A Vacation Recap...

I hope you all have time on your hands for the recap. It was a long, but fun trip.

Monday -

We left early in the morning and headed towards Morristown, TN. We enjoyed the ride, just talking and laughing and listening to Parker talk to himself in the little mirror he has. He did so very well on the trip, no major meltdowns - just normal baby stuff - feeding, changing, being tired. We got to Morristown around 6ish or so and went to eat with Drew's grandparents. They enjoyed seeing all of us, but especially meeting Parker and me. We got back to the hotel and slept. Morristown is where Angela (Drew's mom) grew up.

Tuesday -

We got a tour of Jefferson City, where Pete (Drew's dad) grew up. It was fun getting to see that part of their life. Oh the stories they had to tell. After the tour we headed to the Knoxville Zoo. It was fun. I loved that you got to walk in with the red pandas and we were able to watch the zookeepers wash the elephants - too funny! We also got to pet a camel and there was a butterfly garden thing and one landed on my hand! Parker did well there too, he's little so animals really aren't that big of a deal to him, but he enjoyed being in the stroller. After the zoo we headed to downtown Knoxville and went for ice cream. Then we drove through the campus of UT (this is where both of Drew's parents graduated from.) They told us how they met and such. It was a good time.

Wednesday -

Was very relaxed in the morning. We slept in and hung around the hotel for a bit and then went for a late brunch. Then we headed up to Panther Creek State Park, where we had a reunion of sorts with family and friends of Drew's parents. I think a total of 40 some people came and got to meet Parker and I for the first time. It was fun, Parker did well, getting to meet all of the strange relatives and he was well behaved! I did my best to not feel too out of place. We also had a birthday cake for Parker, though he couldn't eat it, he did step in it accidently. (And this is why you don't stand him next to it!)

Thursday -

Drew and I got our getaway. We rented a car for the day and drove to Gatlinburg. (This is where we honeymooned. Drew's parents took Parker for the day and night. We went up into the Smokey Mountain Park and enjoyed just remembering our honeymoon and not have a child to deal with. We also found a river and climbed on the rocks and enjoyed exploring it. I LOVE the mountains. I don't think I would live there, because I think that it would ruin the place for me, but I love to visit! We then headed to our hotel, it was an older hotel, but right on the river and we had a private balcony, a fireplace, a king sized bed and my personal favorite - the heated bathroom floor. After checking in we headed to eat and then walked around a bit. We went to the wax museum - not really worth the 30 bucks we payed, but oh well. It was nice to have a get away.

Friday -

We headed back to Morristown and had lunch with Drew's grandparents. Then we headed back to Gatlinburg with Drew's parents and Parker and enjoyed the day there. We did Cades Cove and I got to see three black bears! It was awesome! I love black bears. We also saw a ton of wild turkey and deer. We also stopped by Hillbilly Village (mandatory stop) and looked around there. We headed back to the hotel and slept.

Saturday -

Rather uneventful - headed home, I slept in the car most of the time. I was beat!

So there is my recap. I left out all the boring stuff.

I will do some pictures tomorrow.