Hello Dollywood

We just got back from our annual Ward vacation this year in Pigeon Fordge, TN. 36 people, 19 bathrooms and 17 bedrooms later, we all had a great time!

Dolly had her face plastered all over Gatlinburg. This was what we saw as we exited Dixie Stampede. Look at how tiny her waist is. I think it might be an optical illusion considering what's above it. :)

We all got 3 day passes to Dollywood courtesy of Papa Ward and it really paid off! We paced ourselves by going Monday, Wednesday and Friday. This was at the splashpark side and Greta loved the little kid slides. Between the red and the green slide, we'd always ask her which one she wanted to ride and she'd exclaim, "DEEN!"

I forgot to zoom out when I took this picture of Will and I, but I loved it because I think it shows how much we look alike.

The first time we went, it was not that warm and we did this half of the time.

When in Rome, do as the Romans. So, in essence, when at Dollywood, wear camo.

Mornings began with a coffee on the front porch followed by a Mama and Papa Ward breakfast. We ate like kings and the coffee wasn't bad either since Sharon brought her Starbucks machine and I made a latte every morning.

One of my favorite days was going on a hike to a waterfall. It was a little longer than expected and Adam and I had to turn around once Greta started asking for birthday cake. I didn't pack a stitch of food so we had to turn around just 20 minutes from the top. Even hauling both of the kids up and down the mountain, I loved it. As you can see by Kyle holding Greta, everyone was such a big help with the kids with everybody taking turns holding them.

Just a few minutes into the trail, we came upon a deer which Greta was pretty excited about. I could just picture Chevy Chase around the corner saying, "cue the deer".

Since Adam and I left early, we hauled booty down the mountain with both of the kids which took 45 minutes going down and 1.5 hours going up.

The next day we went back to Dollywood, this time at the amusement park. Posing with Smokey the Bear. Or maybe it's Smokey and his bear...you be the judge. :)

Will's first time on a carousel.

Waving hi to Bennett. They were screaming over the music, "HI GWETA!" and "HI BAYET!"

The girls had so much fun on the rides. Greta is still talking about the ducks, bumblebees, ponies and pigs. This picture almost makes me sad thinking that before we know it, they will be 16 cruising together in the family station wagon.

Edes riding on the pigs

Greta waving hi to all her fans.

Being the escape artist that Greta is, as soon as the ride would stop, she'd weasel out of the seatbelts, hop out of the ride and this time thought the easiest way out would be to shimmy under the bar instead of walking around. Nice.

Another shout-out

Taking a 15 minute train ride around Dollywood

Such a sweet messy face

Adam and I were trying to be so cool hanging out with all of the college-aged kids at night. We'd wake up at the crack of dawn at 6:00 am to Will (taking turns of course) and would stay up till midnight because we didn't want to miss a beat. We hate knowing there was a party going on without us. This night we rode a ski lift up to the top of a mountain and bobsledded down. Fun!

We divy up the meals and assign nights for families to cook for everyone. Leave it to Aunt Sharon to come up with the most creative one with a Willy Wonka theme. They were all dressed like Oompa Loompa's and served cake, candy and lollipops. The cake was a two-tiered meatloaf frosted in orange and green mashed potatoes, candy was green peas and orange carrots and the lollipops were corn cobs on popsicle sticks.

And the table was decorated with candy for dessert. Too cute huh?

And Kyle who was Willy Wonka himself. Freaky.

Will couldn't keep his eyes off of Jake's hair.

One of the most fun nights was getting together and watching the Bachelorette online. Can't you see that Adam was thrilled?

We didn't watch the Bachelorette when it came on on Monday and there was no Wi Fi in the house, so we went to a conference center at the camp we were at and picked up a signal to watch it. So much fun.

Another fun day was our ATV tour. It was 1.5 hours and don't think I'm kidding when I say I'm pretty sure Mom R. actually wore her sunglasses under her goggles.

Our tour guide had the deepest TN accent. He would say when the 4-wheeler tips to the "raht" then you move to the "layft" and if the 4-wheeler tips to the "layft" then you move to the "raht".

Besides riding in single file getting to go through only one mud puddle, we all had a great time.

The view at the top was beautiful, but it makes me wonder what exactly Jake is taking a picture of?? And why is Seth putting out the vibe? Ha ha.

Adam's cousin John and Mel, one of two newly engaged couples in the family. They're getting married June 5th, 2010!

The DeArmon's and Katie's boyfriend Jake.

I thought this was such a pretty picture of Jake and Katie.

Family picture night where everyone got a Bama shirt.

Even sweet Bubba.

I'm trying to ask Greta to show me her teeth so it can be the closest I can get to a smile. Normally she just stares at me when I ask her to smile, so this teeth thing is pretty cute!

Cute girls giggling with their Papa.

Greta was also taken with another Papa, Papa Ward. She always wanted to be held by him and talks about him all the time.

Adam and his cousins, John, Seth and Kyle all dressed appropriately for Dixie Stampede, a large-scale dinner theatre about the Civil War.

While waiting for our table, Adam decided to do an Irish/Confederate jig for us all. He insisted while cutting his jeans to make jorts (jean shorts) that the pocket lining be longer than the legs. We couldn't be prouder.

Adam and his cousin Dave.

The seating there is stadium style and we took up two whole entire bleachers in our section. The food was awesome, but they don't provide silverware to get the whole old-timey experience I guess. I was biting my corn on the cob and spitting out the kernels to give to Will. Rustic.

Jake and his pet lion (Katie) got picked to play a little horse riding game. They didn't win, but they didn't cheat either like the other guys!

A little pic with the host of the show. As you walk in, people would be seperated to go either to the north or the south side. It would be a big rivalry with hoopin' and hollerin' for "your side" throughout the entire show. As you can see, Greta was thrilled to see the horse that close up. She loved them from far away though!

Every day during the week, we'd spend all morning out and rush home for lunch and naps. Today was spaghetti. :)

Note to self: There has to be something else for a 9-month old to eat.

Dan set up a ping-pong tournament that we made a make-shift table out of plywood. Seth took all, but Adam and I made it to the semi-finals.

Kyle, Eden, Leebs and Will. It was so nice just letting our kids roam free because someone was always watching them even if it wasn't us!

Greta, Hudson (David and Emily's son) and Bennett. Hudson is such a doll and wears those little toy rings on his wrists because he sees Emily always wearing bracelets.

Sharon swinging out on the front porch with Will.

Sharon runs a fine arts school and takes a watercolor class that is offered there. She taught some of us girls a few of her signature moves. :)

It was my first time getting formal instruction, besides Bob Ross, :) on how to paint. I've been waiting for a day like this! I've always wanted to learn and this was the final product of my watercolor and the postcard that I looked at for an example. I might hang it in Will's Alaska room.

We got all of the great-grands together one morning for a pic with Mama and Papa Ward. After thinking we finally corralled them all to one area, I was barking like a dog to keep the kids attention. We were all madly trying to take pictures before one or more of them started to lose it. Only after the entire escapade does Mama Ward say, "Now all we need is baby Graham to complete the picture." We forgot the youngest of the bunch! Oh well!