Wonder what the poor people are doing...

Greetings from gorgeous Gatlinburg! If I could blog from this view every day, I would be one happy mama!

Our trip started with a 3am wake up call. I can barely wake up on a normal day at 6:30 when my alarm goes off, but somehow I was wide awake when I heard my alarm ring! We finished packing the car, made some breakfast wraps, and were on the road by 4am. Lily was up until around 5, saying over and over “We’re going to Tennesee, Mommy!” We stopped at a rest stop around 6 and she woke up again. She was pretty pleasant, and stayed up til around 10:30. We step up the iPad for her and she watched some Elmo and Peg + Cat. The only snafu was when our internet connection was shotty and Netflix froze. She was usually pretty easily distracted by a snack, looking outside, or singing a song. I am so proud of how well she did on this drive! It took about 10 hours and then we were stuck in downtown traffic to get to the cabin for about an hour and a half. We just kept snacking and singing!

The cabin is beyond amazing. The wood detailing, the simple rustic decorating…I’d live here in a heartbeat! I tried to take some pictures but they don’t do it justice. I’ll try to update with some better pictures later. We’re getting ready to go on some sort of adventure downtown!

Greetings from Busyland...

Yikes I have been quite the slacker lately! And not in just the blogging department. I haven't done a Photo Shoot Friday in quite some time and my lesson plans and crafts been pretty lax. I blame the warm summer air, some mild laziness, and lack of time! We are leaving for our first family road trip vacation this Saturday at 4 am so all of my free time has been devoted to making lists, gathering supplies, packing, repacking, and stressing about packing. We're headed to Gatlinburg, Tennessee for a week with pretty much Jordan's whole family. The place is a huge cabin that sleeps fifty, complete with a kid's cabin on one of the decks. I can't wait to check the place out! 

I also decided to have Lily's birthday party the Saturday after we return from vacation. It was pretty much the only free day that most people could make and after not having a party for her last year because of trying to please too many people, I decided to just go for it. Most of my ideas are in my handy dandy spiral notebook, and everything but the food is bought and ready to go. I have a 12 hour car ride to sort out the little details. 

I also am bringing the laptop with us and my goal is to write a summary of our day, complete with pictures, for (my) family and friends without Facebook. It should be an interesting week considering there are about 50 people going. I have never gone anywhere with anywhere close to that number of people and personalities so I'm interested (and very anxious) to see how this plays out. My rules for myself are as follows:

1. Belly breathe when I feel overwhelmed. (We're sharing rooms so my first goal is to find a hiding spot that I can escape to when I need to collect myself).
2. "This is my vacation too" must be my mantra. (Tristan is a part of this trip but he has 49 other people to watch after him. Also, I do not have to clean up after 47 other people. Maybe if I keep telling myself this, it will click)!
3. READ YOUR BOOK. I am bringing two. I want to at least finish one. 
4. RELAX.
5. Enjoy yourself and your family time.

Since I am almost all packed, I am ready to pack the car and go. One more day!!

But today, I will put my worrying and stressing aside because my little girl turns TWO!! Happy birthday to the best thing that has ever happened to me. The amount of joy, happiness, and love she brings not only us, but everyone she has ever met, is just unreal. She's such a sweetheart and I absolutely love being able to watch her learn and grown on a daily basis. I am so very blessed!