Summer Vacation 2015

The summer of 2012 was the last time our family of 3 has taken a vacation together.  That's pretty pathetic if you ask me!  But, due to my health issues, surgeries, transplant list, etc. we have been unable to plan and follow through with a real family vacation in quite some time.  So, we took advantage of a few days away this past week.

Our first stop was in North Carolina so that I could be a part of an event that my sweet friend Joy Greene was putting on.  I was supposed to be at a similar event when it took place here in Jackson back in January but just a few days before it was to happen I was hospitalized for two weeks due to a CMV infection.  I was SO upset, as I had been looking forward to this since she first told me about it back in September while I was still recovering from my transplant.  When I wasn't able to be there, she told me I could come to North Carolina in June as a consolation for my disappointment and frustration.  At the time, that felt like so far off and in reality, nobody knew if I would be able to make the trip or what condition I would be in come June.  I put my mind to it that nothing was going to stop me from going on this trip to North Carolina, not only because it was important to me but because I just wanted to prove that I could!!  Matthew and I decided to make a mini vacation out of it so that he and Kyndall could tag along.  We were hesitant to make any reservations or make too many plans because it seems that every time we make plans, some kind of issue comes up and I'm thrown back into the hospital.  Thankfully all my labs came back normal (normal for me) and we headed out last Wednesday afternoon!

But first, we stopped by the snow cone stand here in Jackson for our first one of the summer

North Carolina bound!

 Her favorite part of vacation is staying in a hotel

Mike Weaver of Big Daddy Weave was part of the event that I attended.  Joy was sweet enough to make me a VIP which meant I was able to be part of the meet and greet prior to the concert.

While I was hanging out with Mike Weaver, Matthew and Kyndall enjoyed a nutritious dinner at Waffle House and some night swimming at the hotel pool.  They picked me back up around 9:30 when the event was over.

Joy hands out cupcakes at the end of her events and I have YET to taste one because SOMEONE always gets ahold of mine!

 The next morning we headed for our next destination---Pigeon Forge!

As we were traveling through the mountains and the altitudes were changing, Kyndall said "Mommy my ears feel kind of nauseated."  :)

After checking into our hotel in Pigeon Forge we went straight to Gatlinburg to take Kyndall up to Ober....

(I decided not to drag my huge DSLR camera along with us on this vacation and THIS is when I started to regret that decision!  Cell phone pictures just don't cut it for me.  Oh well.)

Waiting our turn for the sky tram

(And, where did those long legs come from??)

Views from above Gatlinburg....

Once we got to the top, Kyndall REALLY wanted to ice skate but we talked her into a few other things instead....

Like taking the chair lift to the top of the mountain!

(That's Matthew behind us in the red shirt)

These are our "I'm not really sure what we've gotten ourselves into" faces....

We passed this and Kyndall thought it was funny

Kyndall was very concerned that I was going to lose my shoes. 

These are our "we made it up here alive" faces

My stupid phone didn't do a good job of showing just how beautiful the view was.  You could see for miles!  Totally worth the scary ride up!

Going back down.....

A little target practice before leaving Ober....

Such concentration......

Going back down on the sky tram....

Next stop, gem mining!  Kyndall LOVED this, which surprised me since she hates getting her hands dirty!

The gem "expert" told her what she found.  Her favorite was the rose quartz and the amethyst.  

We spent the rest of the night walking around Gatlinburg, which is my favorite thing to do!

We ended the night with dinner at Mellow Mushroom

Saturday was supposed to be the day we went to Dollywood but we woke up to rain and the forecast for the day didn't look tood promising.  There were still plenty of things to do so we made the best of it!

We had lunch....

.....And Kyndall met Elvis

When we asked her what she wanted to do first, she said without hesitation "go karts!!"  Thankfully we found an indoor track because it was pretty nasty outside.

Her next request was to play mini golf.  Again, we had to find something indoors but that wasn't a problem.  Black light mini golf!

My highlights were glowing!!

A glowing monogram!  :)

Next, a stop at Three Bears General Store for some homemade fudge and other goodies!

My dream!!! 

We had reservations that night for dinner at the Dixie Stampede.  It was our first time and we were excited to see what all the hype is about.

Pigs have flown.  My husband dressed in PINK!

 Everything you see on this menu was on my plate!  CRAZY!

There is no silverware allowed---You must eat with your hands!  My little clean freak nearly had a come apart when she realized this.  Thankfully our waitress tracked down a plastic fork for her so that she could eat without having an anxiety attack!

Entertainment while you eat

Then, I was the one who nearly had a come apart when they plopped this entire baby chicken (??) down on my plate!  If you know me at all, you'll know why this nearly made me gag!

After the show was over we made our way down so that Kyndall could pet the horses

Our waitress, Jenna, was AWESOME!  Kyndall quickly became her biggest fan! (Especially once she brought her that fork!)

Thanks for a fun night, Dolly!

As we were leaving dinner we got a phone call telling us there was an issue with our dogs back at home.  We hadn't planned to leave until Sunday afternoon, but instead we got up really early (like 4:00 a.m.) Sunday morning and headed back to Jackson.  Kyndall slept the whole way and so did I!

We were back in Jackson by 10:30 that morning, which meant we had the entire afternoon to enjoy Father's Day.  

We ordered out dinner from our favorite local restaurant and dined on the tailgate of the truck while Kyndall continued to dart in and out of the sprinkler.  Fancy way to spend Father's Day!

 Matthew got a new grill for Father's Day

Our vacation was great and Kyndall is still talking about all the fun she had.  I am pretty worn out and have spent the last two days recovering from it.  I guess I'm still not quite up to speed with my energy level but I know it will come with time.  Hoping it will find me before November when we head to DISNEY!!  I'm just thankful that for the first time in a long time we were able to spend some much needed quality time together as a family!  You really start to miss doing "normal" things when life suddenly doesn't allow you to.  I'm hoping this is the first of many memorable vacations to come for our family!