Wash Your Bad Mood Away

Glow Boy!

I'm sure I am not alone when I say that kids and staying up late do NOT mix well!  Little Guy has had more than his fair share of staying up late this summer.  One night he didn't make it to bed until almost 11pm!  This would not be a problem in our household except for the fact that Little Guy doesn't know how to sleep in.  It doesn't matter what time he goes to bed, he is up by 8am, and if I'm lucky, 8:30.   Little Guy doesn't take naps either, unless we're in the car (and we're within 3 miles of home).  I've been known to sit in the driveway with the car running for up to 45 minutes so he can get a nap in!  With the staying up late and getting up early comes a very rotten mood!  I have seen them all over pinterest- those glow sticks and kids in the bath tub.  I pinned one of them thinking maybe we would give it a shot, but it wasn't up there on my priority list.  There was one evening that The Hubs and I had just had it with the attitude and just all around bad mood coming from Little Guy, so at bath time, I decided to try something different.  I had a stashed container of dollar store glow sticks from God knows when, so I broke that baby open and started activating the sticks....... um, maybe not?  Out of the ten glow sticks in there, like three of them worked!  So mad!  Note to self: use up dollar store glow sticks quickly!  It's a good thing I recently bought a couple of larger glow sticks for a different project.  It didn't matter at that point, Little Guy's bad mood needed some serious shifting, so I started activating! I am SO glad I did this!  We filled up the bath tub, Little Guy got in, I turned off the lights and The Hubs threw in the glow sticks.  It was seriously pretty cool!  Little Guy immediately got happy!  He asked if we could do it every night.  Well, no, then we'd probably go broke.  I'm guessing the stock exchange for glow sticks isn't very high... : )

The Big Glow Sticks

Glow Cup

So there you have it.  Bad mood got you down?  Take a glow bath!  It works!

So Long, Farewell....... Gooooodbyyyyyyeee!

Tallulah Falls, GA

Our last day in the mountains wasn't spent doing anything special, but it was memorable!  We started our day at Nutmeg Bakery, which opened up last summer.  This place has grown so much in the last year, and they now have a restaurant attached to the bakery.  Little Guy had french toast.  He wasn't even half way through his meal when he screamed out in pain that his teeth hurt.  I assumed he bit his cheek or something and just didn't have the right words to describe what happened.  So I amused him and looked in his mouth and lo and behold, he had a loose tooth!  His first!  I was soooo not ready for that!  I thought it would at least be after he turned six!

We have a wiggler!

Little Guy of course didn't want to finish his breakfast.  For some reason it hurt to do so.  I don't think it hurt so much as it just felt funny and unnatural to him.  We wore my grandparent's out the two days prior, so Little Guy and I did a little last minute souvenir shopping at a place they used to take me as a kid.  Maggie Valley Market Square looks the same as it ever did.  Some of the shops are still the same, of course there are new tenants in others.  It was too early in the day for ice cream, so we opted for the Jelly Belly store and picked out a small bag full to eat on our long drive home (we still have most of that bag, but that's another story for later in this post).

saying goodbye

He's looking at the camera!

I decided to take things slow on our journey home and not do it all in one day.  Little Guy and I made our usual pitstop in Tallulah Falls, GA and did some hiking near the falls.  We didn't hike all the way down to the gorge because I still had quite a bit of driving to do, and I don't think Little Guy would have made it down all those stairs.  We did however, have some spectacular views from the trails we did hike:

Tallulah Falls

We were really high up!!

From there we kept driving and finally stopped at our half way point in southern GA.  We had a nice dinner and went back to our room to chill and sleep.  Little Guy woke up around 12:30am screaming that he was going to throw up...... and throw up he did.  Twice.  All over the hotel floor.  Then the diarrhea started...  I finally got that mess cleaned up and got him settled back in bed and was almost asleep, when he started making panicking noises again.  I grabbed our makeshift puke bucket {aka ice bucket} and turned on the light. He was trying to tell me he thought his tooth fell out!  The poor kid almost swallowed his tooth because he didn't know what to do, and I was fumbling with the words and finally blurted out for him to just spit it out in my hand!  What a cluster!!  I was excited but also disappointed because The Hubs missed the whole loose tooth experience.  We did call him and did a little FaceTime so he could see the tooth and resulting hole it left, plus Little Guy's reaction.  That made it a little easier I think.  Little Guy left a note for Tooth Fairy asking her to leave the tooth so Daddy could see it.  She of course allowed it because I'm sure she was just as unprepared as I was for this whole ordeal! ; )

Little Guy's note (name removed) and tiny tooth

checking out his new look

Little Guy with no tooth!

