A Relaxed Atmosphere

My BFF Shelley wasn't as lucky as we were on her recent trek to Tennessee. Next year I'm going to ask her and Perry to go when we do so they can come back to the burg as rested and we were after our vacation.

Bing O

Recently I had a memory pop in my head that made me laugh. Several years ago my mom and I played bingo a few times a week at local clubs. One particular establishment had a different bingo caller each week and each one had their own unique way of calling the numbers.

The one that brought a smile to my face would pull a ball out and say,
"i-twenty..............two!" Most of us would already have I-20 marked on several papers then he'd say 'two'.

After a few games we learned to wait until he was complete done with his drawn out number before we'd mark the page.

N-thirty...............four! O-seventy..............three! Thanks for the memory
Mr. Warren!

More Vacation Memories

Below are pictures I took in July of our vacation trip to Hidden Mountain in Tennessee. As I've mentioned several times in my past blog posts, we love this place and think it's just simply peaceful, relaxing and beautiful.



My good friend, Shelley, went there this past weekend but wasn't as lucky as me. You can see her blog posts here: http://whatifitdid.com/

When we travel to Tennessee, Ric has his 'special' places he likes to go to. The Knife Works is one of his favorites. I like going there too, not every day, but once or twice is good for me. I actually purchased all of my Bunko gifts there a couple years ago, and several months later when it was my turn to host the Bunko party, the girls absolutely loved their gifts!

We have found out the best and easiest cabins to get to and rent are the ones before the covered bridge. This might have been my BFF Shelley's problem. She went through the covered bridge and up, up, up the tall mountain. Once you go through the covered bridge, prepare to climb the mountain, and I'm talking roads that are almost straight up!

When we are relaxing at Hidden Mountain we usually spend one day driving around the grounds and looking at all the new cabins being built and the new landscape that is taking place. Up and down the mountains. During this trip, there is only one way to get around...

It's Livable Here!

Hidden Mountain lodge and villas.




Then there are the breath taking cabins...

Smokin Mountains

The story continues...

I am sure there have been millions of pictures taken in this exact point. This summer was the first time for us.



The day started out a little cloudy, but ended up with plenty of sunshine.

Wishin' This Was Ours

More Activities During Our Summer Vacation

I had been watching the weather in Tennessee for several weeks before our vacation. The place we were going was getting hammered with rain almost daily. This was good news for us!

The last time we vacationed in Tennessee, we got the bright idea to go river rafting. It was fun, but the water level in the river was extremely low, so most of the trip we had to walk the bank. One rapids we maneuvered punctured a hole in my tube, so the rest of the trip was quite boring.

This time was different. The water levels were perfect, the rapids were, well, rapids and the trip was fun! Entering the water up stream took your breath away at first, but as all of us got on our tubes and started floating down stream, we forgot about the coldness of the water.

The entire trip has four different rapids to go through. Sadly, I wasn't able to take my camera to get any photos. Heck, you'd better not take anything unless you want to leave it in the river! My favorite pair of sunglasses have been there for two years!

The second rapids we traveled through got the best of me. When I finally got above water, I could hear Ric yelling at Patrick, "Patrick!! Stop Mommy! Get ahold of her! Stop Mommy!" Whew! What a ride it was to say the least! After I realized I hadn't broken my knee cap on one of the under water rocks, I was able to get back on my tube and continue my journey. Just this week, my knee finally healed from the scrapes and bruises I received.

The third and fourth rapids were more gentler and kinder to us. Quick, but no problems. We did see some interesting things in the river like hunks of concrete with rebar coming out in all directions. Luckily, we seen it before our rafts did, so we didn't encounter any problems.

Ric said the trip was for 'young' people and he didn't want to go anymore. Patrick and I tried to talk him into another trip, but he didn't want no part of it. Oh well, maybe if we ever make it down to the River Rage again, we'll make more family memories...and live to tell about 'em!

Growing Up

Back to school this week for the kiddos! Some liked it, some didn't. Same for the parents. So far in our home it's been going good. Getting back in a routine can be difficult, but we have managed pretty well.

Each year I take a picture as I drop off Patrick for his first day. Of course, it's getting harder and harder for him to do the 'first day photo'. It's just not 'cool' anymore.

August 3, 2010, I still talked him in to giving me a pose...

The Heat Is ON!

Today we set a new record in the temperature from a previous record set in 1930. At 5:30pm, the tempature was 99.8 with a heat index of 123. I believe that has to be the hottest I've seen in a long time!

I think the sweat was sweating as it rolled down my face!


Our trusty theometer was recording a reading well above the 110 mark!

Sounds bad when you get into the pool to feel refreshed and you have to go to the shadiest spot in the pool...and you're still sweating!



Cold front coming through the 'burg in a few days. Temperature is expected to be only 88 on Friday!

Inside Hidden Mountain

Hidden mountain is simply beautiful. Every where you look there is a photo to be taken.