Mums gone :-(

As the title suggests, my mum went last thursday.  We had an enjoyable few days, just doing normal run of the mill stuff: parks, the zoo, she even got to meet some of my friends which was nice.  Dropping her at the airport was, hard as i knew it would be.  The boys were good on the journey there and back.  It only really hit me the next morning, after I had dropped the boys at school.  Seb and I came home, I walked through the door and burst into tears.  Bless Seb, he gave me a huge cuddle, then proceeded to look up the stairs for mum, and say 'nanna' quite a few times.....

Enjoying the baseball

We had a relaxing weekend.  Oliver had his baseball team photo on saturday, then a game straight after which we all went to.  Every one seemed to really enjoy it.  Does help that the weather was really. really good.  Sunday we dossed around the house.








This week has been a bit mad, it seems.

Monday was an average day.

Tuesday we went to our neighbor for a play and chat, lovely as usual and Seb managed to lose his shoe in the play room.

Oliver as an Acolyte

Wednesday was going to be my hectic day.  Oliver was off school, as it was his conference day (like a parents evening type thing).  It was going to be: shopping, conference, zoo, birthday party, baseball.  Fate had other plans.......  The shopping was successful.  The conference was good.  Oliver is doing really well, he has come on in leaps and bounds.  He was recently an acolyte  in Chapel.  So proud.  As we were leaving the conference, I got a call from Isaacs school to say he had been sick and could I come and get him.  He did not look good, but brightened up quite quickly once he got home.  Because of his sickness we did not want to risk the zoo.  Paul was already coming home early to take care of Isaac and Seb while I took Oliver to the birthday Party at The Moutain Goat.  This is a bouldering/rock climbing place in Greenville.  The birthday boy had obviously been here a few times.  Oliver wasn't too keen, and after a few bad jumps off the big boulder just wanted to run around, like most of the other kids.  While at the party, the thunder and lightning started, and then the rain came.  So baseball ended up being cancelled......

Oliver whacking it, he has not missed once in a game yet (touch wood...)

Thursday Isaac was still off school.  Despite the fact he had not been sick since the previous day, he needs to be free of illness for at least 24 hours.  I had a diabetic appointment which I had to drag him to.  Bless his heart, he was good as gold. As was Seb.  It was nice to see my diabetic nurse.  She is pleased with how I am doing.  She was even more pleased with my HbA1c result.  Last time I had this done in December, it was 11.  Yesterday I was down to 8.2%.  Not a bad drop in 4 months.  Ideally it wants to be below 7% (this has only happened to me once in the 3 1/2 years I have had diabetes, and that was just before I got pregnant with Sebastian, it was 6.5%, rest of the time it has been around the 7.5% range).  I just need to refine a few things, and I should be there.  Going on an insulin pump was very briefly discussed, but I think she knows I can control it how things are.  I was very happy.  Think it is one of the only times I have high-fived an adult while sober.  Isaac fell asleep in the car on the way home, at 10.45am.  Think he was still fighting something.  Seb went for a sleep as soon as we got home.  Isaac woke 5 minutes later.  Oliver had another baseball game last night, in iffy weather.  As we arrived at the park it started to spatter with rain, then stopped, so the game was played.  Once it was over, the heavens opened.

Today we went round to my friend Donna's new house.  It is a 10 minute drive, so she is nice and close now.  It is very lovely, and her hubby has done an awesome job painting.  I am so happy they have found somewhere, and the sooner they get the furniture in to stop the kids reverb the better!!!! Man, our kids are noisy together, good job the older 2 were still at school, or Donna and I would probably have run away.....

This weekend is going to be a quiet one.  Money is tight, so don't think we will be up to much.  I have an exam next week that I am desperately trying to revise for.  It is a re-sit of the exam I took shortly after we arrived here, you know, the one I failed as I had just moved my family xxxx miles across the world, been told a month before they couldn't find somewhere for me to do it, found somewhere with 2 weeks to spare, cue me not revising.... Yes, that exam.  This time I have been revising since January.  I even did some tonight, and most who know me know that  I DO NOT work on a friday night.  I want to pass this time.  I am very determined.

So next week..... We are seeing some English friends on Monday.  They are going home for a visit on wednesday.  Exam on wednesday, followed by baseball. More baseball on thursday. Possibly seeing a new friend at some point, and hoping to see some others too!!!