Of course the diarrhea continued the next day all the way home.  It felt like it took FOREVER to get home.  On top of that, we were racing against the clock to beat Tropical Storm Debby.  There was a point when Little Guy needed the potty, but the exit looked a little shady so I didn't stop.  Good thing too because 30 minutes later we heard on the radio that a tornado touched down in that exact area!!  We finally made it home in one piece, but Little Guy was still not feeling 100%.  He finally, a few days later started feeling better, however he missed out on his very first summer camp experience because of it.  O well.  There's always next year!

Sharing Some WWII Memories

Little Guy on the Bush's Beans truck

Nearly every visit to my grandparent's house, we visit the Tennessee Museum of Aviation, which is relatively new.  This year our trip was really very different than it ever has been.  First, we stopped at the Bush's Beans Factory to see how Bush's Beans came to be.  It's a pretty cool FREE self guided tour.  Little Guy thought it was pretty neat as long as I didn't linger too long reading the "grown up stuff".  They did have a fancy hands on demonstration on how a Bush's Bean goes from field to can.  We had to do that one a few times and Little Guy only went on to the next thing because he could get his picture taken with Duke (not the actual dog, but it's a photo booth and they insert Duke once the picture has been taken), and it's FREE to keep the photo!

dumping the dry beans into the soak tank

After our tour we walked over to the Bush's Family Cafe' and had some yummy ice cream!  We did a lot of consuming of ice cream on this trip, that's for sure!

sitting outside the cafe'

Once our tummies were full on ice cream, we headed down the road to the Warbirds Museum.  They have all kinds of planes and replicas in a warehouse, along with a museum which houses memorabilia from all the conflicts and wars this country has seen- from uniforms to helmets to partial engines, they've got everything.  They had just gotten in a piece from the USS. Arizona days before our arrival!  It's really actually kind of cool.  My grandfather flew the P-47 "Thunderbolt" during WWII.  This museum happens to have two ACTUAL Thunderbolts!  The man who owns the Hun Hunter (I only know him as Neal) was there that day so we finally got to meet him (Papa talks about him all the time).  He showed us around and took us to the back of the warehouse where he had just brought in the plane form that was on the sets of The A Team and Fantasy Island ("Look boss, da plane!").  He then let Little Guy climb into a replica of a fighter jet (I don't know what it's called, sorry!)

Little Guy in the cockpit of a fighter jet

pretending to fly!

THEN I was in for a surprise!  While I was supervising Little Guy up in the jet plane, Papa had asked Neal if I could sit up in the Hun Hunter!!  It was really neat, and also intimidating.  To think that the men who flew these planes during wartime, did so on their own, in that little tiny cockpit.  Neal showed me where the throttle was and talked me through take-off and landing procedure.  When piloting the Thunderbolt, you basically take off and land blind because the nose points skyward while on the ground.  The pilot also has to sit on his parachute and if there were a need to use it, hope his canopy opened.

Neal opening the barrier so we can get a closer look at the Hun Hunter

That's me in the cockpit!!!

Little Guy pretending he's riding the prop around :)

so cool!!

this is the control panel in the tiny cockpit

In the above picture you can see my grandma in the top left corner.  That will give you an idea as to how high up off the ground you are while in the cockpit.  When we got back to my grandparent's, Papa and I watched the movie Thunderbolt (1946).  Now if you know me, you know I'm not really that into watching old war movies, but this one was different.  It featured real WWII footage, which included the Hun Hunter, the very plane I was sitting in hours prior!  The fun didn't end there!  Little Guy got a chance to sit in the cockpit of the Hun Hunter as well!  Neal helped him climb up on the wing and then hoisted him up into my arms.  He thought that was the coolest thing ever!

