Spring Break--Part Two

For the second part of Spring Break we went to Florida to go visit Jason's parents who live in Keystone Heights (approx. 20 minutes outside of Gainesville). We left on Thursday afternoon and arrived around 10 pm. The kids were so excited--they love to visit with their Nana and Papa! If you factor in the cats, dog, and swimming pool it is truly heaven to them. Thank goodness Jason doesn't mind driving because I get tired just driving a couple of hours on the road and it takes us usually about 6 1/2 hours to make the trip if the traffic isn't too bad. The only downside to Jason driving is that once he is on the road he doesn't like to stop. Heaven forbid someone has to go to the bathroom! We typically stop at the Chick-Fil-A in Tifton, GA long enough to go through the drive-through and then we are back on the road again. The kids usually do pretty good with the drive. I rented The Water Horse and Alvin and the Chipmunks for the kids to watch--two more movies that I can add to my list of "never have seen, but have heard at least once if not 10 times movies". We arrived at their house late Thursday night so we just visited for a little while and then went to bed. Friday, was a nice relaxing day. Jason's mom spoils us and gets up early in the morning with the kids and lets us sleep in. Tyler is always the first up and usually tries to get one of the other kids to go downstairs with him. His internal clock doesn't let him ever sleep much past 7:00 in the morning no matter what time he goes to bed. Chase, who used to be an early riser, is finally starting to sleep a little longer (if he can ignore Tyler's attempts to wake him). Megan usually wakes up fairly early and is the first to go on the never-ending hunt for the cats. There are 4 cats at Chip and Joyce's house who probably tremble in fear when we come to visit. Our kids would love to have any kind of pet at this point, so when we visit anyone who has a pet (especially a dog or cat) you can't keep them (mostly Megan and Tyler at this point) away. Megan hasn't quite learned how to be near the animals without being all over them. The poor things would be smothered if they ever stayed out in plain sight long enough. Their dog, Sam, is pretty good with all of the attention however. Well, the kids really had their hearts set on going swimming, but we weren't sure if the pool was going to be warm enough. Evidently, it was warm enough for the kids to go swimming in, but not quite warm enough to entice any of the adults to go in. The kids couldn't wait to get in and they really had a blast! It is so nice to have the swimming pool right there and the kids really get a work out. They are usually exhausted at the end of the day which is great.














Joyce made her wonderful spaghetti with homemade sauce (a family favorite) for dinner and we enjoyed just sitting around and talking. Saturday, the Gator clan was all revved up for the Orange and Blue spring football game. I'm not sure who is the biggest Gator fan in the family, but anything having to do with Gator football is a big event. Jason has been grooming Chase and Tyler for Gator football since birth. Chase has gotten the Gator fever, but Tyler still hasn't quite learned the game of football yet. He likes to sport his Gator colors though and will cheer them on. Everyone in our family knows the Gator fight song and all of the Gator cheers. Jason is so proud when Megan breaks out into "orange and blue let's go, Gators"! The spring game was pretty crowded. Fortunately, they were able to find some seats in the shade and had a good time seeing how the team is shaping up for the fall season. Megan and I didn't go to the game. Instead, we went to a few stores, had some lunch, and then washed the car. When we got back to the house, the kids went swimming again and then went to bed. We packed late Sunday morning and hit the road for home that afternoon. Everyone had a great time at Nana and Papa's and look forward to visiting again soon. Unfortunately, the interstate was packed on the way back up to Georgia. We were stop and go a good part of the way because of all of the "Spring Break" traffic. We got home much later than we had planned so we went right to bed. What a great Spring Break we had this year!

