Family, Friends, and Fun (not necessarily in that order ;>)

Sorry for the mile-long post; it may be boring for everyone but grandparents ;>) We have been on vacation in the Smokies; we rented a cabin for the week. Mark and I used to do that all the time, pre-kids, and would always have such a nice time. It turned out to be more fun than I originally thought it would be, just different, because we had to plan around kids' schedules (they continued to insist on sleeping and eating regularly). We bookended our trip with visits with family and friends. We worshipped and ate lunch (separate events ;>) with Rodney, Tricia, and the kids on the way up. Samuel always enjoys them, although these pics are all of Benjamin with their kids:

with Erin

with Matthew

with Clint

We had specifically booked a cabin with a creek because that was always our favorite thing about our prior rentals (our favorite cabin was no longer on the rental market). We had also wanted something private, so we inquired about what was across the creek, and found out there were no cabins there. When we arrived Sunday evening, we discovered that the creek was dry! (It was inappropriately named "Stream of Dreams" !) Monday, sitting on the wrap-around porch, I kept smelling something I could not quite put my finger (or nose ;>) on. Finally, a herd of cows came into view across the (nonexistent) creek. Ahhh.....now I recognized the smell. They certainly added to the "atmosphere", if you get my drift (which we did when the wind blew just right ;>) Also, I had no idea cows were so noisy ! I knew they mooed, but these also bellowed loudly enough to remind me of some scenes from Jurassic Park. Mark called the rental company about the missing creek, just to let them know we thought they should have told us. Surprise, surprise---they offered to let us move to another cabin on a creek. We hated to pack everything up again, but it turned out to be worth it. The cabin was newer, more private, on a wider creek that actually had water, PLUS there were no smelly cows---what more could you ask for ;>)

One view of the creek at the new cabin

Playing pool with Samuel, whose concept of pool was to kindly retrieve the balls that Mark shot into the pockets---the game that never ends ;>)

Ben watching us eat ice cream at the entrance to Cades Cove. (They have the best soft serve ice cream at the store there.)

Samuel was not a happy camper the day we drove to Cades Cove. We stopped at the horse stables to see about a carriage ride, but decided that would be a waste of money, as he wouldn't get too near the horses. To distract him as we drove through the Cove, we told him to look for a bear. He looked and looked, but no bear, so we bought him this one ^ when we got to the visitor center. He was so happy about it. And, naturally, when we left the Cove, we happened upon a mother bear and her 3 cubs off the side of the road near Laurel Falls !

This was visiting the farm of an artist we're acquainted with in the Smokies; Samuel wouldn't get too near his horses either !

We all played with water pistols bought on clearance at Walmart---who knew 15 cents could be so much fun! Samuel continually shot HIMSELF, but that's okay since we were shooting him too!

Family self-portrait in the creek

Catching minnows with Dad

....and picking out rocks to take home

With mom in the creek

We had such a nice time that we booked an extra day to our stay ! Coming home, we worshipped and had lunch with Matt and Amanda:

We finished our trip by heading to Mark's parents----4 of his 5 aunts and uncles that live in California and Washington were visiting the week we were gone, so we didn't want to miss seeing them before they returned home. Here are just a couple of those pics:

Mark's dad and Ben

Samuel with great uncle J.B.

Ben with great aunt Laura

We arrived home around midnight Sunday night; we've been "recovering" all week, but it was worth it !

Time Flies.....

when you're having fun.....and/or not sleeping! Benjamin has already turned 2 months old; he weighed 13 lbs 1 oz; that's 2 pounds since his 1 month checkup ! Our little butterball needs to slow down and not grow up so fast. He continues to be a "spitting-up, frequent-eating, sleep-disrupting, sweet and stinky" bundle of joy, and Samuel continues to be a loving big brother. We are very blessed!

Samuel spent Monday at the grands so he wouldn't "freak out" when they gave Ben shots (he had quite a meltdown at Ben's newborn check----why???---we do not know, as is generally the case with 95% of the things our 2-year-old does). Ben's appointment wasn't until after 1 pm, so I looked forward to extra sleep time with him since Samuel left with Mark. After the first feeding of the morning, he was fussy and wouldn't stay asleep. I finally took him to the living room to rock; after quite awhile, he fell asleep. I took him back to bed with me for my extra sleep but he woke up when I tried to put him down. Somewhere in there was another feeding, more attempts at trying to get him to sleep; a couple of hours had gone by, so finally, in exasperation, I gave up and decided to get up for the day. I made a quick trip to the bathroom and came back to get Ben, only to find that he was now sound asleep. I was completely awake by that time, but he slept for close to 2 hours. Of course ;>)

Here are some pics of our recent "goings-on" :


Our little triple-chinner; he's been giving us big "social" smiles for several weeks now, but it seems like we can never capture one on camera; we were close in this pic ^

Samuel usually wears his sunglasses around his neck (see "why??" comment above ^). He was whining in the car about the sun being in his eyes, so he was pleased to find out the glasses could actually help with that !

