1st Haircut

I held off as long as I could, but the baby needed a haircut. 

 I was able to let the other kids make it to their 2nd birthdays, but she just wasn't as bald as them.  Many would argue that I should've cut Jo's hair before then.

Something about giving a kid, even if it's not mine,  their 1st haircut takes away their "baby."

 She was wiggly, but not crying.

Big girl Cora!

Outtakes of May

May is always a great month.

Birthdays, mother's day, spring flowers, and the beginning of good weather.

 Chillin with her babies by the pool while I did yard work.

 Lillian's make up artistry.

Later she told me she wanted to tattoo their faces. 

I'm telling you, it's in her future.

 Kids rockin Pop Rocks for the first time.

 Birthday boy at FB

 Grammy came up for almost a week and we had lots of fun with her.  She took us bowling one night and made delicious cupcakes one afternoon with Lillian.

Cora wasn't messing around.

Cade's Cove

If you visit Smoky Mountains National Park, Cade's Cove is a must do.  It's so beautiful and you can't help but imagining living there.  As a kid I usually pretended to be living in the pioneer days while running around in the "bottom ground", if I wasn't pretending to be in Vietnam, but that's another story. So when I'm at Cade's Cove I just picture what it must've been like.

Oh yeah, the kids are getting big.  Just incase you haven't noticed. 

 So these kinds of trips are getting to be so much fun.

 This guy was super interesting.  He specialized in pioneer wooden toys.

 Cora thinking she was the shiz-it driving.

Yes, Grant was pretty much letting them all steer on their own.  You could see the driver ahead of looking back to see what in the world was going on.

 I had to pull off the road to play in the river.  

Being the sentimentalist that I can be, I love to see my kids experience the same things as me growing up.  

(grammar friends: would how would I punctuate the previous sentence or sentences?)

 belly, belly, belly

 Jo loved the rocks. 

 I think he's going to inherit my "collecting" trait.

 They were having fun in the water... until we started seeing lots of crawdads.

 One day we headed down to get face painting done.

I've been spoiled by the awesome face painting artist we encountered at events lately.

Lillian wasn't too disappointed that she didn't get the whole face "giant saber tooth tiger with really big teeth" that she had been planning. The 1st grade kitty cat was just as satisfying.

 Josiah not wanting anything on his face.  

 Cora going with the flow.  She got a green heart that matched her shorts.

Gatlinburg TN

John and Alma took us all on a vacation to Gatlinburg.  We had nothing short of an awesome time!

Being the "realist" that I like to think that I am, I had low expectations.  I was sure I was going to enjoy the time with out of town family. I was not sure on how much I was going to enjoy my own immediate family.  All the kids did wonderful!   Bedtime, nap time, quite time, busy time... they rocked it all! 

Lots of pictures here today so I'll just get to it.

Behind some of the condos was a really fun ditch creek.  

They were working on building a dam.

 One day the ladies took the kids into Gatlinburg.  

 Lillian.

 Mayfield's ice cream break.

Who doesn't love a carousel!

For some reason I tear up every time I ride a carousel with my kids.  I think because when I'm on one I feel like I'm still a kid and then it hits me and I get overwhelmed that I was blessed with kids of my own.

 We went go karting, laser tagging, and arcading for Savannah's 5th birthday.

 Playing cards.

 Josiah loves babies... especially Mallory!

 Savannah's cake

 One night we had Kate and Lillian spend the night together while Jojo and Savannah had a night at her condo. (no cora did not sleep in that bed with them)

 M&M pancakes with Peanut butter syrup.  

Lil's face says it all.

 The Pancake Pantry is a must if you are in G-burg. 

Get there early or you will wait in line. I had sweet potato pancakes with cinnamon maple syrup.

The "train" that ran around our resort.

I will have another post coming.  

For some other great picture check out here and here.

Thank you so much John and Alma for giving us great memories we will never forget!!!