Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge with Mom!

We had the absolute pleasure of having my AWESOME mom and sis Monica come out for almost a week a few weeks ago. We had such a great time - it just flew by so fast! We rented a beautiful cabin up in the smokey mountains outside of Pigeon Forge, which is a mini Las Vegas in the middle of East Tennessee. Go figure. We went hiking, went to Dollywood (a hill-billy Disneyland of sorts), shopped, hung out and relaxed. It was so much fun. Here are some pictures from the trip...

{click to enlarge pictures}

showing off the goodies from Nona

Rashauna grabbed this crazy looking moth/butterfly and stuck it on her nose!

ps: there are lots more pics of Robbie because Miss Mariah wasn't in the picture taking mood {and usually never is...}

Charleston, South Carolina

We had such an awesome time this past weekend in Charleston, SC. It's so fun living on the other side of the country and being able to explore new areas and cities. We absolutely loved Charleston and would like to go back soon - we didn't even get to do everything!! We went to the beach several times, which is by far the kids most favorite thing to do. Mariah loves searching and collecting seashells and could do so for hours and hours on end... And Robbie just loves to dig and throw the sand all over the place - and could do THAT for hours on end. So the beach is the perfect place for us.

We also went on a horse drawn carriage ride through historic downtown and learned a lot about the history of the city. I can't believe I didn't get any pictures of the amazing houses, or should I say, mansions that were there. Next time... but they were gorgeous!!

Then we went on a harbor cruise and learned a lot more about Charleston. The first fire of the civil war occured in Charleston... I think Trent and Taraleigh need to come out for an American History tour!! Hey - it's a tax write off!! =)

All in all, it was a great family trip. Josh's mom, sister and hubby all came to hang out with us too and we were able to go out to eat with them the night before we left. Yummm... talk about some delish food choices!!

Now I want to see some comments because this is pretty good on the whole posting thing!!! =)

the beach was covered in seashells... mariah was in heaven!
robbie - playing in the sand...

mariah and her signature pose haha...

robbie resting on the harbor cruise

some beautiful details from the beach

me and riah searching for treasures

the davidson fam

mariah and her daddy... she's such a daddy's girl!

robbie on the carriage ride - trying on mommy's glasses

sweetie pie riah

stinker butt robbie - splashing in puddles over and over again AFTER mom said no!!!

my sexy man

the waves. they always amaze me

riah and i running in the water

Knoxville Zoo

The kids and I came down to visit Josh for the weekend because he wasn't going to be able to come see us this week with his work schedule. We met in Knoxville (half way between the two) at the zoo to break up the trip.
The kids had a great time. The zoo was so huge that we didn't even see the whole thing! They also had a play area, similar to the museum in Johnson City that the kids spent most of the time in. It was fine with me too because there was air conditioning! It was so hot that day!!
Josh had to leave to go to work, so he left Mariah's carseat under my car for when we got out to the parking lot. I was pushing both kids in our huge stroller up this GINORMOUS hill (okay I'm exaggerating...) and was soooooo hot. I finally made it out to the car and some jerk had stolen our carseat!! It all worked out fine though because we got her a new one and she loves it... but it was just one of those moments.
Here are some pictures from the day...

My little future doctor/vet...

Sequoias

Josh's parents came into town and we went over to the Sequoia National Park. It was amazing! Did you know that sequoias are the longest living organisms on the planet and are virtually indestructible? They need fire to germinate their seeds, and over the years have become fire resistant. The pictures just can't capture how great they really are, but I tried my best. The kids had a blast running all over seeing the sites and looking for animals. We spotted a black bear while we were driving through the park and saw a couple chipmunks while walking.

Mariah on top of a "Mountain"

Closeups.

The Drive.

We're finally there!

Nina and the grandkids
Papa and Robbie
The Davidson fam.
Nina and Mariah

Hiking Girl

Josh actually got stuck in this tree!

Mariah and Robbie did so well considering we were in the car for almost two days straight driving to and from and all throughout the park. We did a couple day hikes and saw the largest sequoia in the world and a log cabin. We also saw a beautiful waterfall that my husband decided it would be fun to climb! Luckily he made it back down safely and was able to return home with us...

Can you see him? - He's the little spec on the left...