Our Vacation

Goals Achievied this Vacation~

6. Read 50 books (6/50) 22. Take Ryan Hiking
30. Take a family vacation every year (1/3)
41. Have a picnic
81. Go tubing

This past weekend we went to Bryson City, NC for a vacation. Jimmy and most of his family used to go camping here in the summers for 2 weeks at a time. It was nice to get to do something from Jimmy's childhood and I'm sure it was pretty nostalgic for him too.

We had Jimmy's brother (Matt) and his family and his mom and two younger brothers (John and Robert) come up from Alabama for the vacation. We rented a beautiful cabin on top of a (would be) quiet hill. Only kidding, the kids weren't too terribly loud.

We all went tubing at Deep Creek. Jimmy talks about his days tubing here quite often so I couldn't wait to go. He did not say how cold the water was though!!

There were tube rental places all along the creek. We decided to rent from the place Jimmy used to rent from back in the day. He used to just get the hard black tubes but we went with the nice orange ones with the big backs to rest against. These are lighter than the black ones anyway. You don't want to have to haul any more weight than necessary on the 2 mile hike to the top!

All the kids were really stoked to get on the tubes. (Ryan and Lucas were napping in the truck at this point).

My chunky love muffin. I took him on the tube but he hated the life vest so he only got to go once. I didn't want to hear him screaming anymore! We only came down from the halfway point where there is a big waterfall spilling off from the side of the creek. While we waited I had him in the tube (sans life vest) off to the side just floating him around. He loved that.

Jimmy and Ryan tubed together. Every time they got back Ryan was asking to eat something like he'd actually worked to get to the top. He was carried every time, and slept! LOL

Matt and Hazel tubed together. Hazel passed out on this run. I don't blame her. The rides are pretty relaxing!

Where we parked there was a little pool about 6-8" deep where the kids could play. Ryan was collecting rocks to throw in the water. He saw someone skipping rocks so he was probably trying to copy that.

We picniked by the creek for lunch.

On our last run of the day we tubed on further down the creek and I took Ryan with me. This run was really fun. Parts of the creek were really calm and then it picked up fast and spun you around and around. Ryan wanted to keep his rock but at one point he threw it out and was asking for another. We had to pull over several times to get a new rock.

Elijah. Matt's son. Cute kid!

It was Robert's birthday so we got him a cake and ice cream and had a little party for him.

I hope all your wishes come true!

The next day we went to the Oconoluftee Indian Village. We had a guided tour through there showing us demonstrations on how they made pottery, masks, beads, tools, finger weaving. There was also a dance and they were pretty much howling for a good 2-3 minutes. It scared a little girl next to me but none of the kids in our party got scared. Ryan was just looking at them funny. Probably about the same look people give him when he's crying in public.

Side Note: When we got home all the kids were howling like the indians. Yay. Thanks ya'll. Ryan still does it occasionally and I ask him if he's trying to be an indian and "Uh huh" is the answer.

Then they had a fight.

They hulled out their canoes by burning out the middle. This canoe was about 1/3 the size of a real one.

That night we had s'mores. I love s'mores and this was Ryan's first time having one.

"Lum!"

We went tubing again and I actually got to go all the way to the top. I carried Ryan on my back with a makeshift sling made out of a beach towel. He slept. I hiked. We were both soaked by the time we got to the top but the water was nice.

Right after you put in at the top there is a 3-4 foot drop off into a swirling pool. You either fall off your tube or get stuck in the pool. Both times Ryan was sleeping at this point and was in Jimmy's tube. That cold water will really wake you up!! I was the only one that didn't fall out. I got stuck but the guy behind me came down and his tube pushed me out. Glad he didn't get ejected because I would've felt bad. The trip down was really fun. I'm glad I got to go down from the top at least once.

Here is our family photo. I'm surprised we got all the kids (except Lucas, he has no clue yet) to look at the camera at the same time. A miracle!

We had a really great time with the family!

I'm hoping our next vacation will involve something from my childhood. Colorado perhaps??