Oliver is being an acolyte again on wednesday, but this time he will be reading.  Hoping Paul can take the day off (he is already off in the afternoon), so I can go and listen to him.  About time I made it to Chapel at school, I think a lot of parents do it.

Due to exam revision, I will probably not post again till at least next thursday, so wish me luck, I hope to get out of it in one piece....

Mums here

So much to say....

I got my mum from the airport.  That was a mad dash.  After running around picking boys up from school, and having lunch I jumped in the car as quick as I could.  A flight tracker app had alerted me to the fact her plane was going to be in an hour early!!! And it was.  She was there waiting for me at Charlotte airport.  It was so good to see her.  We drove home, to some very happy boys.

Paul had managed to get a car from work that had seven seats in it.  So the next day we all set off for Tybee Island.  I had managed to get a last minute booking on a house which turned out to be in a prime locate.  Right near a broad walk that took us directly onto the beach, and a 15 minute walk from the downtown area.  We were also just over the road from the supermarket.  We got some pizza, chips and garlic bread for dinner, and the essentials (beer).  We had a walk on the beach, which was lovely, then went home for some dinner.

The next morning dawned beautifully.  The boys did not wake too early, hurrah. We had a leisurely breakfast, and decided to go for a drive and explore the island.  It is a small place, full of really cool houses.  The downtown area is small, but full of bars and restaurants.  We drove to the north of the island and stopped at the lighthouse.  We got out of the car and took a little walk around the fort, then headed on to the beach.  This beach was beautiful, in fact they all are.  Paul spotted something in the water.  There was a couple of dolphins swimming along the shore line.  Amazing, as were the pelicans, so big, yet so graceful.  We took a drive back to the house, dropped the car off, and headed to downtown for some lunch.  Fannies on the Beach was a really nice eatery, with plenty of families eating downstairs.  We all enjoyed our lunch, and the cocktails.  In fact we ordered extra for the road.  We headed down the pier so the boys could see people fishing.  It was very picturesque, and the beach was pretty busy.  It was Easter weekend and spring break, the sun was shining, but there was a bit of a nippy wind.  Paul headed into one of the beachside shops to get some beach equipment, an umbrella was essential.  We got the boys back to the house and changed into their beach gear, and headed on down there.  The boys had a great time playing with their beach toys.  Oliver and Seb even went in the water.  It was too cold for Isaac.  The wind started to pick up, so we went back to the house, where the boys had a light dinner.  We packed them off to bed a little later than usual, and headed out for an evening on Tybee.   That was interesting...............  Lots of cocktails consumed, a couple of games of pool, some strange people, a pirate.  The whole place really felt like it was buzzing.   I can probably compare it to a night in a UK seaside town, but a little warmer, with cocktails.

Our heads were pretty sore the next day.  We took it easy in the morning, then headed to The Crab Shack for lunch.  I decided (in my stupid hungover state) to try a seafood platter, Paul went for ribs and mum had a shrimp sandwich.  I will not go into too much detail, but it was a disaster.  I don't like crab, or very much seafood it would appear.  It doesn't like me much either.  By the time we left, just looking at the plate of food was making me want to hurl.  One good thing about this place, it has lots of alligators (all captive) right next to it.  The boys loved it.  From there we headed to Fort Pulaski.  This place was awesome, the boys really enjoyed walking around it, and we enjoyed learning the history.  We even got to see a musket being fired.  I thought the boys would freak out, but they were really good with the noise (did help we were covering their ears).  We stayed in for dinner and had yet more pizza, sad in the fact the next day we would have to head home.

What didn't help was the fact we were all coming down with something.  Isaac and Paul both had colds, and Oliver appeared to be getting one too.  We drove back home on the Monday, and arrived back mid afternoon.  We took it fairly easy on tuesday, just a trip to the local garden centre.  Isaac has been on spring break this week, and him and Seb have been loving having nanny to play with.  Sure beats boring old mummy!!!!

To be honest, I have been quite ill this week, so we have been taking it easy.  I took my mum to Paris Mountain State Park, which was nice, and we have been out for a meal.  But I have been feeling sooooo rubbish.  Seb also has a streaming nose too.  We are all generally under the weather.  It has been a blessing having mum here, she has helped out loads.  The weather has been improving a lot, so we had a BBQ yesterday.  I have also done loads of planting, any excuse to be out in the garden.

