Our Week in Tennessee

Traveling by car had turned into a nightmare since Little Man came along 8 months ago. He has had very little patience with his carseat. He does not understand why he is not in Mommy's arms where he believes (logically, of course) he belongs 24-7. Therefore, we put off traveling big distances for awhile.

However, a year ago we had purchased a discounted travel voucher deal that was expiring this week. It was use it or lose it, and we (or at least the kids and I) really needed to get out of the house. It was important for us to go somewhere fun together as a family to slow down and reconnect without the hustle and bustle of daily life.

I was inspired by one of my facebook friends to make (Pinterest-inspired) traveling notebooks for the kids. I didn't know how these would go over, but they were a success! They never really used this license plate game because it proved to be a little advanced for them. 

I did love these state abbreviation pages I made by copying off a capital T pattern, then an N which I cut out and clued onto the T page before making copies. I had searched for something like this but couldn't find anything. (If there ARE pages like this available, please let me know, to save me the trouble for our next states.) I hope these will help make the state abbreviations stick in their heads.  

I also printed off a Tennesse state outline for them to color and label. They also labeled our route on the United States map. In addition, the boys had a Tennessee word search.

I found lots of versions by searching for road trip printables on Pinterest. The links to several of these are at the bottom of this post. They can be reused by putting them in page protectors and using dry-erase (better yet, wet-erase so it won't smudge) markers.

I think this was one of their favorite pages they used the most.

I ripped some pages out of this hidden pictures workbook for the middle two and more difficult pages for Tornado. There was also a spot for some of their homework pages.

Something else I tried this trip was "Car Bucks." I attached a baggie inside their notebooks for their bucks. Each car buck was equivalent to a dollar. 

Every time they completed a couple of pages in their notebooks they earned a Car Buck. Whenever I noticed they had been riding well without fighting or complaining for a couple of hours, they earned a Car Buck. Because we were generous about handing them out, they were aware that any (Mommy-approved) snacks (even juice) from gas stations or souvenirs from shops were their responsibilities. (Meals and water were provided, of course.) 

Car Bucks could also be taken away, but fortunately that only happened a time or two. It was fun to see them calculating how many car bucks they might have left if they bought something and whether the purchase would be worth it or not. We'll definitely use these on future road trips.

We left our house about 8:00 p.m. and made it a few hours to Jackson, Tennessee. It was almost dark by the time we made it to Gatlinburg. This is the night view of our resort, which is a Holiday Inn property just a couple of blocks from the main downtown street in Gatlinburg. Great location!

We were very happy with our accommodations, and I'd recommend this resort to anyone (who can afford it, which won't always be the case for us). We usually stay in small hotel rooms, so this was fancy for us. We always feel torn - spend money on somewhere nice which does feel really nice. Or just find an adequate place to sleep because we're going to be spending most of our time outside of the room, anyway. We unfortunately never got to enjoy any of the resort's fun children's activities. We did get to swim in the pool one night.

master bedroom with jacuzzi tub 

the big kids' room

The first night when we arrived we walked downtown to look around. See that strand of lights against the trees in the back? It's a skylift that goes all the way up that mountain. I'd like to do that next time.

After a great supper at Mellow Mushroom, we let the kids play video games at an arcade.

The next morning, we headed to WonderWorks in Pigeon Forge. This was #1 on our list of intended destinations. I mean, look at it; how could it not have been? There are four WonderWorks locations in the U.S. (Myrtle Beach, Panama City, Orlando, and this one plus one coming soon to Syracuse, NY).

This is what the ceiling of the foyer looked like. You know that my Tornado, lover of silly and mixed up things, was in heaven.

Admission is expensive ($22.99 for adults and $14.99 for kids), the way it is at most places in the area. There are coupons, though, around town for...maybe $2.50 off per ticket? There is an additional discount for home schoolers, but you have to arrange for these tickets BEFORE YOUR VISIT.

There's a good mixture of active games and learning centers.

I caught Ryan in this flight simulator, which is right up his alley. He has a flight simulator computer game at home, but this one with the three screens and cool control panels seemed like a dream come true and led to my obnoxious teasing, "I'm so happy for you! Are you so happy right now?! This is like the best day of your life, isn't it?!" He, of course, told me to be quiet and go away.

The good news is that the kids and Ryan seemingly did not catch any viruses from repeatedly sticking their faces and bodies into this fun contraption.

It is a combination of a science museum, children's museum, and amusement park.

The bed of nails was cool. You lie on the smooth bed, then the nails raise up underneath you.

