Christopher Columbus you are a friend of mine

Last week we made the highly spontaneous decision to go to Pigeon Forge for the Columbus Day/fall break weekend. (If there is one thing I am not good at it is spontaneity. It makes me nervous.) We googled around and found out that their was a 16 acre fall festival and no Elena I know would turn down the chance to see 16 acres of funnel cakes and crafts. Plus we saw that Twiggy the water skiing squirrel would be making an appearance. Now what kind of people would we be to deny our baby the opportunity to see Twiggy?

Thursday morning we asked Reese if she wanted to go to the mountains, but she continuously shook her head no. She continued to do that all weekend. Then she shook her head no when we asked if she was ready to go home.

So Thursday after school we struck out with D.D., Big Daddy, and Uncle G. for the 5 hour trip. Reese slept for about 2 hours. Thank you Heavenly Father for that blessing.

And here is where I have to tell you a tale of cabin sadness. Upon arrival to the lovely Western Sky 2 bedroom cabin we discover there is no water. We are all about a trip to get closer to nature during the fall season but lets don't get carried away. Unfortunately we went ahead and unloaded our stuff because we assumed that everything would work itself out and yada, yada, yada. (We all know the old saying about assuming things. It's true.) We went on to pay dearly for that nap she took on the way up because at 1:00 AM I was singing everything from Jesus Loves Me to I'll Fly Away trying to get her to go to sleep. There was an unfortunate moment that Adam even sang a little Ice Ice Baby which made Reese and I both cry for mercy. Friday morning Plumber Mike came to work on the highly complicated water system (also called a well/well pump) and the corporate decision was made that we had to move cabins. But we didn't know all of that until later in the day, and people, there was a fall festival that wasn't going to wait. So we had no choice. We all had to wash our hair in the hot tub. You heard me. The Clorox, germ filled hot tub. Here's Uncle G. in action.

So after a refreshing head dip in the hot tub we headed to the fall festival. And oh a fall festival it was. We ate pizza, and BBQ, and chicken sandwiches, and funnel cakes and had ourselves a grand ole time.

MeeMaw made Reese this outfit which was perfect for the fall festival. The only problem was that it felt more like August than October.

The moment we had all been waiting for......drum roll please.....Twiggy the water skiing squirrel. There was much anticipation for the big moment that Twiggy would arrive.

And then there he was. Life jacket and all.

After that we moved on to the rest of the festival.

When we got back to the cabin we loaded our things and moved on to cabin #2. It had water which was important, but I was forced to watch Auburn get beat on a 19 inch screen. Which honestly I saw all I needed to see in those 19 inches. Cabin #2 had a fantastic view so it made it all worth it. Plus they gave us a free nights stay for the inconvience.

Saturday we went through Cades Cove because Adam was determined that he was going to see a bear. And we were THIS much to late. One had just gone into the woods.

We also did a little shopping at the outlets where Reese got a pair of kicks to grow into. And, in the words of my niece, how about these shorty short pants? By the time her clothes fit her they are to short. I am going to predict that this is going to be a reoccuring problem in years to come.

Several times during the trip my passengers looked like this. Reese talked no the phone while her Daddy slept. She doesn't limit her phone talking to phones only. She has also been seen talking on remote controls, shoes, and spatulas.

She took 2 naps on the way home and then slept all night Sunday night. It was lovely. Also on the way home we did get to see a bear in a tree. We meaning me because Adam was on the wrong side of the car to see it so he missed it. It was a sad turn of events for him.

Please stay tuned to The Simple Life later this week for an announcement. No, I am not pregnant. You might say that you wouldn't have thought that, but you sooooooooooo would have. :)