite song is Twinkle little star

My mothers favorite place to go is the zoo (that's what another little boy said and she copied him. Although I do enjoy going there)

My mothers favorite thing to do with me is play with me (so sweet! I should play with her more!)

My mother is the best ever because her loves me (super sweet! Melts my heart)

On the way home from preschool I asked these questions again and Macy said all the same answers so that proves their validity. 

Macy also drew this picture of me and I am totally impressed. All the sudden she can draw people! And apparently she wrote "mommy" all on her own! She is so talented.

This was a scribble drawing on the back of the mommy picture but I think it's kind of pretty.

It's been great having Macy in preschool and doing cute things like this. She only has two more weeks left and I'm sad!

Our 1st Trip to Tennessee

We took a drive over to Tennessee so we could attend Devin's law school graduation and Oliver's baby blessing. It's only a 7 1/2 hour drive and the girls did amazingly well. We had to stop a few times on the way there for potty breaks but other than that they were great. Anna took a couple short naps and Macy ate a lot of candy.

I made some special treat bags for Macy to open every hour of the trip. My grandma Seymour used to do something similar for us when we would take trips up to Utah. I had this idea the night before our trip and could only stop at the grocery store so the bags mostly contained food. I was able to find a few activities which she really liked so I'll put more of those in next time.

We drove on a Wednesday so Ja could interview a customer on Thursday in Chattanooga. So the girls and I hung out with Papa, Granny Dot, Devin, Dee, Oliver and Dee's mom until the afternoon. We had a nice lunch at Devin and Dee's then went to see the house they were thinking of buying. Homes are so cheap in Knoxville!

The rest of the family (Greg & Holly, Trevor & Heather, Tiffany & kids) got in that night. Macy was so excited to see Lily. We had a few hours to spare before Lily got in so I asked Macy what she wanted to do. She told me she wanted to stay at the hotel so she wouldn't miss Lily coming. They were very excited when they first saw each other. It was like they were instant best friends again.

Friday morning/afternoon we took a little hike by a lake. It was beautiful and nice warm weather too. Thankfully there were no bugs we had to worry about. I ended up carrying Macy piggy back up the big hill at the end. She said her legs were tired. At the end of the trail there was a play area for the kids. It's so fun to see cousins playing together.

Part of our hike next to the river

My hiking buddy

Macy and Mark

Walking to the graduation

Friday night was the University of Tennessee Law School graduation. When Macy realized she was allowed to clap she was very excited. She kept saying,  "I want to see Uncle Devin! I want to clap for Uncle Devin!" Once they finally started reading the names for the graduates to get their hoods Macy said, "Mommy hold my candy. I'm busy clapping for Uncle Devin." It was very cute. We enjoyed a delicious bbq dinner afterwards.

Saturday we ventured down to the Knoxville farmers market. There is a charming little downtown area with a very cute park. Ja made a paper boat and the kids had fun watching it trying to float down the river. It kept getting stuck under the bridge and once it finally made it to the tiny waterfall it was capsized. Oh well, it kept the kids entertained for a while.

The babies enjoying a stroller ride.

After cleaning up a poopy mess from Anna we took a drive to Pigeon Forge. It's a tourist trap with a road full of go cart places, mini golf, and museums every where you look. It was a really fun tourist trap though. We stopped and did a great go cart track with a roller coaster track. It spirals up and down with a big hill at the end. There was also a place with little rides for the kids which they loved.

She was very happy on these rides

Papa looked at a few houses while he was in Knoxville and the relator asked if he would be on the local news. She wanted to do a story about people moving into Tennessee. He was a local celebrity for a night.

Sunday was Oliver's blessing which was nice and he didn't cry at all. It was also Mother's day- my first one that Macy would go up with the primary to sing to me. I was sad we weren't in our own ward that day but she still went up with Mark in Devin's ward. The family couldn't believe that out of all the kids Macy was the one to go up! She was so cute up there and even sang a few words of the song. It was so cute and very memorable.

Two beauties ready for church

After church we enjoyed a Cracker Barrel brunch before driving back home. I wanted to get a picture of Anna and Ryan together to show their dramatically different body types.They are only one month apart but you'd never know because Anna is so much smaller. While trying to do so big sisters Macy and Lily come in and start to wrestle the babies. I thought it was perfect because that's how life usually is for little siblings. 

We drove home in only 7 hours with only one potty break! Macy and Anna both napped for a long time and were amazing! Macy did not want to leave the hotel and had a break down because of it. She cried saying she didn't want to go home. I felt her anguish. I had a great time too and didn't want to come back to real life. Although it would only be for 4 days since we were leaving for Williamsburg soon.

Macy's Swim Class

On May 8th Macy started a swim class at Spring Hill Rec center. She is taking it with Mark and loves it. She finally got to the point where she isn't afraid of the water and would go in it without me so I knew she would be ok in a class.

The pool is great because it has a shallow beach entry so she was able to walk right in without having to immediately jump in.

Macy loves taking classes and loves having a teacher. She pays very close attention to everything Miss Lori says and always looks up at me with a huge smile she she accomplishes something. This class is helping her gain more confidence in the water. She will now put her mouth under water and touch her ear to the water.

Getting used to the water

Walking like crocodiles in the water.

Swimming through a hoop.

Now they are in slightly deeper water with floaties on. They swam under the noodles.

 I love this picture. Macy had the right area of holding onto the bar but it's a little too high.

This is her third class. She almost blew bubbles in the water. She's proud just to put her chin in the water.

Miss Lori gave them kick boards with a ball to keep safe. They were supposed to kick around with them but Macy cheated and walked around with it instead.

I love watching Macy learn and grow. She is so proud of herself and I am too!

In case you're wondering about Anna she is a great little girl and stays at home napping with daddy! The class is perfect timing for that.

Leesburg Animal Park

There was an online deal for a place called Leesburg Animal Park. We had never been before but it sounded fun and friends said they liked it. After going I can saw we really like it too. It's a low key place where the kids can actually feed the animals out of their hands and walk along side the animals. Macy was timid at first but soon warmed up. A little. She was much more open to the idea of animals eating food out of her hand the second time we went. Now she climbs into the crib and pretends to be different animals and I have to feed her with a flat palm.

There's a "contact area" where you can walk around with the sheep, goats, donkey, lamas, and pig. The animals are all very friendly, with the lamas being the most friendly. They walk right up to you and since they are taller they are pretty much face to face with me. As you can tell from this picture Macy wasn't too thrilled with the animals coming close. She's holding her legs up so the animals don't touch her.

The animal she was okay touching was the horse Quinn. She loved riding this little horse in a circle. She was so happy and cute too.

Then it was off to the playground area. It has a wooden train and Macy and Ja took turns being the engineer and announcing where the train was going.

This place also had a bounce house and wagon ride. We did the wagon ride to see the zebras but Macy was too scared to jump in the bounce house.

 This is the second trip we made to the park. Macy was a lot more open to petting the animals. Here she is petting the baby goat named Little Debbie.

Macy loved riding the horsey so much we had to do it again. She was so funny and called her Quinn. I love that they are on a first name basis now.

In the contact area this donkey was pretty forceful. He would walk into Ja with his nose and keep nudging him until Ja would give him food.

Macy wanted to feed the duck. She sat here saying, "Here ducky! Come get some food ducky!"

She was great at feeding the little goats. I had to distract the big goat because it scared her a little bit.

And here is Anna having a staring contest with the mama goat. The goat tried to eat Anna's sock but was luckily too far away to get it.