Tweetsie

Tweetsie Railroad

Boone, North Carolina

Panning for gold with Papa

The Rides

The Show

The Mouse Train

Feeding the Animals

My good ole Dad loves to have the family up for a grand time at the beloved Tweetsie Railroad.  I have been going to Tweetsie since I was a kid nearly every year until about the age of 12.  I had not been back until the summer before Reagan turned two.  Reagan luckily has fallen into my childhood footsteps and has attended Tweetsie every year making this her third time.  However, this year she was incredibly thrilled because her baby sister was old enough to go with her.  It was so neat to look back at the photos of when Reagan was Madison's age and reminiscing about her likes/dislikes.  


Madison who is completely opposite of Reagan in almost every way but her looks, loved the rides!  The faster and higher the better she took to them.  Reagan was not such a fan, but is getting better.  The one thing they both had in common were the shows.  Both my girls have always loved watching live shows.  They will sit for hours in amazement.  The girls also loved the mouse train at the top of the mountain.  The train goes through a tunnel and then plays a little song while the train stops in a black lit glow around the mice characters in a cheese factory.  It's cute for the kids.


The weather was perfect for us as well.  We had a cloudy day that brought relief from the hot sun.  After riding the rides and watching a show we went to see the animals.  The kids love to feed the animals.  Reagan likes the Llamas for an unknown reason.  Madison liked the goats the most.  The baby goats could squeeze through the fence and so you were able to pet them really easily.  This was a great experience for the girls.  


We wrapped up our day with a ride on the actual Tweetsie Railroad.  This has never been a highlight for Reagan but more of a way to cool down and take a nap.  Madison, also did not enjoy the train.  She hates to be constrained down for a long period of time and so it was all I could do to not let her jump out for thirty minutes.  Reagan did much better this year with the Cowboy and Indians.  She did not get scared and actually followed the story line much to my surprise.  She asked a lot of questions about why the Indians were so mean.  Andy and I thought this was humorous seeing how she is 50% Native American herself with her Dad being full-blooded.  We had to give her a history lesson on that one, ;).  


After, Tweetsie we headed to Makato's, a japaneese steak house, yummy!  Then up to the lot where my Dad and brother are building a mountain house that looks right out at Sugar mountain.  So far they have the well in place, a driveway, the lot cleared, and a house plan.  Dad has been doing a lot of work clearing the land and landscaping the front side.  It looks great!  It is going to be such a great vacation spot for us one day!

My favorite photo from the day.

Phillips Pumpkin Farm

I have been meaning to take the girls to a pumpkin farm for two years now.  I now know that it will be a yearly experience.  Last year, Madison was a newborn less than a month old so it was definitely out of the question.  Now that they are 1 and 3 and Madison is walking, I was so excited about going.  I wanted to go to Ganyard Farms in North Durham but Andy commented, "Why would we drive all the way to North Durham when we can go a mile down the street to Phillips which has everything that Ganyard has.  I had never heard of Phillips so I googled them and realized he was right!   Phillips didn't have a petting zoo but they did have bounce houses.  Just this year Reagan has been able to tackle bounce houses.  She was always to scared to go into them except at the indoor facilities.

Phillips Farm was great.  When we arrived to park it was very crowded, but then when we entered we never felt the crowds.  Phillips has a hayride, milk a cow station, a swing set, two bounce houses, hay barrels to climb in with tunnels, a little hay maze, a huge hay maze, sand pit with toys, fair food and other snacks, nice picnic shelters, face painting, pony rides, and two hit the bell with a hammer things.  All that and of course pumpkins!

At first the girls were not that into it.  They just sat and watched everyone for half an hour and then were fuzzy.  So we left and went to Chick-fil-a and to get cash for the pony ride/face painting.  I mean really who carries cash anymore.  Once we got back, we stayed over two hours.  Both the girls enjoyed everything they did.  I will admit the hayride was pretty bad.  The tractor just went around a cow pasture full of crap.  I am sure there are better ones out there.  However, to a 1 and 3 year old it was fun.  Reagan loved the milk station, pony ride, and face painting!  Madison loved the hay and sand!  What a great day!  We will definitely be back next year!