We did make it into Greenville today.  We went for lunch at the Carolina Alehouse.  A little earlier than usual, but we could not get over how quiet it was.  We were the only ones sitting out the front for the whole time we are there.  Never seen that before.  Then we walked over the bridge, and back down the Reedy River, to show mum some sights.  It was a lovely relaxing day.

Isaac goes back to school tomorrow, Oliver has his first baseball game on tuesday, Paul goes away on tuesday, and mum goes home thursday......


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You can fiind the link to the photos from Tybee on Facebook (if you have not already seen them!!!)

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We did make it out to eat one evening too.  In case you didn't know, I also do a foodie type blog with restaurant reviews/recipes here

Tomorrow

Feel like I should post something today, as I may not be able to tomorrow

We will have been here for 6 months tomorrow.  Six months.... I can't quite believe it, it has gone so fast.  We are still absolutely loving it.  It is so different to home, yet with the bonus of everyone speaking the same language and being able to understand us (as long as we speak slowly enough, of course).

I read through my blog about a month or two ago.  It is pretty amazing what we have done in the last 6-9 months.  It can be hard sometimes, Facebook can really be your worst enemy!!!!  For example, I missed a friends birthday today.  I had grand intentions to send her a card with a little something in it, but I forgot and had to make do with a little message on Facebook.  I will get my butt in gear, and sort these things.

We did not get up to much at the weekend.  Oliver's baseball practice was cancelled on the saturday due to the horrible rain.  I could have been sitting on the south coast when I looked out the window here.  We decided to head to an outlet mall in Commerce, Georgia.  Paul had stopped there on the way to take his brother to the airport and bought me some clothes.  They didn't fit, so we decided to return them.  Of course, that meant more shopping.  But with what we were returning, I only ended up spending $10.  Paul spent a bit more, but he needed new jeans.  I also got 2 tops and a pair of trousers for Seb from Osh Gosh for under $8.
Sunday Isaac had a birthday party to attend, his good friend from school.  There was a magician, and lots of playing, so Isaac was happy.  Again, another rubbish day weather wise.

Monday we met up in Greenville with a good friend and her two boys.  We let the boys run around by the Reedy River down town, before deciding it was far too cold to be outside, and dived into the nearest coffee shop for some liquid warmth.  The boys were pretty well behaved, as 4 boys under 4 goes.  At one point three of them were huddled round my iphone watching lego star wars.  The joys of modern technology....

Oliver had baseball practice again last night.  There is only 2 weeks till their first game, eeekkkk!!! Some of the team are really good, and obviously practice/play quite a lot.  But there are 3 or 4 new boys, like Oliver.  It is a good mixed ability team.  The coach seems quite fair, but we will see how this continues once the games start.  I have got talking to some of the other mums though, which is nice.  There is another English mum with a boy on Oliver's team.  She has been in the states about 22 years though.  I still picked up on her accent straight away.  I think the English are hunting me out......

Usual weekly zoo trip today, but with a difference.  The other ladies I usually go with were unavailable, so it was just me, Seb and Isaac.  We had a really nice time.  I think it helped that Isaac slept on the way there.  He didn't run of, did good walking, was chatting away to me about things that made sense.   Even Seb was trying to tell me everything he saw. Although I missed my girlies, it was nice to send some 'quality' time with my kids.  Made me very aware that I probably don't do it often enough.....

My mum arrives tomorrow.  I am so excited.  Not sure if it is for the 2 hours peace I get in the car while driving u to get her (joking mum), or the boys faces when they see her.  Probably my face too, I would love a mirror, and I must make sure my mascara is water proof.

First breathing house guest.....

Tony finding 'the American way'

Well Tony arrived last wednesday.  Paul picked him up from Atlanta airport and they headed into the city itself to watch the Lakers vs Hawks basketball game.  The said it was an interesting experience, as most of the fans were Lakers, and were booing the home team.  I had booked them into a grotty down town hotel for the night, so they headed to a bar, where they continued drinking.  A few Grey Goose later, and they wandered back to the hotel.  You don't even want to know how much those drinks cost......