After a few hours at WonderWorks, we needed a break. After lunch at Mellow Mushroom, this time at the Pigeon Forge location, we drove over to Parrot Mountain and Gardens (which is very close to Dollywood). It's a very lovely spot that is run by seemingly nice, caring people. The grounds were clean and well-kept. Did you see the "19 Kids and Counting" episode which showcased a visit here?

We did not expect the volume of bird noise that greeted us when we opened the door. It was so loud (but in a beautiful way).

Admission is $15.95 for 12 and up; $7.99 for 2-11. We had a $1 off each ticket coupon. The kids really enjoyed feeding the MANY birds, which they did a lot, paying quarters for feed.

There are birds throughout the park, beyond this feeding area, sitting on perches. They are taken into cages at night. Other birds are kept in large outdoor cages. They do no allow photos taken in the bird nursery, but the kids got to interact with the babies, as well.

This bird was trained to high-five you. There were birds who could do all sorts of tricks, like say, "Praise the Lord" or sing "Rocky Top," which you can watch on this video. I am fascinated by the talking abilities of birds. The term "bird brain" is actually a giant misnomer. Even chickens (which have to endure such treachery and lack of dignity in factory farms) are very intelligent beings!!! That's not something I learned at Parrot Mountain, just a little something extra I thought I'd throw in here for ya.

This guy who talked to us for a long time about the birds and showed the kids their tricks was super friendly and helpful.

I could stare closely at each bird's amazing designs all day. 

It makes me sad to see birds with clipped wings. It feels so unfair. (What I didn't know until now is that wings grow back; it isn't permanent.)

I do understand that this place is partly a sanctuary (but can't be deemed a true sanctuary since I believe there is some breeding going on for profit, to make money to support their efforts), and I couldn't imagine how much hard work goes into it. I know these people are working toward rehabilitating injured birds and repopulating endangered species. I just wish there had never been such a thing as pet birds to begin with. (If you have a pet bird, that's not judgment. I wish I could bring them all home with me, too.) As for what is the best thing to do about it all now since they can't all just be released into the wild without consequence, I don't have the answers. I do believe that these birds get a lot of love and attention, which they seem to crave and enjoy, from their caregivers and the public.

Don't expect to automatically get your picture taken holding all of the birds, which is what you are led to believe with the brochure. Once we paid our admission (around $70 for our family), they wanted another $15 from us for a chance to hold the birds and receive a souvenir photo. It's misleading. We declined, but they did very nicely let the kids all have a turn holding this guy (girl?).

Baby tuckered out. I adore it when he does this, sitting straight up. With that chubby face and dimpled chin.

It's a nice little walk through the gardens. There is a "secret garden" area where small birds are flying free in a fairly large outdoor room with a netted ceiling. I would have liked to have seen free flying spaces like that for all of the birds. We did enjoy our time at Parrot Mountain, and the kids walked away from it with increased knowledge and an even deeper love of birds.

After we left the birds, we headed back to WonderWorks for the 7 p.m. magic show. It was fabulous! And guess who got to be the special helper onstage? This cutie, who even got to take home a magic rope as a gift.

I really enjoy magic shows. I spend my whole time, desperate to figure out the trick. But I never can! So then I constantly whisper, "HOW did he do that?!"

What I especially loved about this show is that Terry Evanswood (above) was very clear upfront that there was nothing "magical" about what he was doing. It was PRETEND, simply tricks he learned from practicing, and only God can perform miracles. He was very funny, charming, and talented. He was also an inspiring motivational speaker! I loved that he turned the conversation toward people appreciating life and choosing to be happy, etc. It was great for the kids to hear, I thought. He said that it would be arrogant for him to perform without telling everyone that it was God who gave him his success, encouragement, and inspiration. For anyone who is reluctant to attend a magic show because of the hocus-pocus, I thought he presented it in a very responsible, honest way that did not feel compromising.

We had some extra time after the show (since we were basically staying up until midnight all week), so these two wanted a try at the climbing wall.

I was really proud of them. After only a couple of steps they both felt how difficult it was going to be and wanted to give up. We encouraged them to keep going, and they did, which was good for them. Sissy got about half way up.

And, with a lot of urging and encouragement, Dash ended up making it to the top.

We didn't have as much luck with the Ropes Challenge Course. Earlier in the day, Ryan took Dash up there, and he (my 7 year old) totally panicked a few feet into it, and they had to come back down. 

Sis, my one brave child, was ready to go that night, which encouraged her 23 months older brother to try again. It went a little better this time, but Ryan had his hands full up there, trying to help both of them. It wasn't that it was scary for Sissy; it was just difficult for her to maneuver. 