Little Guy and I in the Hun Hunter

Since one can't go to The Warbird Museum without making a trip into Pigeon Forge and eating at The Old Mill Restaurant, that's exactly what we did.  Yummy!  Little Guy and I dropped Grandma and Papa off at the door and started the search for a decent parking place.  Well, by decent, that meant the equivalent of at least 5 football fields (it was really far away)!  We technically parked in the parking lot for Patriot Park, which was fine with Little Guy because we could look at the rocket on our way to the restaurant.  At least we got to work off some of our dinner on the walk back to the car, right?

Little Guy actually wanted to pose for this one!

Playing with his new Army trucks while waiting for dinner

Looking back, that was a pretty awesome day!  One that I will remember forever.  I mean how many people can say they sat in a plane just like the one their grandfather flew in WWII?  I really hope Little Guy can remember this trip as well, but I don't know.  I don't think I remember anything from when I was five.  This confirms why Papa always drove a car with two feet.  If you scroll back up to the picture of the cockpit, you can see the flap peddles just above each of my knees.  I remember when I was learning how to drive, he kept wanting me to drive with both feet.  No way!  It just feels so unnatural, but now I understand why, to him, it was second nature.  When you spend more time in the air than in a car, it's only natural you would use both feet, right?

All Aboard!

Little Guy with Grandma and Papa aboard the Smoky Mtn RR

I can't tell you how many times we've gone to Bryson City to get on the train only to be told they're sold out.  Grandma surprised us this time by pre-booking seats ahead of time.  Little Guy had no idea what he was in for!  In the past, we've gone all the way there and not gotten on the train of course, so we would eat in the restaurant and visit the little bookstore across the street from the station.  Poor Guy thought that's what we were there for this time too!  When he finally processed that I said,  "No baby, we're going to ride on the train this time" he was SOOO excited!

Super excited to get to ride the train!

So, after a short wait while Grandma picked up the tickets, they called "all aboard" and we boarded for our adventure aboard The Great Smoky Mountain Railroad.  I hadn't been on the train since I was a kid, so it was a nice treat for me as well!  Remember the movie starring Harrison Ford called The Fugitive?  Remember the train crash scene?  It was filmed in The Smokies right along the very track we were traveling.  They kept the crash site preserved from the movie for us to see along our journey to Dillsboro.  So cool!  The movie was made after my last trip on the train, so this was my first time seeing the wreckage.

A peek at the wreckage from The Fugitive

Of course no train ride would be complete without a train robbery and a rescue from The Lone Ranger!

The Bad Guy

Little Guy with The Lone Ranger

Grandma and Papa checking out the sights

Once we were in Dillsboro, I totally had a flashback!  It hasn't really changed much from my childhood.  Papa surprised me that day.  He pushed himself and actually was able to walk pretty far.  He not only did really well getting up and down from the train car, but we walked down to the General Store, which has an old time soda fountain and he only stopped to rest once!  I guess he really wanted that soda!  Who can blame him, they make really good stuff!!

Enjoying sodas, shakes and ice cream at the General Store

Of course, since we were in the General Store, there was shopping to be done.  Little Guy found the display with polished rocks, so I let him pick out a small bag-full.

picking out his rocks

After a while it was time for "all aboard" again for the return trip to Bryson City.  I snapped a quick picture of Little Guy on the engine (his favorite part of a train) before we climbed up into our car.  I know you can't tell by the fake smile on his face, but he was really happy!  I think he thought we were doing something wrong because the engine was running, and people were boarding.  O well!

On the engine

It was a rather quiet trip back to Bryson City.  Little Guy played with Papa's cane for a bit, but then he succumbed to the gentle rocking of the train car and we all took a nice little nap!

The Poser

Nite Nite Termite!

An adventurous beginning

Little Guy working on his car book

Little Guy and I had the best time in the mountains this year!  We didn't do a lot, but it felt like there was something to do everyday.  This post is going to be full of pictures, so please bear with me!

Our first morning there, we had breakfast at Maggie Valley Restaurant, my grandfather's favorite (I think that's only because he can still manage to drive there seeing as how it's like 100 yards or so from their house)  Little Guy had pancakes:

Followed by some souvenir shopping:

Little Guy's gem necklace

Ever since our last visit, Little Guy has been all about the mini golf.  He loves it!  So I promised him that we would do that our first day there.  He didn't seem to understand that we couldn't play upon our arrival at 10pm, after a mere 13 hours on the road!  So we played our first afternoon there, and he was sooo happy!

Playing Happy Gilmore style!

Nice backdrop for mini golf eh?

