Celebrating Dad

My father's 70th Birthday was earlier in the month (Oct 6th)....since he wanted to celebrate with his siblings in England on the big day, my sister and I (and our families) were invited to a weekend in Gatlinburg. It was fun. William hadn't seen his grandparents in a long time and I know he had a great time with them!

Tuesday, October 23rd - Since I had work a commitment in the morning, William went to preschool and when I was done Ben and I picked him up. Unfortunatley,he had already fallen asleep on his mat at school but his teacher helped me pack him up and he finished his nap in the car.

When William woke up, we decided to let him stretch. We still had 2 more hours to go. Pops helped.

William was busy practicing letters while we Pops was driving.

Map to the cabin, defiantly not to scale (and missing a couple of curves in the road)!

Wednesday, October 24 - The next morning we saw the view from the cabin. beautiful!

We all were a little stiff from sitting in a car the following day, so after a few bugs were worked out, we decided to take a late morning hike. William led the way!

Pops took William to the stream to throw leaves and rocks in. William saw a couple of trout (ish) too.

William taking a break with Grandpa.

After his nap Mom and I took William to the park for a run on the playground. Ben fixed steaks and fish on the grill with unseasonably good corn on the cob! It was delicious but didn't lure any bears out of the woods.

Thursday, October 25 - Ben, William and I decided to poke around in the craft shops with William before his nap. We found a place with live gospel music. William loved it and busted out some dance moves.

When Sarah and Wade arrived, it was time for William to get some excercise at the playground. Auntie came along and took some amazing photos.

Seriously? how do you pick good pictures when they are all good?

William also had some fun in the leaves.

When we got back, mom fixed taco salad for dinner. Yummy! Everyone enjoyed it including William.

Friday, October 26 - Men took an 8 mile hike to waterfall.......,

at the top (below)!

...,,,while the women and William took a ranger guided walk with William. Again, Auntie Sarah took amazing pictures.

My little comedian (below)

We saw some dear but no bears. The ranger said that the park had 2 bears per 2 square miles......our bear spotting chances were very good!

but no bear was seen by either group :-(

The ladies we also went to a tea room (The Wild Plum) with William since the men took a picnic on their hike. William was so good and won lots of old ladies over with his smile.

We had a little wait at the tea room. William had the crowd entertained until our table was ready.

Entertained with a rock game of course!

When everyone was back at the cabin, we celebrated Dad's birthday.

We decided dad needed help filling his new wine cabinet from mom. Wine accessories (and a Gatlinburg Mug) to accompany a Virginia wine subscription! Sarah also wrote a poem framed it with a spot for a group photo.

Saturday, October 27 - Saturday morning (our last full day). It was chilly and drizzly but the group didn't let that stop them. William was the first up. He hit the ball like a pro!

Checking out the green like his Pops taught him.

Watching the professional (Wade).

William waited for his turn like a pro.

A little bear wrestling before the last hole.

William says Grrrrrr. This ended up being the closest thing to a real bear that we saw the whole trip.

Wade came in 1st, William came in second.....we are still trying to figure out how William did so well.

Later that evening we had dinner at an 'authentic' English pub. Here is our group picture before dinner.

The food at The Fox and Parrot was excellent but i think that everyone was in agreement that the tavern was more authentic to Gatlinburg instead of England. We forgot to take a picture :-(

Sunday, October 28 - packed up and drove home - No teddy bear picnics on this trip!

Ben, William and I stopped at a restaurant we really enjoy (The Old Mill) for Breakfast. Loved looking at this tree while we ate.

Hope you had a wonderful 70th Birthday Dad and that you fulfill your dreams for the coming year.  Your family loves and supports you.

Love,
H, B & W

UPDATE: for more pictures and videos (for William's Groupies), go to his Omi's blog (here: Feeling Blessed).

Posted with Blogsy