Spring Break 2008

We've had quite a busy Spring Break this year! For the beginning of the week we decided to rent a cabin up in Pigeon Forge, TN. We left Sunday around 1 pm and it took somewhere around 4 hours to get there. The drive up seemed to go by rather quickly (thanks to the help of modern technology--Nintendo DS games and DVDs). I thought it would be fun to watch some older musicals so I had rented The Sound of Music (one of my all-time favorites) and The Music Man. The kids enjoyed The Sound of Music, but no one really paid attention while The Music Man was playing. I had rented the remake version with Matthew Broderick and Jason and I both agree that it pales in comparison to the original. Neither of us liked the singing in it all that much. We actually didn't even make it through the whole movie and ended up just turning it off. It didn't matter though because once we got to driving through the Smokey Mountains the beautiful scenery was captivating (to Jason and I anyway). I love the mountains and always have. It was so calming to me to just look out the window at the beauty of the trees and the water flowing down and through the mountains. We actually got to stop for a minute while we were in the mountains (at one of the lookout spots) where I took a few pictures and Jason took Tyler down the mountainside for an important pit-stop :) .

We met my parents up at the cabin which turned out to be really nice. The kids enjoyed the pool table, air hockey, and video games they had available. We went out for a nice dinner that night and then came back to the cabin and relaxed before going to bed. While driving through Pigeon Forge we noticed that it has a plethora of go-cart/mini-golf/arcade places as well as dinner shows/theaters. The kids were desperate to go on the go-carts (as was Grandpa it seems). So, the following day all of the boys and Megan went riding on the go-cart track a couple of times and had a blast.

After the go-carts, we ate lunch at the Applewood Restaurant which had yummy apple fritters. Tyler was so impressed with his silver dollar chocolate chip pancakes that he said, "Mom, we need to ask our lady (waitress) for this recipe!" We finished lunch and strolled around outside for awhile. The weather was perfect and the blossoms on all of the apple trees and dogwoods were gorgeous. We went back to the cabin for a nice nap and then took the kids to see a magic show that night. Tuesday, we slept in (at least everyone except Tyler and Megan) and then we went to the Forbidden Caverns in Sevierville. The kids really enjoyed looking at all of the neat formations and a few little bats as well. An evening at a family oriented show at The Comedy Barn ended our day.

Wednesday was our last day and we went to Gatlinburg. What a cute, quaint little town. We took the kids to the aquarium which was great. The aquarium was a pretty good size with lots to see. The kids' favorite part was going under and through the huge tank that housed all kinds of sharks, stingray, eels, and other interesting sea life. It really makes you appreciate how big sharks can get when you are standing right underneath them--as well as how big their teeth are!

I would have loved to have stayed and seen more of Gatlinburg after going to the aquarium, but Jason and I didn't see the point of prodding 3 tired kids up and down the town. So, after lunch it was time to hit the road and journey home for a short overnight stay before heading to Florida. The drive home was again, just gorgeous. I hope this fall when all of the colors are changing that we can fit in a drive through the mountains (maybe on the Blue Ridge Parkway next time) and some time to go hiking. I'll have to bring my John Denver songs for ambiance (that would push Jason over the edge). Hopefully we'll get the chance to go to Gatlinburg again soon (maybe kid-free) so that we can leisurely stroll up and down the streets and look in all the cute shops and get a true feel for the town. Overall, it was a nice couple of days away from our normal, busy lives. To be continued...

Here we go!

I've wanted to start a blog for quite a while now after seeing many friends' blog sites. The creativity and ability to relay what is going on in their lives in such interesting ways is truly inspiring. So, I've decided to take the plunge and join the many who have been blogging their hearts out. I only hope to to be half as interesting and inspiring while trying to convey my thoughts and feelings. I am excited to get started and can't think of a better way for me to journal the events of my life and more importantly the lives of my family! The older I get, the more I realize and am saddened that precious memories, especially of my family, that once were so vivid have become clouded or just plain lost. My goal is to record the everyday happenings as well as the exciting and even sad events of our family so that I can always remember how blessed we truly are. This site is for me and my family; but also to keep those of you, who we don't get to see or talk to as often as we would like, updated on the events in the Wester family.