Pigeon Forge, TN

Since Carol was here for TJ's graduation, TJ and I headed out for a few days of relaxation in the Great Smokey Mountains!  We stayed in Pigeon Forge and had a blast!  The first night we went to the Dixie Stampede - Dolly Parton's dinner show with animals.  The dinner was great and so was the entertainment!

 After eating way too much we took a walk down the "strip."  This place is such a touristy place - we had no idea.

The next day was Dollywood!  We got to the park and I realized I had forgotten my military ID card for our discount.  I was so bummed.  While we were waiting in line a lady came up to us and asked if we wanted a free ticket!  We were like - uh, for real?!  Sure enough, she happened to have an extra ticket!  Lucky us!  Dollywood was fun.  We are roller coaster junkies and love the big, scary rides.  Dollywood didn't really have a lot of those.  There were a couple we enjoyed, but it wasn't like Hershey Park or Busch Gardens.  They did have really good shows and we enjoyed those while it rained in the afternoon.

Our third day was all about shopping and relaxing.  They had a huge outlet mall and we I had so much fun shopping!  Living in Blacksburg the last 3 years hasn't really given me any opportunities to shop.  I made up for those 3 years :)

The last day before heading home we stopped at the Titanic Museum.  I love hearing stories of the Titanic and Brena is obsessed with it.  There were no photos allowed in the museum.  It was an amazing museum!  There were so many artifacts and cool things to read and see.  I could have spent at least a day in there.  One thing they had was a section made to look like the deck of the boat on the night it sunk.  It looked like night out with stars and it was COLD.  They also an "iceberg" you could touch and feel the coldness of it.  They also had a trough of water that was 28 degrees, just like the water was the night it sunk.  You could put your hand in there and feel what it felt like.  After about 5 seconds of my hand immersed in the water my bones were already hurting!

Then it was home to all the crazy kids.  Thank you Carol for watching the kids for us!  This was a MUCH needed getaway!

Washington D.C. Day 3

Last day in D.C.  They didn't have a lot of time, but the went to the Museum of American History.  Then headed home.  Bristol and I were very excited to see them!

Washington Trip day 2

The 2nd day was spent touring around D.C. and all the monuments.  They also did the Capitol tour. That's a lot of walking!

Grandma Franklin's visit

Grandma Franklin got to come for a visit.  She wanted to see Washington D.C., so TJ and the two older kids headed out there.  I stayed home with Bristol because I didn't want to hate her.  No one in their right mind would enjoy a trip to D.C. with this 17-month old - heck no!  The kids didn't want to go at first, but I think they had a good time.  Their first day was spent at Arlington.

Last Day and a FIND!

Last day of our vacation and we have to drive 550 miles home.  We stopped off to try one more geocache before we left Niagara - success!!  Finally!  We dropped a geocoin off we had found and headed home.  What a great vacation! 

Niagara Falls - vacation day 7!

We actually slept in a little this morning, thank you Bristol!  Then it was off to Maid of the Mist.  The park was so crowded - people everywhere.  It took a while, but we finally made it on a boat.  The power of the falls is just crazy!  They are spectacular!

 It took a little bit of convincing to get Bristol in her baby rain jacket, but we finally got it on her.

 American Falls, Bridal Veil Falls and Tyler!

 Horseshoe Falls

 This baby got soaked!  She loved it!

After a quick stop at the observation deck it was off to Cave of the Winds and another long line!

 After Bristol realized we weren't trying to suffocate her with the rain jacket, she let us put this one on a little better.

 Of course Tyler got a bloody nose just as we were headed up!  He gets them all.the.time.

 I wasn't getting wet!

 The hurricane deck was crowded!!

 

 After going back up we enjoyed the view for a bit while this one slept in her stroller!  This never happened before!

 We took a quick lunch break back at the hotel and oh look, a selfie!  We haven't had one of these all vacation!

 And a new one for you - a foot selfie with her Cave of the Winds sandals. 

 Tj and the kids headed over to Canada while I stayed in the U.S.A. with Bristol (we never got her a passport).   She chased a lot of seagulls and wouldn't stay out of the lemonade.

I was thinking about going over after they came back, but I think the pictures were good enough.
It is a different view from over there.  Very cool.

 Two Countries at the same time!

We watched the Niagara movie and learned some cool facts about the falls.  We were pretty much exhausted at this point and there were still millions of people around, so we headed out to try another geocache - again it didn't go so well.  We were striking out this vacation!  It was a nice walk though.