Thursday they drove back here.  They arrived just after I had got Isaac from school.  We had a quick hello, and discussed afternoon/dinner plans.  I was already planning on going to Greenville to look for the mice on main street.  Isaac thoroughly enjoyed this, thanks to the wonderful clues from Liene.  We headed for a civilized adult coffee (yeah right, with 4 kids between us), then on for an ice cream.  A few of my friends have mentioned Marble Slab to me before, but I had never experienced it.  My golly it was good.  Nice price too....  The boys had hoped they would make it in to Greenville to meet us, but they had said they would pick up Oliver, so they didn't make it.  I headed home, rejoicing in the fact I did not have to do a school run.  Both Seb and Isaac fell asleep in the car on the way home.  Normally this would have been a huge hinderance to bedtime, but seeing as we had already decided we were going out for dinner it was actually a good thing.  The boys were so pleased to see Tony.  They all played beautifully together before we headed out for dinner at Tavern 24.  I had plans that evening to go to the cinema with a friend, so after dinner Paul and I swapped cars.  This was the first time I had driven his car ( a 3 series convertible).  It felt so low to the ground and really bumpy.....  My friend and I went to see Oz: The Great and Powerful.  Quite a good film, well worth seeing in 3D.  By the time I arrived home, Tony was already in bed.

Friday morning was spent doing the usual school runs for me.  We decide we would go out for lunch, then on to Walmart to get a BBQ, and the rest of the garden furniture.  Obviously we took 2 cars.  Good job too.  It ended up with all the garden furniture in the back of the X5, with the boot tied closed, the BBQ in the passenger seat.  I had to drive Paul's car, again, with the boys in the back, and the rest of the shopping in the boot.  The temperature was creeping up, and I couldn't even put the roof down.  We got home and Paul and Tony started building the furniture, while I went and got Oli in Paul's car, with the roof down.  He hated it!  The boys had some dinner, while the men started on the beer.  After the boys had gone to bed, we cracked open the blackcurrant moonshine we had purchased up in the mountains.  That really did not last long.  I flaked about 11.30, and took myself off to bed (so proud of myself for this, if I had kept drinking I would have been seriously unwell....)

Carolina Ale House

Instead, I awoke saturday morning with a monster hangover.  It was a lovely bright warm morning.  Oliver had baseball practice at 10am, so we all trundled off to watch this.  After a slight confusion in the pitch arrangements (not helped by my thumping head) we eventually arrived at the right place.  Oliver is really enjoying the baseball.  The men took the other 2 off to the park while I got chatting to another English mum. I swear, they are finding me!!!!  We headed to the supermarket, and picked up the supplies for a BBQ.  This was good fun.  I made up a berry sangria type drink, and Paul cooked.

Sunday, the heads were not thumping too much (I had cheated and taken some paracetamol the night before).  We headed into Greenville to see if there was ant St Patricks day celebrations going on.  The town was very festive and full of cheer.  We went to the Carolina Ale House for some lunch, beginning with cocktails of course.  I had the Carolina Hurricane, it was lush.....  We took Tony down to Falls Park, and across the Reedy River,  and showed him a bit of the town.  The boys continued drinking in the evening.

The fountains at Falls Park had been turned
green for St Patricks Day

It was Paul's birthday on Monday.  I had got him loads of clothes, and some Lego Architecture.  Tony got him a Lakers top.  We were exceptionally bad this day, as we ate out twice.  We took Tony to show him the mall, and had lunch in the food court.  We then went to Longhorn Steakhouse for dinner.  The drive home was not fun.  There was a massive thunder storm going on, some very loud thunder an bright lightning very close.  The ran was more than torrential.  Horrendous driving conditions. A few more drinks were had when we got home.

Tuesday Paul and Tony went to play golf in the morning.  I say play golf, they went to the driving range.  By now we were all feeling the excesses of drinking too much, and staying up to late.  Thats what you do when you are on holiday.  They stopped at a sports store on the way home, as Tony wanted some bits.  Paul got a baseball mitt for Isaac (he's a lefty, so can't really use Oliver's) and a bat so he can have hitting practice.  The adults spent the afternoon hitting in the garden.  I have quite a good swing, it went over the fence quite a few times... We had another BBQ, an early one as Oliver had baseball practice.

Tony and  Seb playing

Wednesday was a sad day.  I took the boys to school as usual.  Both Paul and Tony slept in.  They kicked around the house in the morning, till just before I had to get Isaac.  Then they headed out to Get some more purchases for people back home, and met us in one of the many McDonalds in Greenville.  We then went up to the zoo for our usual wednesday afternoon walk around.  The men headed to get Oliver (hurrah no school run for me), while I took the other 2 home.  It was very hard to say good bye to Tony, especially for the boys.  Isaac in particular really does not like good byes, and will refuse to give kisses and cuddles.  He timed it quite well, as he left just as they started computer time, so they had a distraction.