Our anniversary was last week; Ashley had asked to babysit the boys before she left for college, so we obliged and went out to eat *alone*----I think we'd forgotten what that was like, but it was wonderful ;>) Samuel apparently conned them out of this truck (or maybe it was freely given?); either way, he was quite happy with it. Thanks again !

The next night, we went to the very lovely wedding of Sarah Gwin. I don't think Samuel has ever seen so many dolled up little girls before. Didn't get a picture, but there was a lovely little Asian girl with a beautiful dress on that Samuel just stared and stared at; she stared back and after several moments of looking at each other, Samuel gave her a "hey" flick of his hand (reminiscent of an awkward teenager) and she left ! The above little girl was behind us in the receiving line. Samuel and she also stared at each other, face to face, and then started a game of copycat. She would stomp her foot, so Samuel would stomp his foot; she would pat her hair, so Samuel would pat his hair, etc. This went on for a variety of actions---as if they were looking in a mirror. It was TOO cute; wish we'd had our video camera.

Chloe Gwin shares her doll with a happy Samuel .

Two more little copycats !

Will, Samuel, and Claire on Claire's swingset.

Rosie endeared herself to Samuel by swinging him around several times (and also swinging him in her lap on the swingset).

I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream.....

...."for ice cream" is supposed to be the next line, but in our case it's "because we hate our carseats" ! And I hate them too ! We took our first road trip to Alabama to visit family and Dad couldn't come. I dreaded the drive, just under 3 hours, because Benjamin (as his brother before him) hates being in his carseat. Short drives in town are generally screamfests, so I figured how this was going to go. We were supposed to leave Tuesday, but Ben woke up that morning with blood all over the top of his sleeper. He spit up more blood after he got up, so we went to the doctor instead. The doctor thought it might be related to nursing and he ran some labwork; Ben was fine the rest of the day (and has been since), so he was probably right. Ben took a good long nap after the dr appt because they drew blood and I think he "wore himself out" crying. We had to go back Wed morning for a lab recheck (which turned out fine) before we left, and I think the same thing happened because Ben actually slept in the car for the first 2 hours---yay! So, we just need to have blood drawn from him before every car-ride ;>) I stopped to feed him after he woke up and then he pretty much screamed the rest of the way to my mother's house. Samuel only started whining a little before the finish line, so all in all I considered it a very good drive.

Coming home, I didn't get so lucky. Samuel got up so grumpy from his nap that I had two screamers pretty much the whole time...actually, 3 if you count me yelling at Samuel to knock it off ;>) I drove home looking over my shoulder every other second. Even if Ben would fall asleep for just a little bit, Samuel would wake him up with his carrying on. I tried toys, music, snacks, threats, and a "hands on" approach when Samuel was within reaching distance ;>) but all to no avail. Poor Benjamin was due for a feeding about 45 minutes before we got home, but I decided I couldn't stand to be in that car any longer than necessary, so I just kept driving. Of course Samuel did quit about 10 minutes before we got home, but at that point, what was the point---too late to save my sanity! I probably need to get tranquilizers before I do this again ;>) We have a trip to the Smokies in a few weeks, but Mark will be along to share the misery. And I need to find my ipod before then ;>)

Anyway, here are some pics of our trip and our little screaming banshees---they look so innocent, don't they?

Screaming Banshee # 1

Screaming Banshee # 2

Ben with Grandma

Ben with Uncle Wayne & Aunt Stacy

Ben with cousin Peyton & Aunt Sherrie

Samuel with his bud, cousin Trennis

Trennis, Ben, & Samuel; Samuel was so happy to be able to "take pictures".....even if the camera didn't work !

Samuel with cousin Brooke; Samuel was her little shadow, doing whatever she did. Brooke was a wonderful babysitter with both Ben & Samuel while we were there---as long as it didn't involve prolonged crying or changing diapers ;>)

With cousin Kayla, who just turned 16 & who discovered that "babysitting/babyholding" interfered with her ability to text on her phone ;>) Priorities, priorities.....

"When in Alabama, do as the Alabamians" ......Roll Tide

These next 2 are not from our Alabama trip, but thought they were cute:

Can you guess what Samuel has discovered? Powdered donuts! Obviously, he loved them, but I discovered after he ate the first one, that what he REALLY loved was licking the icing off and moving on to the next one.....a lot of dead donuts there that could have been put to good use ;>)

There IS an Easter bunny.....and her name is Shelby ! (This was a pic Jessica took and I couldn't resist posting it.)