Monday, December 15, 2008

Trip to Gatlinburg and Santa

Click to play Gatlinburg 2008
Create your own slideshow - Powered by Smilebox
Make a Smilebox slideshow
So Jon and Anna packed up and headed to Gatlinburg with me as I attended a Title I conference. The conference was okay. I did get some good ideas and research out of it so it was worth my time (I can only hope my kids did well while I was away!). The hotel was amazing! It was a very unique design, as you can see from the pictures. The pools (yes, pools) were the best part. There were 2 large pools; one that went up to 5 ft deep and another that went up to 11 ft deep!! Then there was a wading pool and a hot tub. Mmmm... good times.

The mountains were cold and beautiful. It snowed one of the days that we were there so we were able to experience the beauty of the snowfall. It seemed like that may have been the first lasting snow fall. I could be wrong but it was really neat to see the snow line the next day.

We ate at this very homey British pub. Yummy! Plus, there were toys for Anna to play with, 2 large couches, and a wood stove. The smell of the wood stove getting hot reminded me of my childhood. :)

Once we got home we decided this year we would take Anna to get her picture with "The Big Guy". Oh, you know him as Santa Clause. After we waited about an hour!! (I know, that's what I get for waiting until the last moment to see him!), we met Santa and Anna handled it very well. She didn't freak at all. I think it may have helped that he was giving away gingerbread cookies afterward.

So that about sums up our weekend. Next weekend we head up to WI!! I'm sure we will have plenty more to share then.

Friday, December 12, 2008

Anna's new trick!


Anna has learned a new trick. Jon walks into the kitchen the other day to find Anna sitting in her chair. Now, this would be normal if the chair were child size but no - this chair is hooked to the table, about 3 feet from the floor! As you can clearly see from the video, our little bear has learned to climb. Yikes!! Let's hope this doesn't apply to dressers! (See the YouTube videos in the sidebar.)

As for what else has been going on - last week Anna woke up covered from head to toe in hives!! Poor girl. We took her to the doctor and it turns out that she had a secondary reaction to her cold. Additionally, we thought it was clearing up but turns out she had a minor ear infection from the cold (the cold that lasted a whole 3 days maybe!) What fun. Fortunately she didn't seem to be too bothered by it and she is 100% all better now.

 

 

 

Finally, I am off to a conference in Gatlinburg. Jon and Anna are coming with me to enjoy the sights of Christmas. Hopefully we will have lots of pictures to share when we get back!

Thursday, December 4, 2008

Autumn in East Tennessee


This loads the best if you click on View Full Size and then click on View Full Screen! I just found this site and loved playing around with it. Enjoy!