Sleepers Beware!

Kjersti: I love pontoon boat rides! They're so nice and relaxing. The wind in my hair, the sun in my face... what's there not to like? It's so soothing, I feel like I could just fall asleep.

 Two minutes later... Kjersti: Zzzzzzzzz.

Eve: Hello sleepy head! I gave you ten wet willies and they just didn't do the trick, but jumping on top of you woke you right up!

Kjersti: Ten wet willies?!?

Eve: That's right ten wet willies! But don't worry, each one was filled with love!

Kjersti: Well, since you put it that way, maybe that's not so bad after all. Say, what's that orange stuff on the coushin and on the side of my face?

Eve: (Silly laughter) My wet willies come with Cheetos bonus material! I love Cheetos!

Kjersti: SOOOOOOOO GROSS!!!

Eve: Mom, you look tired. You could use a two finger wet willie!

Pontoon Boat

One of the days we spent at Fairfield Glade we rented a pontoon boat on Lake Dartmoor. The lake is narrow and man made with homes and golf courses lining both sides of it... it is just gorgeous! It didn't take too long for the boat captain to get his sea legs.

Captain Cody's first mate was none other than Baby Eve. Her Dora The Explorer life jacket really helped convey a sense of "Who's boss" with the crew.

 The First Mate received some helpful guidance from Grandma (e.g. "don't hang on the side of the boat", "stop reaching for the throttle", "don't push mommy off the boat", etc.).

 Pulling out from the marina, everything seemed to be set for a nice one hour tour...

Eli then put on his goggles... we weren't sure if that meant he was ready to go swimming, or he assumed Cody would sink the boat???

The Great Smoky Mountains

We visited the Great Smoky Mountains on a beautiful clear day during our trip to Tennessee. One of the highlights was ascending Clingmans Dome, the highest point in the Great Smoky Mountains at 6,643 ft. It's the third highest point east of the Mississippi river behind Mount Mitchel, North Carolina (6,684) and Mount Craig, North Carolina (6,647).

The hike to get to the top was relatively short from the parking lot, but it was definitely steep. To Eli, it was painful to have to watch and wait for the slow pokes.

Unlike mountains in the west that come to a nice point, this mountain is fairly round. To provide the awe inspiring view, the National Park Service has erected a nice viewing tower. It's a nice little walk to get to the top, but the view doesn't disappoint.

Kjersti, Eli and Eve had a great time coming down the mountain. Holding hands and chit chatting. It was really pretty cute!

Obed Wild and Scenic River

The Obed Wild and Scenic River is an area near Fairfield Glade, Tennessee that is administered by the National Park Service. It is a deep river gorge with steep cliff overhangs. It is really an amazing area. Here we are on a deck overlooking one of the more scenic areas within the gorge.

Near the gorge is a boulder field that is a local destination for rock climbers and kids of the Strong family. Eli scaled the first boulder we saw!

 Eve was next and didn't get too far until the boulder got the best of her climbing ability.

Kjersti went right to the top of the boulder. She posed at the summit with her handy spotter.

A Hillbilly Masterpiece

Near Fairfield Glade, Tennessee is the World Largest Treehouse. This is a true hillybilly masterpiece. It's seven stories tall, includes multiple rooms and a Christian chapel. That said, it's on private property near some guy's house and has been built completely of wood scraps by the home owner and some of his friends. Talk about too much time on your hands. This thing must give the local building inspector nightmares every time he thinks about it.  Needless to say, it attracts some pretty interesting folks including hippies, Indian reunions (not making this up), motorcycle clubs, college students and us. The whole place had an odd feel to it, but it was so remarkable it didn't stop us from taking a closer look.

It didn't take long to see that this treehouse wasn't very kid friendly. That's what happens when the place is built one available scrap at a time. We had to keep a close watch on all of the kids all the time. They still thought it was pretty cool though.

At five stories high, this deck on the tree house has quite a view of the surrounding area. Our Odyssey van is directly above Eli's head in this picture.

From the same deck looking directly up, you can see that the path to the top is still a pretty good climb. Here, I'm not sure if Kjersti is pointing out building code violations or the fact that somebody risked their life putting two more stories on top of the five below it?

The preacher can liven up the meeting by shooting free throws from the pulpit (notice the basketball rim/net directly above the cross mural) if he feels so inclined. This space was remarkably large for a tree house, but was also a little wierd. I don't think I would feel comfortable with the engineering of this chapel if it were filled to capacity. 

This tree house also had a classic hillbilly swing. A lawn chair fastened to ropes and held together with duct tape. As unsafe as this looked, it didn't stop us from letting all the kids take a turn on it.



This house could be the centerpiece of Hillbilly Disneyland. Throw in a few funnel cake vendors, a catfish pond and a few abandoned cars and you've got yourself a real destination attraction!

Giddy Up!

 While we were at Fairfield Glade, the kids had their first chance to go horseback riding. While they didn't blaze any new trails, they had an absolutely wonderful time riding the horses around. They all said it was a lot better than riding on Cody's back.

 Kjersti was just beaming as soon as she mounted her horse. Can you blame her?

 Eli was really digging the horse right from the get go as well.

 After awhile, the kids got to feeling pretty comfortable with these horses. Eli's got the expression here of an old cowboy. It's not easy leading these horses around, but some body has to do it.

Eve was quite the cowgirl. She ended up having the longest ride, but was also the least willing to let it end. She needs more horse time. Hopefully sometime soon we can work something out!

Fairfield Glade, Tennessee

 From 26 August to 2 September, we went on vacation to Fairfield Glade, Tennessee. It's a resort village midway between Nashville and Knoxville. We had an awesome time doing a number of activities, but one of the kids favorites was just going to the beach at a nearby lake. This looks a lot like Cody shooting a jump shot, but as you can see, it's much more than that. Eli's vertical take off (assist by Cody) from the lake was one of his favorite things to do.
 

 Eve managed to find quite a few different shells on the beach and made sure she shared liberally with anyone who was interested.

 Kjersti explored the depths of the lake sporting her swim goggles.

Eve enjoyed just bobbing around in her life jacket and instructing Cody where she wanted to go.