And Dash - he gets really scared with things like this, which is something that surprises people sometimes because of his "active boy" nature. He's not really a risk-taker. I think he gets this from his father.

The next day, one of our activities included driving through the Smoky Mountains to reach Cherokee, North Carolina. We were hoping to check out the Indian re-enactment village, and I was sort of devastated when we arrived about 4:10 only to find they stop selling tickets at 4:00 (with a 5:00 closing time). It was one of the places I'd wanted to visit most during this trip. Fortunately, we were able to head down the road to the Museum of the Cherokee Indian. We enjoyed this a lot! We're starting the Indian portion of our My Father's World studies, so it went along perfectly with that.

Next, we stopped by a few Native American souvenir shops.

Clingman's Dome was our next destination. I think the kids and I were all a little carsick as we made our way up the winding highway.

Dash was disappointed that the trail up to Clingman's Dome was paved. "I thought we were going to go exploring." A paved walkway just did not say "adventure" to him. He made up for it by climbing on any rocky hills he found.

The kids were really impressed with two guys who had been hiking and camping for days. Dash asked if we could "play explorer." That inspired our "what are we going to do...it's getting dark, and we have no food or place to sleep" routine the entire half-mile walk back to the car.

Clingman's Dome Observation Tower is a half-mile (which actually felt much longer to me, and I love to hike) from the parking lot. I was highly impressed with Tornado who led the way. He and Ryan (who was carrying Baby on the way up) made it up there first. Sometimes, he either gets distracted or winded, so that was great.

Notice their rosy faces? It was CHILLY, and we weren't properly prepared for that.

Clingman's Dome is the highest mountain in the Smokies and the third highest point east of the Mississippi. It's beautiful, and the kids were able to see how the "Smoky" Mountains got their name. And wouldn't you know, after taking just a few pictures at the top of this remarkable spot...my camera battery died.

Fun trip. I'm sad that it involved finding out about the passing of my very special, beloved grandfather. The next morning (as was the plan all along), we packed up for home, which we reached around 11 p.m. After a load of laundry and a few adjustments to the luggage, we were back on the road by 10 a.m. toward Missouri for his visitation and funeral.

First Leg of Our Cross Country Journey

At the end of May, I took my 7 year old son and baby (who was 4 months old at the time) on a cross country adventure. If you just thought, "You're crazy," - honestly, it wasn't difficult. I knew I wanted to take all of the big kids on their own special vacation. The baby, of course, will be in attendance anywhere I go the next two years or until I'm finished nursing, and I figured it's better to go before he's mobile and getting into everything. It just worked out to take Dash on the first trip. It felt fair because I had been on so many trips with Tornado before the other kids were born. We thought it would be nice for me to spend some alone time with Dash because he and I had butted heads a lot last year over schoolwork, etc. I had a romantic idea that we could solve all of our problems while riding the rails. Well, I can't say that is what happened per se, but we had a really nice trip that I feel he and I both cherished.

first short stop to step out of train for some fresh air

The train leaves out of Little Rock at 11:39. My first panic of the night was realizing I had forgotten to pack my son's DS. Now, playing video games is not what I wanted him to get out of this trip. But we're talking DAYS on a train. I assumed we would need some video game distraction from time to time. I started making this weird hyperventilating sound when I was sitting with Ryan in the car, waiting for the train. Tears were forming. I had even bought him two new games. All of the games were packed; the DS was not! I told Ryan to be prepared to mail it to our hotel, so we would at least have it on the trip home. (Well, we didn't end up doing that since it was cost-prohibitive and really, we just didn't need it, after all, thank goodness. Traveling on a train is really THAT fun.)

My next panic occurred shortly after we settled into our cozy sleeper room. The sleeper rooms were everything I hoped they would be. My mother doesn't understand this, but I just love small spaces. I am obsessed with dollhouses and miniatures. My siblings and I used to love the moments that our great aunt and uncle would let us step into their small travel trailer. It was so cute inside. (They even called it "the dollhouse.") We don't own a mini-van. I actually drive a miniature version of a mini-van. Speaking of cute things and travel trailers, Ryan and I are in current discussions over all things RV lately. I want to sell my house and live in one full-time! Squeals! We probably won't do that anytime soon, but we would like to own one. We'll see.

I had a little time on my hands later at one of 

the train stations to make my nails fancy!

