Unwrapping frenzy

All I can say is Christmas present unwrapping was crazy this year. Harper was not shy about ripping into every gift bag and pulling out what was inside. Dylan originally told us he wanted everyone to unwrap one present at a time so we could all see what everyone received, that plan soon went by the wayside as soon as he started opening his presents. We all got great stuff as usual and the kids have enjoyed their new toys and activities (thanks to everyone!). (If you click the arrow on the middle left of the photo you can see all our Christmas photos! Lucky you!!)

Harpers first visit to the zoo!

Sunday I took the kids to the zoo for the first time since Harper was born. I think our last trip to the zoo was for Boo! At the Zoo last fall. Dylan was excited to get back to the zoo and check out all of the animals, Wee Play Zoo and Kids Cove.

Harper was happy to just take it all in! Like most babies she is intrigued by everything around her, the more action the better.

I was able to snap a photo if her by the gold land tortoise, just like I did of Dylan on his first trip to the zoo!

Dylan loves the waterfall at the entrance by the black bear exhibit. (Map in hand, ready to go!)

GSMNP

We went up to the mountains a few weeks ago. It was Harper's first trip and from what we could tell she had a great time! We had planned on having a picnic lunch at the Elkmont Picnic area just outside of Cades Cove, but it was super windy so Dylan and I walked around a little bit before having our picnic in the car. We saw quite a few deer and turkey when we drove through Cades Cove. Towards the end of the Cove we saw a few males locking antlers over a doe. We also stopped at one of the historic cabins and saw 4 or 5 deer up pretty close. We always make fun of the people who stop at take photos of deer, but this time we were just as bad as everyone else :) There were a ton of trees down as we drove in on Little River Road,(not really on the road, but on the sides of the road)we have been going up to the mountains every year for the past 7 years we have lived in Tennessee and have never seen so many trees down. I don't know if it was from all of the rain we have been getting or the ice storms we had in January, but there were so many trees down. You can see all of the downed trees in the last pictures on the slideshow.

Pumpkin Farm!

We had a great time at Oakes Farm again this year. They expanded their "Back 40" area to include more activities for the kids. Dylan LOVED the kids corn maze and went through it with Dave multiple times. We also watched the staff shoot a pumpkin from the cannon, played in the bounce house, visited the petting zoo and went down the slides. It was a busy afternoon and we all had a great time. We even got a pumpkin!

On the hay rack ride to pick out a pumpkin!

Are we there yet?

Dylan found one!

See my stomach isn't that huge, if the pumpkin covers it up it can't be that big!

We found our pumpkin!

Dylan's favorite part, the corn maze!

Consulting the map. 

Laurel Falls Hike

Last Monday Dave, Dylan and I had a rare day to spend together and while it was raining when we woke up  I was sure it would clear up by the time we made it to Laurel Falls for our hike. Dylan loves hiking and it's been a long time since we have been able to make it up to the mountains for a hike. I decided on Laurel Falls for a few reasons, the waterfall, a paved trail and a relatively short hike (1.3 miles each way). The first hike Dave and I did when we moved to Tennessee over 6 years ago was Laurel Falls. I'd forgotten that it's basically uphill the entire way to the falls...

Dylan had a great time as usual and ran up most of the trail. He did have fun posing for photos too and wanted his photo taken on every rock we passed! Now if only we could get him to hike in shoes instead of rain boots!

No strikes for Dylan

We took Dylan bowling for the first time a few weeks ago. He had a great time and especially loved his bowling shoes. He even asked if he could take them home!

We haven't been bowling since Dave's 30th birthday, which is now 4 years ago! That does coincide with someone else turning 4 in a few weeks, coincidence? I think not.

Dave did a great job bowling as usual and Dylan did pretty good for it being his first time. I thought I did good considering I was 20+ weeks pregnant. Dylan only lofted the ball one time, which was impressive. He also had some rockin bowling moves that he put on display after he would roll the ball down the lane.

It was a heavy bowling ball!

Dave showing Dylan how to bowl. 

Even with the bumpers the pregnant lady didn't do very good. 

We survived!

We saw the dinosaurs and lived to tell about it! :)

 

We're going to see the dinosaurs...

Dylan loves dinosaurs, I am pretty sure most little kids do. He's a big fan of Dino Train, Dino Squad, toy dinosaurs, he's not picky, he will take them anyway he can get them. This weekend there are life size dinosaurs coming to the Knoxville Convention Center! From the photos I've seen on the promoters website the dinosaurs look pretty cool, and huge. At first I was a little worried they might freak Dylan out, but I showed him the website with the photos of the dinos (thanks for the tip Nina!) and he was super excited.

So tomorrow we are off to see the dinosaurs. What fun things are you doing this weekend?

Pumpkin Farm

Saturday morning we made our annual trip to the pumpkin farm. We decided to go to Deep Well Farm instead of Oakes Farm and generally we liked Deep Well Farm. It wasn't as busy at Oakes Farm and it's closer to home, but the farm left a little to be desired. They did have animals, which Dylan loves, he got to feed goats, pet a donkey, llama, baby pigs and see rabbits, ducks and chickens.

There was also a maze made out of hay bales, Dylan had fun making his way through the maze, but decided to climb on the hay bales at the end!

They also had a huge slide, tire swing, tractor, kids play area and corn kernal play area. Dylan and Dave made a few trips down the big slide.

After checking out all the animals and play areas we hopped on the wagon for a tractor ride over to the pumpkin patch. Dylan loved the tractor ride and didn't spend a lot of time looking for a pumpkin, he wanted to get back on the wagon for another ride!

All said and done it was a fun trip to the pumpkin farm. We got a few pumpkins and Dylan really loved the animals and tractor/wagon ride.

And who wouldn't love the llamas with a face like this?

Photoblogging: Boo at the Zoo

On Friday night Dave and I too Dylan to the Knoxville Zoo's Annual "Boo at the Zoo"! We all had a great time, it started with a ride on a big yellow bus from the parking lot to the zoo enterance. Our little fireman loves big yellow buses!

After we got into the Zoo Dylan was attacked by a huge beaver! Luckily it was a friendly beaver!

There were treat stations through out the zoo, so we made our way through each of them. Dylan did a pretty good job of saying "trick or treat" and "thank-you". Here he is checking out his candy.

Oreos! We got to see the elephants, zebras, meerkats, camels and a few other animals while we were at the zoo, unfortantely, part of the area where the treat stations were located didn't have any animals that you could see so Dylan was a little disappointed. But I think the candy made up for it!

Dylan the fireman!