Falls Creek Falls & Cabin

We said good bye to the Bulls and decided to go a little out of our way to stop at Fall Creek Falls TN State Park

and we were impressed with the falls we found!

(little did we know, there are lots of fall in the mountains!)

Lydia wanted to cross a cool bridge. This swinging bridge fit the bill!

Falls Creek Falls, one of the highest waterfalls east of the Mississippi

Piney Falls

With an hour and a half to go, we needed to fill up on gas and the girls were getting antsy, so it was the perfect time to redeem their road trip bucks for a slushie! They were quite happy and proud.

Before long, we arrived at our cabin "Mountain Mischief" in Sevierville, behind DollyWood.

The hill was steeper than it looks..parking was a yikes.

But the views were worth it!

Loved the cabin and having a full kitchen!

Abigail wasted no time settling in and showing us around her room.

 After dinner, we jumped in the deck jacuzzi!

Then got the rest of our energy out on a "flip-flop walk" 

and saw signs of Spring everywhere.

Taking in the night time view. Good Night Mountains

Happy Easter!

Warning: I took a lot of pictures this week, and I'm going to include most of them because I haven't been taking a lot of every day home pictures, but I bothered to have my camera ready most of the time this Spring Break. It's just going to take me a while to sort through and mesh the icloud and Olympus pictures.

Road trip smiles courtesy of activity binders, books, DVDs, pretzels, candy, Road Trip Bucks (tapping into the school's Bucky Bucks reward system) and Audio Books (The Boxcar Children, Fantastic Mr. Fox). The audio books kept the whole car entertained and let the kids still look out the window.

Indiana Visitors Center Restroom Stop. 

One Road Trip Buck earned thus far (redeemable at gas stations and gift shops).

We started our Spring Break Family Road Trip on Friday. Stayed 1 night in Scottsburg, IN (Hampton Inn-swam in pool) We broke up our road trip quite a bit, and it made the whole vacation painless and more relaxed and fun. We made it to the Bulls in Castalian Srinngs, TN in time for a Saturday Easter picnic and egg hunt. 

happy to see Spring in Bloom!

and cute baby goats!

Abigail's egg hunt

Lydia & Emily's egg hunt

More fun with cousins!

The farm house was so cute and spring-y!

Emily & Lydia, Pen Pals

 Karla set out everything to dye eggs.

Everything's better with glitter. Except eggs. Eggs are better with a dash of salt and pepper.

 The girls loved the swing; wish we could swing one of these in our backyard!

 And enjoyed their beautiful acreage with a walk

Hailey, Ben, Lydia, Uncle Rob, Emily

 

We got to experience sleeping in a camper for 2 nights. Played Uno in the camper.

Hailey playing Blink with Abby

 Easter morning egg hunt.

Glorious service at First United in Gallatin.

Out to eat downtown Gallatin with the lovely hospitable Bull family!

Was very nice to stay by the Bulls over Easter. It was a major highlight for Lydia! Abby did not want to leave their pretty kitty (by the planter).

Weekend To Remember

Time for a marriage tune up! We went to Weekend to Remember in Peoria 10 years ago, and last weekend we got a group together from church and went to one in Chicago.

The speakers have a knack for telling relevant engaging stores, and a passion for applying Christian principles to practical family life. We enjoyed good fellowship and time without distractions.

Wild Fire Restaurant for Date Night in Lincolnshire

We ended the conference legitimately renewing our vows (as a big group) and had these couples sign the covenant as witnesses, which was neat.

Thank you to Grandma Linda for babysitting for the weekend!!

Abby's Barbie Birthday Party

Abby's ready for her guest to arrive for a magical time!

 (I can't believe she's 6!)

 Kids Table with cousins and friends, McKenzie & Ainslee

 Pizza! (Quincy and Levi loved the blowers)

After lunch, the girls went downstairs and did Barbie Sing-a-Longs or "Kept Calm and Played Barbies,"

  and then came up for a "Pin the Tail" type  game.

All these kids did a nice job getting Barbie ready to go out!

"Time to Open Presents!"

"Lydia's going to sit next to me so she can read my cards."

"Oooh, yay!"

"Happy Birthday to Abigail!"

(Those are Barbie babies she put on her brownies)

Keep sharing that smile with the world, Abby!

"Get your sparkle on. Show this world where you belong." -Barbie

Happy 6th Birthday, Abigail!

 Happy Birthday to our girl who's silly, hard-working, a super reader, a homebody, a risk-taker, our family clown and so much more!

Did I mention she's occasionally our family clown? :P