Dreaming of Spring

Lately, it's been really cold and wet, followed by teasers of semi-warm, only to be followed by more rain, cold, and SNOW... and, not necessarily in that order.

Typical.

Mississippians know that the Mississippi weather forecasts should be taken with a grain of salt, because its... well... it's Mississippi Weather! You didn't realize "Mississippi" can be used as an adjective, did you?

Well, all of this cold, wet, rain and snow has just made me realize one thing more: I'm ready for Spring, no, make that SUMMER!

So, in the back of mind, I've been contemplating summer routines, vacation, VBS, warmth & sun, among other things "summer".

And, then I begin to feel overwhelmed. OMG, where will be our 2010 summer vacation destination?? I have GOT to get on this!!! I'm late getting around to research, research, research and that could ultimately cost us, and you all know how thrifty I am, ha ha. Sooooo.... what are your suggestions for a summer vacation destination? We are interested in places that are not over-the-top, over-priced, or overly-crowded. In other words, KID-friendly. Suggestions, everyone!! :-)

Meanwhile, I'll continue to dream of SUMMER and I'll let you know if it helps to speed the process any. Here's some photos from our wonderful summer vacation last summer (Aug '09) in Townsend, TN - the Great Smokey Mountains. It was fabulous... my only complaint is that we didn't have more time to stay.

Our cabin, "Mountain Joy":




View from the front porch of the cabin:


We enjoyed seeing the wildlife, and even got a few photos of some creatures... the bear, unfortunately, was much too swift for this photographer as it ran across the road in front of us and off into the woods. So, our photo memories shall consist of the lovely deer, and this woodpecker, who apparently wants to be a model in his next life.





Jax and Joy both enjoyed the "shows" in Pigeon Forge, much to my surprise. The Comedy Barn was a favorite of the whole family.


No Smokey Mountain vacation is complete without a trip to Cade's Cove. Love it. It's serene, it's beautiful, and it's free! Most of the wildlife that we saw were inhabitants of Cade's Cove. We also like the history - I love the old cemeteries and churches, and we even helped ourselves into an old house too. I sorta felt like Goldilocks, sneaking in while the 3 bears were gone. But there was no porridge; not that I would partake had we found some there, ha. Well, whoever lived there left a great place for photos of the kids... too bad mine weren't exactly in the mood for an impromptu photo session! Just my luck. Anyway, we also enjoyed the gift shops, which had some great educational items, and some, well, unique items. Jax purchased his very first compass there, with his own money, and Josh found the funniest book there, although we didn't feel the need to purchase it this time (we already knew the answer, ha)



And, I think we'll end this post on that note.

How do we top the '09 laid-back, yet fun-filled vacation? Don't forget to send me your suggestions!