Meet the Heels

I have been meaning to sign Reagan up for the Carolina Kids Club.  I've always thought she was too young even though there are parents who sign up their newborns.  She is almost 3 and its the perfect age for her debut as a Heels fan.

Our first event this year was Meet the Heels more specifically Meet the UNC Football players and coaches.  When we arrived we had dinner provided by Jimmie Johns and cold stone ice cream.  The parents are not suppose to eat; however, by 5pm there was still plenty of food.  I then took Reagan down on the football field.  The club gave all the kids a small size football.  The older kids were tossing the ball mostly with their Dads while waiting for the players.  Reagan and I enjoyed going down the slides and jumping.  We also enjoyed people watching (a favorite of ours).  Andy gets so embarrassed when we go places because we love to sit and just watch people, :).  I then took over Madison and Andy spent some Daddy time with Reagan.  She got so upset on the field when she saw all the other Dad's throwing the football with their kids.  "I want my Daddy and my football!"

This year we didn't listen to the head coach, Butch Davis' speech.  We also did not stay to meet the players or get autographs.  Maybe in years to come, but for our girls they were tired and ready to get to their beds.  A good nights sleep was had by all!

The Baby Bed

       When I was little, my Uncle Buster made me a wooden baby bed.  He had a very special talent when it came to wood working.  I remember him giving me this bed for one of my birthdays.  It has had a baby in it ever since.  My American Girl doll Samantha (retired) has lived at my mother's house in this bed since middle school (1990).  My mom is in the process of cleaning out her home and remodeling each room.  So everytime we see her she always has something to give me.  On this occasion she brought me my baby bed.  Immediately Reagan was drawn to it.  She has claimed it hers ever since.  However, this was until her she brought it into the living room where her baby sister Madison spotted it.  I was washing the dishes and all of a sudden I heard Reagan crying and my husband saying, "Honey, come quick, you have to see this."


When I got into the room, this is what I saw.

Madison, thought it was made just for her.  Even though she is now 

too big to lay down, she loved sitting in it.  Of course, to Reagan it was the end of the world.

Not pictured here is Daddy explaining to Reagan that Madison is simply just sitting in her baby's bed and is not taking it over.  Too bad I couldn't fit all this in the picture.  I just caught Madison looking over with her innocent expression.  I have a feeling I will be seeing this expression a lot in the future. 

Finally, Daddy's talk worked and Reagan decided to sit in the bed with her sister.  It was a great laugh for us all.  I'm just glad that Reagan decided to share and I got a great shot of my girls.

The Girls First Birthday Celebration

Andy's Dad owns his own barber shop and is also a preacher.  This means that he works every weekend both days.  Since Gamma and Papa cannot come up for the girls birthday parties they decided to come early and have their own celebration with them.  The two girls shared the cake.  Reagan was so excited about receiving a dancing Dora doll!  She has been very in to Dora for a long time.  Dora teaches pre-schoolers spanish, numbers, alphabets, and colors.  She goes on adventures and uses a magical backpack to help her on her way.  It is very cute.

Madison dove right in to her slice of cake with no problems.  Unlike Reagan, she has already had sweet things such as ice cream.  It's the second child thing.  Reagan did not have anything sweet until her first birthday and then she was so overwhelmed that she was not interested in her cake very much.  Not Madison, she loved it!

This was such a nice day with Gamma and Papa.  The girls love their visits so much.

Music on the Lawn

I've been meaning to find a lazy Friday night to take the girls out to have a picnic and hear the live music at  American Tobacco.  Andy definitely did not want to go.  In his mind he thought we were going to be in a field with no shade, 95 degree weather, and two whining babies.  Since he was so hesitant that meant I was left to packing our dinner, drinks, diaper bag, chairs, strollers, etc.  Of course, as any parent knows if you have to pack more than a diaper bag then you will probably forget something!  We picked up the girls from school at 5:00pm so that we could get downtown early.  The girls go to bed at 7pm so we have to do things early if we want them to enjoy it.

