Sullivan Sound Off: June 2009

We had the BEST vacation! Mom, Ricky,the kids and I met Travis and his family in Townsend, TN. Travis and Dawne have been renting these cabins for the past couple of years. They kept telling us how great it was, so we decided to go there this year. The cabins are right by the Little River.It wasn't deep or anything. In fact, here in Indiana we'd just call it a creek! It was perfect for the kids. They swam, went tubing, fished, collected rocks and snails, threw rocks and just had a great time. My boys who are rarely seen without their handheld video games, were rarely seen WITH the games!Sunday, we hung around the cabin and in the evening went to a Smokies minor league baseball game. Ryne Sandberg who played for the Cubs is their coach. Sandberg is Travis' favorite player. Dusty really thought the game was cool! Monday, we went to Cades Cove. Dawne's mom, Hilda knows all the history there, so we pretty much had our own personal tour guide. We saw 10 bears that day! And lots of deer, which wasn't really all that exciting to us Indiana folks because we see deer all the time! Usually when they are running in front of our cars! Tuesday, Dawne, the 4 boys and I hung around the cabin. Hilda took Mom, Ricky and Bry to the Dragon's Tail. It's like 300 and some sharp curves in 11 miles. Very popular with motorcycle riders! Bry saw the Bryson City sign and had to get her picture taken under it! Later, Hilda took us out to dinner at Deadbeat Pete's. It was a burger place on the river. It was nice because we sat out on the patio looking over the water. Plus, the food was great! Wednesday, Dawne's sister Amanda got us all tickets for Splash Country. She also got us a retreat where we could go to relax and order lunch to be brought to us there. That retreat came in handy later in the day when a storm came through! I had never been to a water park and I am now a big fan! I was really proud of Jordan that day. He's scared of heights and also nervous in water. But he went down the biggest water slide there. It' 70 ft. in the air and goes straight down! Needless to say, I didn't do that! About 4, a storm came through so we went back to the retreat to wait it out, lucky for us most of the people left, so when it was over, we pretty much had the place to ourselves!Thursday, we just hung around the cabins. Friday, Dawne, Amanda, my 3 kids and I went to Dollywood. Dusty got to experience his first roller coaster. Word of warning-when taking your kid on his first coaster, it's smart to start small! He started with the 2 biggest ones and wasn't feeling to great after that!It took some coaxing but we did get him on some other rides! That was another really fun day! Oh, and I got to see Dolly in the parade! I was so mad that I didn't bring my camera because I didn't want to have to keep track of it. The kids had so much fun! Again we had to thank Amanda who got us the tickets to go. Bry has decided she is going to go down there during her summer breaks in college and work at Dollywood.She wants to dress up in the old fashioned clothes! Saturday was our last day. We all hung around by the water and visited. We had a clean out the fridge and cabinet dinner that turned into quite a yummy feast! It was like going to a buffet! You name it we had it! And Sunday was the very sad day that we had to head home. My kids will always remember this vacation.Dusty liked to sleep with windows opened so he could go to sleep at the sound of the water. Bry liked sleeping in the living room because she liked waking up and looking out the big windows. Jordy loved looking for snails and rocks. They all liked watching the bats at night. They had such a good time.It was so nice to see the five cousins together. My kids all liked being the "cool" older cousins. They were all so good with Shaun and Peyton. It was so cute to see Peyton following them around and looking up to them. I hope my boys didn't teach him too many bad things to take back to daycare! It was also cute to see Shaun imitate their actions. He doesn't really interact with them but he watched them and often did what they did. If Dusty threw a rock, Shaun threw a rock. If Dusty jumped into the water, Shaun jumped into the water. Shaun is the happiest boy ever at the cabin by the river. And Aunt Heather was pretty happy too! Just hanging out with my family and spending time together was the best! It just doesn't happen enough...

Jordan and I at Cades Cove

The kids with Colonel Sanders at the original KFC

Uncle Travis teaching Jordan how to fish

Shaun after his long tube ride

Sweet Little Peyton's gone fishin'

Travis, Dawne and the boys at Cades Cove

The gang riding in the back of the truck at Cades Cove

This picture of Shaun is my favorite! He looks so deep in thought. You can the reflection of the mountains in the window. My dad says this should be a poster for Autism. Opening the doors and windows to Autism. I think he's right...