Dollywood Overload

Have you ever heard of such a thing? Dollywood overload!! That's what happens when you have season passes, a 6 day stay in the mountains, and a 3 year old who thinks she's died and gone to heaven when she passes through the ticket counter into Dollywood!

On Tuesday morning, while I stayed at my grandparent's house and cleaned up for our departure, Jeremy took Addison back for the last journey through Dollywood for this trip. After a little over two hours of being gone, Jeremy text me and this was what his text said...."Scrambler 5 times, Larry and Bob - 4 (the miniature Veggie Tales roller coaster), elephants - 2 (the Flying Dumbos), Carousel, Pigs, Ducks, Bees, Race Cars 2 times. All in 2 Hours."

The mental image I got from this text was pretty hilarious. All I could see was this "video" in my head in fast motion of them going from ride to ride, running off to get to the next one. I got a good laugh out of it. I don't have a picture of the scrambler, but it's as nauseating as it sounds! But pretty fun! She obviously thought it was all that! Here are a few of the other things that she thought was pretty fun.

If you look closely into the car of the yellow cart, you can see both of her hands up in the air. You may have to click on the picture to enlarge it to see it.

Pony Ride

On the spur of the moment (pretty much) last week we planned a trip to Pigeon Forge / Sevierville before Jeremy's vacation time ran out on November 1st. We arrived late Tuesday night and have played hard since our arrival. Yesterday we spent the day at Dollywood and today we have done several exciting things as well since Dollywood was closed. I forgot my camera yesterday for the Dollywood trip, so I'll have to elaborate on today since I have the pictures.

In all of our visits to this neck of the woods, we have never visited the little petting zoo that is a few miles down the road from where we stay. So, today we decided to pay that little place a visit. It was tucked away in a little valley and was a pretty unique little place.

Addison was hilarious. Every different animal we'd see, she'd almost be jumping up and down with excitement yelling about the various animals. Her excitement was pretty funny.

The little joint required a little "safety speech" before we could begin our visit there. There were windows in the back of the little building where you had to enter the maze of cages and fenced in areas. As the lady began her little speech, Addison spotted a huge kangaroo right outside the door. She began yelling over the lady for us to look at the kangaroo. At this point she was so excited, we could hardly contain her. She was literally jumping up and down with her nose plastered to the window on the back door. I wanted to laugh in the lady's face because Addison's reaction was so hilarious, but was able to hold it together.

There were two kangaroos, and the first one we saw seemed as excited to see Addison as she was to see him. Actually a little more excited....as he tinkled a little before we could move her away from the fence. Didn't know before we got there that kangaroos got that excited!!

It was a really fun time. We got to walk in the goat pens and the deer pens to hold and pet the animals. One of her favorite animals to talk about was the "zonkey." In case you're wondering what that is, it's a cross between a zebra and a donkey. I have the pictures to prove it. It looked like a donkey in the head and body, but had striped legs like a zebra. Talk about an identity crisis!! For some reason, she really liked the reindeer as well. I'm thinking this has something to do with someone she seems to like!! And soon, she'll be seeing him quite often as well!!

Anyway, in anticipation of the trip, we found out this particular little zoo has pony rides. We asked Addison if she'd like to ride a pony. Being that she's pretty much terrified of most animals up close, we weren't sure if she'd do it (aside from the fact that she once rode a camel with Jeremy). From the time we asked her until the moment she got there, all she talked about was riding the pony and holding the "string." She was such a big girl. She thought she was all that with the pony ride. The little guy she got to ride was a beautiful little white pony named "Lil' Joe." Jeremy said that the entire ride, Addison kept telling "Joe" what a good job he was doing. lol

This next picture is actually right before she rode the pony standing out on the little landing where I stood to take pictures. She was watching another little girl mount the horse. I asked her if she excited, and this face was the reaction I got! Whatcha think? lol

I honestly think she would have taken "Joe" home with her if she could have. She liked him just that much. I have a feeling, we'll need to visit "Joe"once again. Well, enough of my babbling!! I'm personally having fun just watching her excitement in every new adventure. Heaven knows she has been slam full of energy.

I'll update again soon.......

Crabbing Update

Well, our little "cwabbin' " trip wasn't tremendously successful yesterday - compared to the last one, but Jeremy did get a bit of a crab dinner last night. He captured one of the largest crabs he's caught to date. He was pretty happy about that. That one was a vicious little thing. He gave Jeremy a bit of a nerve rattling when it was time to pull him out of the cooler and set him over in his prepared pot of boiling water.