It ended up being an incredibly fun night.  We were there early enough to set up under a tree in the back where we were in the shade and could leave early.  It didn't take long until I got an apology from my husband.  There was a light breeze and it was awesome having such an easy outing for no charge.  Reagan and I ran around the fountains while waiting for our fabulous Mellow Mushroom pizza which is my favorite.  The girls were having so much fun eating outside and people watching.  The music was just okay but the atmosphere made up for that.  I know the next time we go my husband will help out a lot more since he saw how fun and cheap the evening was.

Dehydration

Today I decided to go to the pool with both girls solo.  It takes me 30 minutes to get everyone dressed and suntan lotion on.  It's actually so much work just trying to get to the pool that I find myself not taking the girls very much.  Reagan was grousing that she was thirsty and Madison was screaming for something.  So I made each one a full sippy cup of cold water and they sat right in front of the fridge inhaling their water.  It was so cute because Madison would copy Reagan.  Every time Reagan would drink she would and every time she brought her cup down Madison did the same.

We finally made it to the pool but before we even got into the water Reagan went to the bathroom.  I had no time to get this flotation suit off of her to the potty and of course I didn't bring another swim diaper so home we went.  It will be awhile girls before mom tries this again on her on.

A visit with Cousins

There's nothing better in Reagan's mind than spending time with her cousins Jake and Savannah.  I wish they lived closer because if they did we would be there a lot!  Reagan adores her cousins and this visit Papa and Mamaw were there because Mamaw was having surgery.  It wasn't so much fun for Mamaw but it was great to have the grandchildren there for my Dad.  Mamaw had a good surgery and is still healing.  It was nice that my brother took off work and we spent the day together.  My sister-in-law Shannon and I were able to visit and play with the kids during the day and then we switched with Papa and Ryan at bedtime so we could run to the hospital.  The kiddos never even missed us momma's.  Too much fun.

Papa with Jake, Reagan, and Savannah

Jake and Reagan having sticker fun

Notice Reagan wearing Jake's shoes.  She loves trying on other people's shoes.

Playroom fun.

Beach with Papa and Mama

This year it was our turn to have a week at the beach with Papa (my Dad) and Mama(my stepmom).  We use to go every year but then my brother and I had kids and needed more space.  This year was the best one that we have had.  We all agreed!  Dad listened to my advice about the moving to a different room which had twice as much living space.  When you have babies on vacation you have to get a nice room with as much space as possible since you will be in it 75% of the time.  Our condo had three bedrooms with two masters that opened up to the ocean.  It was wonderful! 

 We took in the pool and beach daily.  Dad also took us to a show called Le Grand Cirque where we saw extraordinary acrobatics. Of course, Papa definitely wanted to take Reagan to build-a-bear.  Thank goodness we did this on the second day because I really didn't bring many toys for her and she was able to play with her bear "Pagley" all week. She named this adorable bear after her friend at church "Hadley".  

Andy and I were celebrating our 6th wedding anniversary so Dad babysat while we went to Chestnut Hill.  This is my favorite restaurant in Myrtle which we often go to when we are down there.  They have the best early bird special and we were able to sit looking out at the water.  The restaurant throws bread from atop the roof to make the turtles and fish come right up to where we are eating.  The big surprise is when the alligators come around!  Each night we stayed in and made mixed drinks, went to the hot tub, and relaxed.  It was so nice.  We were also there for the 4th of July and we saw fireworks all the way down the beach as we sat in the hot tub with the bubbles all around us.  Very nice and romantic!  Thanks to my wonderful Dad and step-mom for a great week!  We love you!

LE GRAND CIRQUE ADRENALINEReareUE ADRENALINE

Reagan and Madison

Papa with Reagan 

Reagan in love with Benjamin chats him up.

My Baby Madison who was crawling everywhere.

The Beautiful Windhym Resort.

Marie, Pat, and Andy talking around the dinner table.

Reagan with her Build-a-Bear "Pagley"

Reagan sets the dinner table...with a little help, :).

Reagan and Caroline