We then checked out the new Hillbilly Grocery Store, which was seriously needed in Maggie for those who don't want to drive into Waynesville for toilet paper and milk.  We picked up some drinks and a snack and sat for a while to talk and plan out the rest of our day.

Behind the store is a huge field of corn.  There was a little break in the fence, so I took Little Guy over to show him what corn looks like while it's growing.  He wasn't that interested because he doesn't really like corn all that much.  Perhaps I should have told him that's also where popcorn comes from!  I've always heard that corn should be "knee high by fourth of July", so I'm a little confused as to whose knee they were referring to, a giant?  Exhibit A below:

It's bigger than Little Guy, and this picture was taken the 3rd week of June!  As you can see in the picture he thought the camera was going to steal his soul.  He gets like that A LOT, like, it's sooo incredibly hard to get a decent shot of him on the first try.

After our little break, we went on a little waterfall hike at Soco Falls.  I love taking him there.  This year it was easier to get Little Guy down the rocky trail since he's a little bigger, and can do most of the climbing on his own.  I took a picture of him in the same exact spot as last year and you can really see how long his legs have gotten!  He's growing up so fast these days!

Soco Falls 2011/2012

Soco Falls 2012

The view from near the bottom

He was so proud to hike down to the falls

We did some exploring around the house and Little Guy found the door to the crawl space under my grandparent's house.  He wanted to go in, but upon opening the door I saw all the duct work {aka fiberglass} and told a disappointed kid no.  He found a walking stick just like Papa's, so he used it to explore their yard:

Little Guy learned what it's like to care for a pet (or 20).  My grandfather has a huge koi pond.  Since he doesn't get around so well anymore, Little Guy got to feed them everyday.  He thought it was so cool!

Papa's Koi Pond

My grandmother loves bird watching, so they have a gazillion bird feeders.  Little Guy learned how to fill the feeders with seed, which did create a big mess.  No worries, he loves using a broom too, so he helped clean up his mess!

We would take their dog out everyday and "hike" with him up the mountain road the next street up from my grandparent's house.  We made soup:

And we saw a bear:

And a spider:

Made some wishes:

Saw lots of flowers:

And chased a robin:

We did a few activities during our downtime to avoid the whole "I'm bored" syndrome.  Who knew a stack of red Solo cups could keep a child occupied for almost an hour??  I kid you not, Little Guy loved stacking the cups and knocking them down and stacking them again.  He did this several days while we were there!  He hasn't touched them ONCE since we've been home, but at least it did the trick while we were on vacation!

Stacking 'em up...

turns out you need 21 cups for a huge tower, so his head is the 21st cup!

knocking 'em down!

I also found, before we left, a scavenger hunt.  So I printed it out and used my laminator (love that thing!) so Little Guy could use dry erase markers and have several hunts.  We found everything but the turtle, helicopter seed, nest and bunny.  Not bad!  It really made us slow down and actually use all of our senses to find the items on the list.  I was really surprised that we found a lady bug!  I was able to get the bug to climb onto my finger (I REALLY don't do bugs!), but when I tried to transfer it to Little Guy's finger it flew away! :(

all ready for our hunt!

We played balloon ping pong in the backyard.  It was pretty hilarious and Little Guy's patience was wearing thin because his coordination isn't exactly spot on yet.  He also got quite distracted with being in the backyard with all the birds/fish/sounds and he was onto another thing before I knew it!  If you do play this game, make sure to put your balloon back inside or weigh it down if you decide to take a break.  Our balloon got away from us and got blown under the ramp to the backdoor, which is surrounded by some rose bushes.  I wasn't going to be the one to get stuck by thorns to go in after it (I don't know how it didn't pop on the way in!), so we just left it there.  Little Guy was not happy.  Until the next distraction, anyway!

Little Guy also decided to serenade us with his fantastic ability to "play" the organ.  I was a little older than he when I started piano lessons... hmm.  Maybe a piano player in our future??  He really seemed interested in gently playing this time rather than banging on the keys.  Of course he had to push all the buttons, making it his goal to make them all light up!

Well, that's it for the first half of our adventures!  Coming up: a surprise train ride, a trip to the Tennessee Museum of Aviation, the Bush's Beans factory, Pigeon Forge, Little Guy's FIRST LOOSE TOOTH! and Tallulah Falls.