Vacation - the PUREST form of birth control

Hey guys!!!
Hi there!
Did ya miss me????
~~BIG WAVE~~

I've been on vacation AND celebrating my birthday!
(hopefully I'm back now)
and here to tell ya ALL about it!

We journeyed down to Gatlinburg last week......all FIVE of us.... and for us - this means over 4 hours or so IN THE VEHICLE with 3 children  :)   One boy - two girls.
~Is Mary Poppins singing in your ear yet?  No?  not yet?  Let me remind you of the fact that the boy is a teenager ;-)    Are ya licking lolipops now???   cause I'm pretty sure Disney characters rode on the roof of the Trailblazer with us  :)
yeah.....
not so much!!!!!!  ha ha

So Preacher T is at the wheel, me riding shotgun and the 3 chillins in the back.. and we're off on our journey....
 
Z-man could pretty much sleep 24/7.  right?!  So that's pretty much what I think he attempted to do through the entire vacation!!  ha ha  Lord help us having to wake him up in the mornings.  And you KNOOOOW on vacation everyone always wakes up earlier.......not to mention T and his crew are morning people!  (BOOOOOo.... hisssssss.... BLECH!)  I despise those happy morning people.....  muahhhhhh!   Anyway - so getting Z up was even more of a chore than it is at home on school mornings.  He's a BEAR.  So at least we had THAT going for us!  ha ha

The girls.... well they are pretty close in age, so they are in a constant competition at everything we do....  they pick, they compete, they do what children do  :)
And they do what little GIRLS do......they sing and they play with dolls {their very own waky bears that they made on vacation}, and they wanna swim and they wanna CONSTANTLY be doing something  (in other words.......no napping!  lol)

Here's the kids summary on vacation.....
one sleeping one singing and one whining..... and they just took turns playing each part!

We really did have a GREAT time.  The weather was great the majority of the time  (one day it rained ALL day and it was cold, but luckily - the hotel had an indoor pool and waterslide that kept us entertained!) but otherwise, the temp was perfect, the sun was shining and we had PLENTY to do!

We rode horses, we rode go carts, we had an old time photo made.....and we ate.... and ate......and ATE!  LOL   Isn't that what vacations are for...  eating and NO sleep!  :)

speaking of sleep - I have to tell you - My FAVORITE {insert sarcasm} part of vacation was our sleeping arrangements.  I like to refer to them as our "laying" arrangements - cause that's all T and I did......we laid there.... and rolled around.... and tossed and turned....and got PUNCHED in the face......got cuddled.... got pushed to the side of the bed... listened to Z recite the Gettysburg address in his sleep!  HA HA Haaaaa!!!
seriously - out of ALL the three kids, we changed sleeping arrangements EVERY night - letting each have a turn on the air mattress and T and I sleeping with each of the others.
NONE of them are good sleepers.  By night 3 - I had slept with Z, I had slept with one of the girls, and I then threatened to sleep out on the sidewalk where no one could punch me in the face, and I didn't have to be awoken by conversations occurring in the middle of the night with the wall!
I need my sleep people!  lol

Other than the lack of sleep for T and I - the kids slept like babies and we all had a great time! 
{though even through the lack of sleep - I will tell you probably my MOST favorite thing was the morning T and I woke at 4 AM and neither of us could sleep, so T went and got coffee and just he and I sat in the dark, drinking coffee, watching tv...... little moments.....}

I'm posting some pics for your pure enjoyment!

{and remember that blog I posted some time ago - regarding whether or not I wanted more children - PROBLEM SOLVED!)  ha ha


Here's our old time PHOTO!
I LOVE it!!!!!!!!!!!  :)


This is how we spent our dinner time!!!!!

This is probably one of my favorite shots - only Z man had to take it so he's not in it.........

And here is Z sportin his MUSCLES on the outdoor waterslide.......yes in April - it was warm enough outside for the pool to be open........the water in the pool however, NOT so warm! LOL

And last but not LEAST.........

please allow me to introduce you to to.......

Preacher T and his massive STEED!!!!!!!!

Hello Kong.......nice to see you again  ;-)

Had a GREAT trip..........GREAT vacation.......a happy birthday
and GLAD to be back home
{and sleepin in my own bed......ALONE!  LOL}