They made it to Atlanta airport at 7.37pm, an hour before Tony had to be there.  They even managed to stop at at outlet mall on the way.  Tony's flight wasn't till 11.30pm.  He must have been so bored!  Paul got back here about 10.30, absolutely shattered.

It has been an absolute joy having Tony as a house guest.  I am quite glad he was the first one.  There was a really nice chilled relaxed atmosphere in the house.  Too much sport in the telly, perhaps, but thats about my only complaint.  It was also nice for Paul, as he took the week off work and was able to feel like he was on holiday too, despite doing morning school runs with me for the first few days.

See, too much beer......

So on to the next...... My mum arrives next week.  In fact this time next week, she will be here.


This time next week, we will have been living here for 6 months

yowzers.......

Parks

Hellooooooo

Sorry these are becoming so infrequent.  I have a re-sit exam coming up next month, and what with the visitors about to descend on us, we have been quite busy.

So what have we been up to????  Well I survived Oliver's Spring break, with a lot of help from meeting up with friends.  We did the zoo, which he actually really enjoyed, had our neighbors over, again another success, and met up with friends in the park on another couple of days.

The park..... It wasn't just one park.  On the monday we went to Simpsonville City Park.  This is about 5 minutes drive from our house.  It has a wonderfully fenced in play park (important when there is a Seb roaming around), and also a baseball diamond, fitness route and basketball court.
Cleveland Park is by the zoo, we nearly always go there after the zoo, cos the kids just aren't tired enough already....  This has 2 separate play areas, both under cover, yet they both have some play equipment in full sun ( thats gonna be fun in July).  The only major problem with this park is the complete lack of fences.
We did Gary Pittman Park on thursday.  This has another play area, with good equipment, a walking trail, and many many football pitches.  Good for the kids to blow off some steam.

First Ice cream of the season

Friday we did Heritage Park.  This one is also in Simpsonville, and is huge.  It has a good set of play equipment, all fenced into an area inside a minature train track.  This is opening to the public again soon.  It also has a walking trail, and is the home to Simpsonville Little League.  The amphitheater is just at the other end of the park.  We are going to see the Black Keys play there in July.  I am so excited!!!!

The best thing about all the parks I have come across here???  They all have toilets conveniently located to the play parks.  No more wee-ing in bushes!!!!!  It is so nice.  The amount of times i have been caught short, particularly by Isaac, I am most grateful to have good, clean, safe facilities at all the parks we have attended so far.

These are just the parks we went to last week.  The first 2 we do quite regularly.  The other 2 not so often.  As we progress further into Spring/Summer, we will be going to more and more, particularly the ones with water parks.  I cant wait.  It has been really nice over here for the last few days.  After we did Heritage Park, we went for an ice cream, and sat outside to eat it.  The ice cream station in Simpsonville is always busy, and at their prices, I am not surprised.

Isaac doing his Ronnie O'Sullivan pose

Over the weekend we went shopping, ate out, purchased some garden furniture.  I dug over the veggie patch, which is currently getting a good soaking, as it is chucking it down tonight.  We had some friends over for lunch yesterday, which turned into the whole afternoon, which was lovely.

Got a call from Oliver's Little League coach last night.  He has his first practice on tuesday.  He is really looking forward to it.  He has mastered putting the glove on, and his catching with it is improving.  He wants to do the Reedy River Run next year, I have said I will do it with him.  So far I have managed to put off going running with him, but it is only a matter of time.  It would probably do me some good anyway, prove to me how old and achey my joints are really becoming....

Tony arrives this week!!!!  We are all looking forward to our first visitor, and showing him this wonderful little life we have here.


Almost forgot to mention Paris Mountain State Park.  We took a drive up there last sunday.  It is $2 per adult to get in, and it is amazing.  We ended up walking along the Sulphur Springs Trail to an amazing waterfall and reservoir.  So pretty.  You can swim in one of the lakes there in the summer.  We didn't even go near the play park, we just let the boys roam free.  They loved it, and brought back loads of 'gold' to clean.  We will be back here a lot

Snow views

Hellllllooooooo


Sorry I have not updated for a while, been doing nothing and everything it feels.

