December 2, 2011

Cousin Power at
Silver Dollar City!
Highlights from today: (Click here for pictures)
  • I think I mentioned that Robby and I went to sleep while trying to get Campbell asleep.  At 12, Graham climbed in bed with Robby.  Around 2, I got up to go to the bathroom.  At 3, Anderson got in bed with me and tried to tell me that it was morning and indeed the lights from outside made it look like morning.  He said "well, I guess you are right" when I made him go look out the window.  At 4, Anderson got in bed with Robby and at 5 Keaton was hungry and woke Campbell and I up.  Campbell and I managed to get back to sleep at 6 and then we all woke up around 7.  Sounds crazy but overall it was a fairly restful night.  Even though it was restful, Campbell did awake with a scratch on the side of her face.  I vaguely remember me having to grab her leg as she was falling off of the bed two times.
  • When the 4 big kids got ready, we sent them over to Dana and Grannymom's room.  They took shifts going to breakfast while Robby and I finished getting ready.  
  • We were at the outlet malls before they opened.  My first stop was the Disney store and the kids first stop was climbing all over the coin operated rides.  Graham said that Pops would have money and indeed he would have but Robby didn't have any.  We walked around the outlet for awhile.  Keaton and Reagan got new shoes, the boys got new Disney shirts and Robby bought a new blade for one of his weedeaters.  Though he quite enjoyed the tool store this visit-he has turned a new leaf.
  • We had lunch at a diner across the street from the singing diner.  All of the kids managed to snag bar stools.  Even though Campbell wasn't in one she still managed to fall out of her chair.  We saw a bit of rain while we were there and crossed our fingers that it wasn't going to rain more during our Silver Dollar City adventure.
  • At Silver Dollar City, we rode the tram and then stopped to bundle up.  My Dennie kids had a shirt, sweatshirt, light jacket, heavy jacket, hats and gloves and Lilly and Cash had just as many layers.  The big kids though never wore half of their layers-they must have been freezing but were staying too busy to notice.  Our first stop was Fire in the Hole.  Grannymom stayed with Keaton and Campbell while the rest of us took shifts riding it.  Lilly is the only one of the crew that can ride the rides without an adult with her.  
  • After that, we went to the ball pit/play area for awhile and the kids could have stayed there forever.  Next up was Mine Train, the treehouse, carousel, mini swings and then over to the kiddie roller coaster.  Graham was in heaven getting to ride everything with Dana.  Campbell eventually got her turn on the frogs and butterflys while Dana and I were riding the swings (in the freezing rain and wind) with Reagan and Graham and then again with Anderson and Cash.  
  • By now we were getting a bit wet and needed someplace warm.  We found a bread place and managed to squeeze our gang into a few seats and have a snack.  The big kids needed one more ride so Grannymom found her a gift shop to browse with Campbell and Keaton.  Keaton had been the perfect baby and even stayed in her car seat the whole time.  She was quite warm in there (I never put on her heavy coat and pants since she had 2 blankets on.  I probably should have put on her gloves though and if we hadn't had the rain, I would have stopped to change her but I never did and she was soaking wet when we finally got her out).  
  • After the last Runaway Mine Train, we made it back just in time to see the lighting of the Christmas tree.  It was beautiful and unfortunately we were too tired, a bit too wet and a bit too cold to hang out for another hour to see the parade.  We did manage to put in a good days worth at Silver Dollar City and everyone had a great time.
  • We then grabbed a bite to eat at Panera and then back to our hotel rooms.  Reagan and Graham are spending the night in Lilly, Dana and Grannymom's room and Cash is with us, Anderson, Campbell and Keaton.  Campbell was out pretty quick tonight since she never had a nap.  The boys though have spent the last 30 minutes giggling.  Now I am sitting at their feet working on my computer in hopes that they will calm down a bit.  They have got to be exhausted-I am!

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