Caring for My Chaos

If you follow my Facebook, you know we got home yesterday. We had such a wonderful time. It didn't rain and wasn't too awful hot the whole time we were there. We got our fill of roller coasters and even got to see a couple of shows. We saw an a capella group sing fifties music, a show all about different birds of prey, including the barn owl and the eagle, and a bluegrass band. We did get soaked on a couple of the rides, which I did not enjoy, but overall had a fabulous family vacation. Now, we're looking ahead to Izzie's 23rd birthday this weekend! Her and her friends are going to camp out at our house. It's going to be so much fun! Then we'll start getting ready for back to school. This summer has gone by so quickly! Where did it go?

**This is a review of my own. I have no affiliation with Dollywood and my family just loves going there. All opinions are my own** For the second time, my family and I are going to Dollywood for our family vacation. Why, you ask? Because it is fabulous! This is by far the best amusement park we have been to. The lines aren't that long to wait in, the park is squeaky clean, the rides are all fun, the list goes on! Even the ticket prices aren't that bad! For a 3 day pass to Dollywood is under 100$ per person. And if you like water parks, it's just 10$ more for a 3 day pass to both Dollywood and Splash Country. We aren't big on water parks so we are just going to Dollywood. In addition to the rides, there are shows to see. I loved the show we saw the last time we were there about different birds. It was really neat to learn about them and see them too! Throughout the year they have different performers and singers in different parts of the park. It is a very family fri...

If you follow me on Facebook. you would know by now that last week, we went to California. This was our first big flying vacation with all three kids. We started out in Fresno and drove to Yosemite, which is so beautiful! I even got to see the giant redwoods on our anniversary! Hunny was determined for me to see them, and we had to go out of our way to find some because the Mariposa grove was closed because of fire damage. But, we found a place where the kids could get in the river and play and saw El Capitan! The views were breathtaking. We even got to see a bear on our way out. It is just truly beautiful. The next day, we drove to Monterey because I told Hunny that if I was flying that far west, I had to see the Pacific! Let me tell you, that sucker is cold! Much different than the Atlantic! But, I can now say that I have been in both oceans! And Hunny kissed me on both coasts, which was a mission of mine. All in all it was a fantastic trip and we had a lot of fun. The...

We try to do a vacation every year. Even if it's just a road trip, we feel it's important as a family to experience different places. We've been to the Outer Banks, Myrtle Beach, Dollywood, and this year our biggest, Yosemite. This will be our first trip flying, so that's going to be an adventure. When I was a kid, we didn't do any kind of big vacations. We did short road trips and it was usually to see family. I remember hours of sleeping in the backseat, usually on top of my brothers, in the floor, or when we had the station wagon, in the way back. I have seen most of the East coast this way. The key to travelling with your family is planning. The more you plan, the more prepared you are. I live by lists when I'm planning for a trip. My first list is what will be packed, in what suitcase and when. I usually do the lists about a week or so out and then pack the day before. I do not let any of my kids under 15 pack for themselves. I make sure there is clean u...

This is us at Dollywood's Splash Country! We went on a family vacation to Dollywood. I have to say that I'm really impressed with it. It's such a family oriented atmosphere. The water park was nice but we got tired of waiting in line quickly. The lines at Dollywood went so much quicker. We had gotten the 3 day unlimited passes which were actually cheaper than getting day passes! 99$ each for 3 days! I have to tell you, you must pick up those free coupon books around town. Those came in handy. We also went to Wonderworks, which we had never been to. That is so much fun! The only part I didn't like was the ropes course, but that's because you are suspended above the whole building walking on nothing but ropes. I didn't realize there wasn't any nets or anything when we got in line and kind of freaked out on it. I got off quickly. The kids liked it though! There's a lot of interactive activities throughout the building. Very impressed with that. We were a...

But we were at the beach! We went to Springmaid Resort in Myrtle Beach this week. It was so much fun and we needed it sooo badly. I got a whole week with Hubby uninterrupted! We had to go to a timeshare presentation, but that was so the hotel would be free. The pier was beautiful and Doodle went fishing one day, but didn't catch anything. But she loved fishing with Daddy! We couldn't keep Bubby out of the Lazy River. I am very surprised he didn't grow gills! This is Hubby and I on the pier in one of the cutout pictures. And here's Doodle in the giant Springmaid chair that's on the pier- On the way home, we decided to go up and take the 2 hour ferry to Ocracoke Island in the Outer Banks which was fun. We drove around Ocracoke on a golf cart and went through the shops there. Here's Bubby outside the museum for Blackbeard. Then we drove through Hatteras and stayed overnight just after you get on the mainland. Here's the kids outside a cool gift shop ...