Vacation Day 1 - Gatorland!

We are in Orlando, Florida for our family Summer vacation and we are excited!  We headed down on Friday and left the house about 6:00 am. The girls were wide awake and excited!  It was a LONG drive! We were parked on the interstate for about 2 hours in Chattanooga, TN. That part was hard on the girls,  but we survived.

For our first adventure we headed to Gatorland!  It was insane... we saw so many gators! Everyone wanted to see a Florida Gator and now we can say we have. We saw a ton! Big ones, small ones, swimming ones, walking ones and white ones! We even saw one smiling!! We went to one show that was wrestling a gator and both of the girls sat on top of a big gator. They were not even scared at all. They had a live one in the middle of the arena and they taped up its mouth... then they asked if anyone wanted to try it. Addison said yes and Charlie said no, but she changed her mind fast! They both got in line and took their turn. I thought it was hilarious because I never would have done that!! Charlie was so excited because she watches the TV shows with her daddy. They really did enjoy it!! We watched 2 shows in between our gator watching- one was up close encounters and they showed us snakes & spiders - it was a little wild. I did learn a lesson, when asked d urring a life show if I am scared of thibgs don't raise my hand! Thank God he didn't pick me!! He was looking at me and I turned my head real fast! The second show was the gator wrestling. This was the girls favorite part, sitting on the live alligator! 
I surprisingly liked Gatorland... I don't know if it was because Scott and the girls liked it so much or if it was the idea of it. It was an overwhelming uncomfortable feeling walking into these habitats and then a strange calm when the animals didn't move... until someone would throw food into the swamp water and the gator would farousciously react to get it. I think seeing the white albino alligator was the craziest!  It was huge! I mean so BIG! I just couldn't believe it! All and all it was a great first day in Florida!  I didn't even worry about my hair! And that my friends is me relaxed! Hahaha!!!     

Summer Swimming Fun!

What a blast we had today... talk about fun in the sun! We went to Yaya's after church today and had a lovely afternoon of swimming! The girls are doing so great with their swimming. Addison has no fear at all and will be all over the pool. Charlie is more apprehensive, but adjusts fast. They both begin their second round of swim lessons this coming week. Scott had them standing on his shoulders before too long and I was trying to get them to bust into a cheer, but so far that is a big no. I won't give up though. They both have just started gymnastics- so we shall see!

Happy 4th of July 2014 in Music City Nashville

The fourth of July has always been a special holiday for my family... when I was growing up, we always celebrated my Grandma's birthday. It was a time we were all together and created many precious memories and shared so much love. It is funny - what we remember... It seemed it was always a big deal. I am still adjusting to living in Tennessee and it gets easier and easier. I guess one just gets use to being far away from family. This year, my Mother is here and that has made a world of difference. The 4th though is tough... Anyone in my family probably feels the same way as me. It is almost impossible to think about the 4th of July and not think about my Grandma. They just go together. I still think about her often. My Uncle Tom too... I remember him helping me (not yelling at me) when I stepped on a sparkler after I was told to put shoes on and didn't listen. How he was so prepared with the fire hose when we did our home firework shows. So much has changed in our lives and yet we go on. It is different, we are different, but we continue to live. We hear their voices in our heads and we pass their messages onto the hearts of our children, on holidays and everyday. Last year on the 4th it rained the entire day, in fact in most places in Tennessee the fireworks were postponed for another day. So this year I was in the mood for something extra special. I wanted to share the moment with my girls and probably keep my heart a little distracted. We decided to face the crowd and head downtown. It was an easy decision really - mostly because Billy Currington was playing at the free concert before the fireworks show! Charlie Mae - LOVES Billy Currington! He is her all time favorite! This little girl is so smitten it is unreal! And he was amazing! The girls really enjoyed themselves. I think we all had fun... well, maybe not everyone! Scott of course struggled with the crowd and it was insanely crowded. We got there a little after 2:00 so the girls could go to the family fun zone and jump on the inflatables and slide through the pop-up water slides. They were able to get their temporary tattoos and played a little street hockey. We really had a wonderful time. I was struck in awe by the crowd... walking down Broadway is an incredible feeling, the loud music, the view of the Cumberland River, the smell of the food vendors and the gigantic stage that was in front of us, all covered by a sea of people. We went down in front of the stage a little after 5 so we could secure a seat for the girls. The concert didn't start until 6:30 - they managed to entertain themselves with their laughter and dancing! I think they really put on their own show for the crowd around them. My girlfriend Becky went with us and she has 2 young boys. One is 6 and the other is 2. Her youngest slept through most of the downtime in the comfort of a stroller. Once the concert start, the kids were in awe. They simply danced until they fell asleep. We found out later that there were over 215,000 people there. We knew it was a lot, but we had no idea it was that much. Seeing the smiles on their faces when Billy Currington started - well it made it all worth it. Even the hour wait to move our car out of the parking garage. And we must really admit the fireworks show was the best I have ever seen. It was amazing! The Nashville Symphony played during the fireworks and it was absolutely amazing! I couldn't believe how beautiful the fireworks were. Addison only saw a few minutes of it because she fell asleep fast! Scott had a hard time holding her after awhile, but he managed. All in all it was a wonderful day.