Back to my panic...I settled Dash into his top bunk. The beds were already made up for us. My phone suddenly died. Not from lack of battery or being out of area; it just wouldn't turn back on. My week with no ability to converse with Ryan and no way to look up addresses while we're out and about flashed before my eyes, and it did not look good. Plus, all of my travel information was IN my phone. I predicted the first chance I would have to visit a Verizon store would be Monday at the earliest. Because there was nothing else I could do, I told the car attendant. I'm sure he was like, "Uh, lady, not my problem." Actually, he was very nice, and after about 30 minutes of feeling like it was 1993 again without cell service, he let me use his personal phone to call Ryan. Well, of course, my husband was able to offer the suggestion of pushing the power button and the other circle button at the same time for several seconds. It worked! Who knew?!

My son was Mr. Crabs the night before, so I was relieved when he woke up the next morning happy and ready to get a jump on reading. I wanted to focus some of our trip on practicing reading. I also let him purchase a few Star Wars easy readers. One of my goals on this trip was to proceed 100% into all things 7 year old boy. If he wanted to retell every action scene of every adventure-y, science fiction-y cartoon he's ever watched, I was all in, and I did not let my eyes glaze over once!

I vaguely recall the train sitting still on the tracks at some point during the night, but I was able to go right back to sleep. Apparently, there was a fire on or near the tracks, and we were stopped for an hour. When we got to the St. Louis station, we were allowed to step out for a few minutes. After I told him that my sister Cary and her family live very close to the train station, Dash was so upset that we couldn't go visit them. I think he was ready to end the trip then and there, if it meant getting to hang out with them.

Who was the best baby ever this week? This kid. I mean, he was perfect. Because I was always holding him and right with him, he never had a reason to cry. Here we were enjoying the view in the dining car. The kids always fight over time with the baby, so it was also nice for Dash to get some special baby time, too.

I already wrote about the food and dining car on my vegan blog. I was surprised that they seat you across the booth from other people. If you are traveling by yourself, they will seat you right next to someone else. Dash LOVED going to the dining car, and I knew he would. My other kids will love it whenever they get the opportunity, as well. It's similar to how they think it's way cool when they have gotten to eat off my maternity ward hospital trays.

Next stop: Chicago! It takes about 14 hours for a train trip from Little Rock to Chicago. It takes about 11 hours to drive the same distance. Not bad if you ask me, considering we slept the first 7 or 8 hours, then took another rest/naptime later in our little room.

Even though I know it gets colder in Chicago, we were not prepared for the very chilly days on our departing and return layovers out and about in the city. I had dressed Baby Brother in a sleeveless onesie (To me, the train ran more warm than cool, but I tend to always get hot.), so I wrapped my nursing cover around him. During our first layover (around 3 hours, I think), we were able to check our luggage into a locker (which cost us about something like $20 for the 2 hours we used them) and walk a few blocks to a vegan restaurant.

another shot of the dining car

One of the best things about the train ride: the term "slept like a baby" finally came into practice with my little man. This was the BEST night of sleep for him, up to this point of his life. The vibrating roar of the train gently kept him lulled him to sleep the whole time. He and I slept great, snuggled up to one another.

Dash slept in the top bunk. There is a strap the length of the bed  to help keep the top person on the bed. This gives you another idea of the size of the sleeper cars when the seats are made into beds at night. There's enough room between the bed and sliding door for a person about my size to stand facing in or out. There are little cubbies and spots (including steps to the top bunk) for luggage.

I purposely planned for one of our layovers to last a few hours in D.C. According to my trip planning studies, we would have time to visit a few of our nation's monuments, which are located relatively near the train station. It seemed we would be able to walk to a few of them. After getting drinks in Union Station's food court, we quickly located the capitol building and continued to walk along next to the National Mall...

until I thought for sure we would not be able to make it. It was so hot. I was trying to walk in every area of shade we were afforded, but I felt it was just too hot and arduous for the baby. If we were spending all day in D.C., actually visiting museums and things along the way, then walking would have been fine. But our intended destination was over 2 1/2 miles away; this was not the day to walk the whole stretch.

The pedi-cabs looked fun, so we opted for that. Unfortunately, it dawned on me that this was Memorial Day weekend. In our nation's capital. Not the best planning. Traffic was hideous, and it was still really hot in the pedi-cab. We got a nice breeze, though, when he was able to pedal fast.

Our driver pulled over so I was able to take a picture of the White House. He also pointed out other points of interest.

THIS was the main reason I wanted to take Dash to D.C. He had learned about the Lincoln Memorial in a class at our homeschool co-op, and he came home to tell me all about it. He wanted to show me the picture on the penny, and then it came up during other lessons and conversations after that.

He explained to me in different terms 

that it felt surreal to see it in person.

standing on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, 

facing the Washington Monument

closer shot of the Washington Monument

He immediately fell asleep when we got into the cab which took us back to Union Station! It was a good "what a fun two days" kind of tired.

To be continued...