Whew.


I think that is the first deep breath I've taken in weeks.


I'm so glad to be back to my blog and I have so much I want to write about! My family and I took a little vacation the week of February 15th. It's the first vacation we've taken together. Ever. It was just a nice getaway, and also a Valentine's celebration (of sorts) for my husband and I. The week leading up to vacation was somewhat of a blur. My husband was working mandatory overtime, so I was left to take care of all the packing and trip prepping, along with taking care of the kids. It was chaos for all of us. The day before we left, it snowed (AGAIN), and it was a lot. Ugh, I'm so sick of snow and so ready for spring. On the day we left, it was pouring down rain, which was good because it was melting said snow. But it was a slushy mess loading the luggage and kids into the van and getting out of town. We traveled to Pigeon Forge, TN The Great Smoky Mountains. Growing up, my family and I took a spring break vacation there every year. It's not too far away, roughly four hours (tack on a bit more when travelling with small children in the pouring rain.) Seriously, the trip there was so rough. Props to my husband for remaining so calm. We couldn't see the road in front of us at some points it was raining so hard. I was a nervous wreck the whole way there. When we finally arrived, it had stopped raining and I got so excited! Like a kid again! Pigeon Forge is a very family friendly area. There are things to do year round, and the mountains are gorgeous. Since we had our small babies with us, we mainly stayed at the resort. There was an indoor water park and the condo was gorgeous.

Lucas was so eager to explore the place that he's not pictured above. But he was with us! Izzy was so thrilled. Her first vacation! She kept saying "mama, this is the best VEEcation ever!" Melted my heart. And as you can see from the photos, Zachary was pretty happy too!

We got in pretty late that first night and we lost an hour on the way. We all ate Steak N Shake at about 10:30 and then called it a night. I promised Iz that the next day would be a whole day devoted to the indoor water park. She couldn't wait. And to be honest, I couldn't either. They had splash pads, water fountains, indoor water slides, a big pool, and a hot tub! Count me in.




Izzy probably went down the water slides at least 50 times (not exaggerating) and all by herself too! She's so independent for a four year old, and definitely an adrenaline junky. She did not get that from me. I wish I had gotten a picture of it, but it's a lot harder than one would think having your phone around that much water and wrangling 17 month old twins. So the snapshots I posted are the only ones I have from the water park. Did I mention all the pools were heated? Okay, I'm ready to go back!

The next day we decided to get out and take the kids to WonderWorks, or the upside down house as we called it. It's a really neat place (a bit overpriced in my opinion) but still fun! It's described as an indoor amusement park, but I wouldn't call it that. It explains science in a really neat way for children to better understand. I'll post a link here to their website if anyone wants to go read about it! There wasn't much for the babies to do, but even they had fun walking around exploring the place. And there is fun for adults too.



After we left WonderWorks, we headed over to a really neat restaurant called Harpoon Harry's Crab House. It was HUGE and very nice. We splurged and I got the filet mignon while my husband enjoyed the rib-eye. We also had fresh sushi for an appetizer. It was pricey, but I would recommend it. Delicious food!

The next day was spent shopping and we ate at a Mexican restaurant called Cielito Lindo. They had authentic Mexican food, huge portions for a great price. The food was also delicious there. I wanted to take my husband to Knife Works, which is known to be the "World's Largest Knife Showplace". I truly believe that. It's three stories and we didn't make it through the whole thing. My husband bought a new, really nice, pocket knife, and I was able to get a really nice gift to take home for my dad.

We rested in the room that night and my husband took Izzy back to the waterpark. They had a blast, and I believe that was my daughter's favorite part of vacation or uh...VEEcation ;) I really enjoyed just relaxing and spending time with my family.

Zachary giving kisses to sissy

The kiddos really enjoyed the jetted tub!

Lucas loves his daddy so much

The day came to come home and disaster struck. Okay that might be a little dramatic, but it was pretty disastrous. My husband woke up more sick than I have ever seen him. He had a horrible stomach bug. We first thought it might be food poisoning, but we all ended up getting it later so that was ruled out. I let him rest and I packed up our entire condo and got all of the kids ready, loaded up the van, and drove us all home. It was stressful to say the least. But I was so worried about Eric. Poor thing was so sick. I ended up getting it that night (after we had arrived home--thank goodness) I can't imagine having that while trying to drive home, I would have had to stop and get a room for another night. And then it made it's way through my children one by one. I spent the next several days bleaching and disinfecting my house. We are all finally well!

Izzy went back to school today and the routine is back in full swing once more. We really had a great trip, but we are all glad to be home. And I am very happy to be back to my blog! I hope you are all well and enjoying life :) I'll post again soon!

Hugs and Love,