That particular crab seemed to have become fond of his cooler and was not anxious to leave. I got a great laugh watching Jeremy and this crab fight it out. Ultimately Jeremy won, but his blood pressure had risen just a tad in the fight. It seemed the tongs were just short enough to let the crab reach out and grab Jeremy's hand with his claws. That was a risk that Jeremy was not willing to allow - hence the reason for the anxiety and the fight. Anyway, it was fun.....until Addison became unbearably sleepy and bored. We just gave it up and came on back home. But here are a few pictures to show you a bit about the location and the day!

Upon arrival, Addison was ready to get started. Doesn't she look excited about being there?
Here's a tiny bait fish that was caught in the crab basket. It was Addison's first "feel" of a fish. Jeremy was holding it's mouth - she was convinced it would bite her. I was holding it's fins so it wouldn't "fin" her.

Here's a picture of the "monster." You can see his size as opposed to the rest of them.

The New Hobby

Jeremy and Addison have a new hobby. I happen to be off today, so I got invited to tag along. Addison has taught me all the basics of this new hobby in the couple of hours in which we have been sitting out on this little rickety dock in the middle of a "creek" inlet that has some influence from the Atlantic Ocean.

Right now we are waiting for the tide to do it's "thing" so the two of them can show me how successful they are at their new hobby. If you ask Addison, her new hobby is called "cwabbin'!". She has all kinds of informative instructions to make this event productive. She's only been one other time, and she thinks she has mastered the art of "cwabbin'!".

Just in case anyone is still in the dark, we are out catching crabs today. I'll post pictures of our success as we go along. Patience has been Addison's biggest issue of the day thus far, or the lack therof!!

Quote of the Day

This morning on the way to work, I was listening to David Jeremiah preaching. In the reference he used this quote, it was very suitable, but I think it can be applied in more settings than just the one he used. I'll let your imagination work and your project of the day can be to think up all of the scenerios in which this could work.......

"No clever arrangement of rotten eggs will ever make a good omelet!"
- C.S. Lewis

"When God Has Another Plan" - part 2

I am sorry to report that Tony Greene passed away on Tuesday afternoon at approx 4:25 p.m. He left behind the most talented wife, TaRanda Greene, and two daughters, Belle (6), and Josie (2 1/2). Such a shocking and sad story.

Tony Green (R) and Jeff Snyder (L)

Excuse me for a few minutes while I pay tribute to the life of one of the funniest, talented and liveliest men to ever walk on stage. Last year I posted a video that I recorded of a song the Greenes sang at a showcase called "Song of a Lifetime." The host of the showcase, Phil Cross, actually wrote the song the Greenes sang that day. The song was called "Hold On." Before they sang it, Tony gave a testimony - and at this point, I'm really glad I got it captured on video.

Several days later, I posted the lyrics to the song by the Greenes that actually went to #1 in the Southern Gospel music charts called, "When God Has Another Plan." Apparently, because my post title was the same as the song, it seems that my site gets multiple hits of people looking for that particular song. This particular song has affected the lives of many people and it really hits home for the believer. As much as it spoke the testimony of Tony and TaRanda Greene last year, I can only imagine that this song will become a huger part of TaRanda's life than she ever imagined. At the same time, sometimes life leaves you little to no options beyond walking on to just accept what hand God has handed you.

Here's a link to the post that includes the lyrics to this unbelievably awesome song....one of my absolute favorites! Since then, some generous soul has shared the video of the Greenes singing it. I will also include my video of last year from NCQ for those of you who may be interested to hear what Tony has to say.

I also mentioned him being funny. He was constantly telling jokes and I've laughed at my share, but one of the most hilarious things I ever saw him do was last year during the awards ceremony at NQC. One of the problems that seemed to shadow the entire event of NQC last year was that the mics were a little delayed in being turned up, so very frequently we missed the first line or so of many of the artists songs because of this "glitch." Anyway, Tony and TaRanda were presenting one or two awards.....one was favorite Bass singer award (that much I recall). It took someone on each side of him to get him up to the stage for his part in the program. As long as it took them to get into position, when Tony spoke his first line of the presentation, his microphone was not on. He put the microphone down in his hand on his side and looked up at the speakers and yelled to the top of his lungs...."MY MICROPHONE'S NOT ON!" It was one of those - "have to be there" moments. It was hysterical. I have no idea what he said next - I was laughing so hard I didn't catch it......

Anyway......you never knew what to expect from him. Here's a tiny portion of a tribute to his life.