Band Trip 2008 - Gatlinburg, TN

What a fun trip to the Smokie Mountains! This year we took a small group (2 busses) to Gatlinburg. We left Thursday morning and returned Sunday morning around 6:30 AM. While there, we got a 2 hour bus tour of the Smokie Mountains, hiked up Clingman's Dome, spent an evening strolling around downtown Gatlinburg, saw Ober Gatlinburg,went to Dollywood,and then finished our last night for dinner at the Applewood Farmhouse Restaurant. The kids were awsome and I think everyone had a blast. It's good to be back home. Next year we're off to New York City!

a day in my car

Today I got up with the roosters and drove Jacob to meet my parents in Mobile (half way to Louisiana). They are going to keep him for a week so I can go on the band trip with Hank. It took 5 hours to get there (with one stop) and then we had some lunch, I walked around a store and then drove all the way back. Uggg... 600 miles...I sure do miss my little guy already. I know my parents are going to have a ton of fun with him. And, oh yeah, he will be ROTTEN!! :) but that's what grandparents are supposed to do right :)...I'm so tired of my car that I may just walk to places tomorrow...Thursday will be spent on a bus for about 8 hours. This is not good for my workout schedule!!!

What a weird day...

For almost a year we have had NO neighbor upstairs. It's been awsome as the previous family was quite noisy. The past few days, we've been noticing that the noise was back and sure enough we have a new neighbor. Around lunchtime I looked outside and noticed this guy and a lady walking towards the stairs. I opened up the door and introduced myself. The guy was with his mom. His name is Shai (sp?) and he is from Israel. He seemed very nice and I didn't think any more about him.

Now the fun part....I went to the mall last night to stroll Jacob around and get out of the house. I'm cruising full speed ahead and when passing one of those carts in the middle isle, this guys says "Hi Tammy". I stopped - turned around - and sure enough it was my neighbor. He works for one of those stupid aggravating "dead sea mineral,, hand lotion, nail file, proactive" type products. Those guys drive me nuts!!!! You're trying to walk in the mall and browse, and they are just about ALL some foreign guy who barely speaks English getting in your face and begging you to try their product.!! (that's my experience at least)

So now if I want to avoid him, I have to cut through the Belk to get to the other side of the mall. So there's my day yesterday. It went well with Jacob and his meltdown day. He always has a "day" after we take a road trip. It's like all the extra tired he got on the trip finally catches up with him and he screamed like I was beating him silly about 5 different times yesterday. I'm sure the neighbor has called DEFAC already :/

So - how was your Thursday???

Oh- any new favoriste on Idol? I think I'm pulling for David Cook now. They fixed his hair so that's a good reason to vote for him now right? (giggle)

Gettin' Fit in Tamaqua

Here's what I found to do for my 30 minutes of fitness while in Tamaqua.

I was all smiles at the bottom. Once at the top of these 134 steps, I thought I was going to die!!! It was quite cold and windy that day. By the time I got back down to the bottom my heart was about to jump out of my chest. After the steps, Hank and I toured Tamaqua for another 45 minutes or so. It was the only sunny day so we made the most of it.

Spring Break in TAMAQUA, PA

No, we didn't head for the beach for Spring Break -- we went to Pennsylvania!!
We had a wonderful time visiting with Aunt in Tamaqua. Here's a rundown of our trip:

SATURDAY: Drive from Leesburg to somewhere in the middle of North Carolina.

SUNDAY: Drive from somewhere in the middle of NC to Tamaqua, PA. Of course, a huge dinner was waiting for us, including ham, sweet potatoes, jello salad, asparagus, and rolls. Tammy's parents, Jim and Sheri Spell, were there waiting for us when we arrived. Aunt even had a high chair ready for Jacob -- apparently one that Papa Carter made for Aunt Nancy and Dad to use when they visited!

MONDAY: We had to dress up for lunch. Aunt took us to The Stouch Tavern in Womelsdorf. It was fantastic (of course). Here's how often Aunt goes there: The daily buffet only has one item each day. They publish the buffet menu a few weeks in advance, but apparently they left Monday's menu out by accident. So, last time she was there, Aunt asked what was on the menu. The response: "I don't know; what would you like?" So Aunt requested carved roast beef and custard for dessert. And that's exactly what was on the buffet, just for us. Then we headed to Boscov's.

TUESDAY: Visited the Cabela's outdoor store in nearby Hamburg. This place is AMAZING!!! Jacob had a BLAST in the aquarium. They also have very realistic animal displays, which he enjoyed. We had lunch in their cafe, then off to Allentown for a not-so-quick visit to Walgreens to refill my nose medicine, which I didn't know I was out of. (oops)

WEDNESDAY: Spent the morning at the Hometown Farmer's Market. The fresh produce and baked goods were amazing! The "flea market" portion was less impressive. Jim and Sheri were hoping to find some "goodies" for their store, but they struck out. After lunch, Tammy and I took a walk in downtown Tamaqua and visited the restored Tamaqua Train Station. The restored station now houses a hobby shop, a restaurant, and a souvenir shop. We have some great pics from Wednesday -- stay tuned for those!

THURSDAY: Cousin Louise (Aunt's cousin, which makes us third cousins, I think) stopped by for a brief visit in the morning. It must have been at least ten years since I had seen her last. She still looks great, but she walks with a cane and can't drive anymore. After lunch, Tammy and her parents drove to Morgantown to hunt for antiques and china. Aunt and Jacob and I met up with them at the Shillington Farmer's Market, where we picked up two shoofly pies and a large supply of sweet lebanon baloney!!!! :) That evening we had a wonderful dinner with Aunt Susie, Uncle Joe, and John Scornavacchi. They had tons of toys, of course, so Jacob had a blast. We had a great time visiting with them. Jim Spell and Uncle Joe really seemed to hit it off -- Jim got a tour of the house and was very interested to hear about how they found it, how they built the addition, etc.

FRIDAY: Drive in the rain from Tamaqua to somewhere in the middle of North Carolina.

SATURDAY: Drive in more rain from somewhere in the middle of NC to HOME! It was a great trip, but it's great to be back.

Well, I'm tired, and I'm going to bed! Hope you all had as wonderful a week as we did. Please say a prayer or two for Aunt as she recovers from the whirlwind week we put her through! We had a great time visiting with her. We talked about everything: family history, the renovations of her house (which looks great - a huge improvement since last time we were there), politics, traffic (yes, Tamaqua has traffic), and a host of other things. Jacob was extremely well-behaved for the entire trip, especially in the car. We were very proud of him, especially since he missed several naps as we were running around. Anyway, check back later for pics and even a few videos!