Seb's first experience of snow

We are all good.  We had some snow last weekend.  That was unexpected.  Usually when they say it is going to snow here, they get a light dusting.  It chucked it down for about 4 hours.  Started off just little wispy flakes, then got bigger and bigger.  After a couple of hours there was enough for a decent snow ball fight.  Something very satisfying throwing snowballs at your eldest child....  Of course it was a bright blazing sunny day the next day, so it disappeared quite quickly....

Things I have done recently....

I went to the Runway Cafe in Greenville with a friend and her two boys.  It is literally a small cafe/restaurant on the edge of the runway at Greenville Downtown airport.  So only small planes, and plenty of them coming in to land and taking off.  We got a good day, so were able to sit outside.  Definitely somewhere I want to go back to, maybe even take visitors when they come over.  There is a fenced in area next to the cafe which is going to be a park when they get some more funding.  The plans look awesome.  If you know of anyone with an obscene amount of money who wants to invest in the community, click here.

View from vantage point at Caesars Head

We took a drive to the nearby mountains last weekend.  About 45 minutes drive north of Greenville is Caesars Head State Park.  It was beautiful.  Caesars Head connects to Jones Gap State Park in what is known as the Mountain Bridge Wilderness Area, an 11,000-acre area of pristine southern mountain forest. We went the day after it snowed, and it was sunny so it looked really amazing.  Next time we will get out of the car and have a walk, as it shouldn't be so cold, cos it was really cold this day.  Almost like a cold day back in blighty, but with no rain, no wind and glorious sunshine.  Again, another area we want to explore when the weather improves

It was Presidents day last monday, which although it is not a federal holiday, both the boys were off school.  We met up with some more friends in the afternoon at one of the local parks. It was a chance for both of our eldest to meet each other, as they are usually in school when we get together with the other four children.  We must have looked a right sight, her and me with 6 kids, and only one girl in that!!!! Love her though, and Oliver and her eldest got on very well.

We took another trip to Greenville Zoo as well, again meeting up with friends.  Both Isaac and Seb thoroughly enjoyed this.  If we are at this zoo less than once a month I will be very surprised.

This weekend was a nice relaxing one.  Had more friends round on Saturday for lunch (must seem like we have made loads of friends, we haven't, but the one we do know so far are very nice), the kids played well while we ate, chatted and the men drank beer....

Sunday was a glorious sunny day, with very good temperatures.  We headed into Greenville for some food at the Carolina Ale House.  We were even able to sit out the front in the covered bit, so almost eating outside for the first time this year.   After we went for a walk along the Reedy River.  Oliver saw some kids paddling in the water and decided he wanted to do it.  ITS FEBRUARY!!!!  After initially saying no, we thought, screw it.  So in he got on some slippery wet rocks.  But this is Oliver, his sense of balance is negotiable at the best of times.  Think Paul pulled him out after about 30 seconds, before he seriously stacked it.  He said it wasn't cold, I think thats a front....  The walk along the Reedy River was beautiful.  We always forget how pretty Greenville is till we go back there.  We are looking forward to our visitors this year and showing them the delightful sights of our area.  Oh, and their babysitting duties too.....

Coming up.....

Our first visitor arrives in 16 days time.  Tony, Paul's brother is coming over to help him celebrate his birthday.  They have tickets to a basketball game in Atlanta, and are planning on plenty of beer, golf and basketball, not necessarily in that order

Oliver has next week off school as 'Spring Break'.  Isaacs is the beginning of April.....Think I will drag him to the zoo, although I know he doesn't really enjoy them anymore.  Maybe I can think if some kind of project to go with it.  Thoughts and suggestions welcome.

 Think I will call it on that, don't want to waffle to much, and I am in the mood to do that.  The joys of having a hubby away again with work.....

Adios xxx

This guy took 3 days to melt...

The mountains (part 2)

Having gone to bed a lot earlier, and a lot less drunk than the night before, we awoke to a beautiful clear day on the saturday.  Had breakfast, and decided to head back into Gaitlinburg.


We had spotted a tram car the day before, that takes you to the top of the mountain, and wanted to give it a go.  It was the perfect day for it.  We bought our tickets, and were able to get in the car just about to leave.  It was packed. Seb freaked.  He pretty much cried all the way to the top of the mountain.  Nothing either of us could do would calm him down.  I really felt for the other 70+ people in the car with a screaming child....

Skiing at Ober Gaitlinburg

View from the tram car

Ober Gaitlinburg is amazing.  It is a proper ski resort with snow (partly artificial) and all the winter sports that go with it.  It was breathtaking.  We had a walk outside, watched some skiers, educated the boys on skiing with what little knowledge we have.  It was lovely and sunny, but very cold, temperatures below freezing, good skiing weather.  We could not believe how busy it was with skiers  at the top of the mountain.  We also did the wildlife encounter, which promised otters, bears, birds and other native creatures.  It was a bit of a concrete zoo, but very quiet.  The bears were hibernating, but the other animals we saw were ok.  We were lucky enough to see the otters being fed.  This was awesome, and totally justified the admission fee.  Seb loved this and was laughing away every time he saw the otters.  We decided to catch the next tram car down. Luckily there were only about 10 people in this car, and although Seb freaked, it was no way as bad as he did on the way up.  The views were out of this world, so amazing, it is hard to describe without sounding like I am repeating myself!!!

Otters being fed

We reached the bottom, the boys were wilting, so we decided to drive back to Pigeon Forge to grab some lunch.  The boys had seen so many attractions they wanted to do.  Seb fell asleep on the way, so we decided that I would try a few shops at the outlet mall while the boys occupied themselves with iPods, and Seb slept.  The boys woke Seb up just as we were parking, but I went ahead and shopped any way. Thanks mum for my birthday money, think I spent exactly what you sent me, and got tones of stuff!  The queues in all the shops were huge.  I did one, where I bought all that I wanted, then had a quick look in the Disney store.  Saw some things for the boys, then looked at the queue.  It was nearly out the door!!!!  So they got nothing (mean mummy).  We decided a fast food lunch was in order, so we headed to Burger King.


I have not done a restaurant blog on this, but they provided great service.  The guys behind the counter were awesome, Paul requested an angry whopper, and although it is not on their menu at the moment, because they had all the stuff, they made it for him anyway...


The boys decided they wanted to play mini golf, and had spotted an Old McDonalds Farm course near the mall, so off we headed.  They loved it.  We let just Oliver and Isaac play, and although they did not play by any rules, or hold the clubs at all properly, they really enjoyed it, and wanted to keep playing.  Seb enjoyed just the  freedom to run (with mummy following close behind...).  By now we were all very tired (again!!!)  and it was nearly the end of the day, so we headed back to the cabin, to enjoy a leisurely dinner of jam sandwiches (for the boys) and crisps for us, so healthy.....  After dinner, the boys all headed to the hot tub again. I sat this one out.  Nothing at all relaxing or enjoyable about being in a confined space with 3 wriggly, wriggly boys, especially a small one who just wants to swim, even though he can't....  The boys went to bed with no qualms again, and we had a quick dunk in the hot tub, before settling down to watch some films....

Three bears cabin

The boys decided that 6.15 was a good time to get up on the Sunday morning.  Don't know what it is about our boys, but they like to get up early on Sundays.  At least this gave us plenty of time to get packed up and ready to go.  We ended up leaving the cabin at about 10.45.  We did our usual typing home address into the sat nav, it gave us a route.  I spotted what looked like a quicker one.  Opps.  The boys were all asleep within 30 minutes of being in the car.  Good job too, as the roads we went on were hairy.  They started out ok, but went up and down the mountains with loads of switch backs. We also had to watch out for the wild turkeys.... Then when we were about 10 miles from the interstate, the tarmac stopped, and we were on a grave track.  Admittedly, the driving was awesome.  I am exceedingly grateful my husband has done advanced driver training through work.  He loved the roads, if a little scary at times, and soon we were back on tarmac.  Going the scenic route took us through beautiful moutain side, by gushing waterfalls at the edge of the road, to raging rivers.  The river housed the Walters hydro electric power plant.  Who says Americans aren't green???  Not far from here, we hit the interstate.

Thanks Sat-nav

We had already decide on the way up to stop in Hendersonville for some lunch.  Paul had been here before on one of his drives with work.  It looks like a lovely little city, not a high rise building in site.  The restaurant he took us to Mezzaluna, was lovely, somewhere we will definatly be back to.


From Hendersonville, it was only an hours drive home, through some more beautiful mountains, much nearer to home.  I look forward to exploring these in a few weeks time hopefully.


 Our little get away was awesome.  That part of Tennessee and the Smokey mountains is amazing.  We want to go back before we leave this beautiful country, hopefully sooner rather than later