Gatlinburg, belly to sitting, and our squirrel

This past weekend we went to Gatlinburg with my parents. We stayed in an awesome little log cabin. Drew really enjoyed the fire in the fireplace - especially when it popped and crackled.

And the one weird thing about the cabin that we couldn't quite figure out...the HUGE tub right in the kitchen/dining room area! But Drew thought it was the coolest thing ever and took a bath in it.
We went on a hike on Saturday. I thought Drew would be able to handle it (since he walks our 1 mile loop in our neighborhood all the time). But he was a really tired and out of sorts and the trail was about 3 miles total...at least Chad got a good workout carrying him a lot of the way! Here's Chad and Drew, and my parents pushing Emma.
About halfway up there was a tiny little waterfall - Drew thought that was the falls that we were hiking to. I think he was ready to turn around and be done!


One of our frequent breaks for Drew (and Chad).

Once we reached the top, there was a neat waterfall. This was a good time for a snack break. Here's Drew snacking w/ Grandma and Grandpa.



And here we all are in front of the falls (although you can't see most of the falls - it's really pretty).

Emma liked getting out of her stroller and seeing the sights.

Drew fell over the side of the cliff and, fortunately, caught this limb to save his fall... not really! But some good zooming and cropping can make it look that way!

And on our way back down the trail, Emma decided to relax a little...

On Sunday, we went to some of the little shops in Gatlinburg, and I SOOOO wish I'd had my camera. We went to Santa's Claus-et and it was all Christmas stuff. Well, right when we walked in, we spotted Santa Claus behind the counter. He came over and talked to Drew - who was stunned and scared to death at first (trembling lip and everything!). But he was such a good Santa (I about believed in him - he had the real beird and all), and Drew warmed up to him. He gave Drew a little ornament and even wrote "To: Drew From: Santa" and he wrote Drew's name in a little book on the "NICE" list. Very cool!! My parents got me some really good pumpkin butter from there - hopefully I can get Drew to try it!

Last night Emma showed us her new trick - she can now go from her belly to sitting up! What a big girl! She's so mobile w/o even knowing how to crawl. Although, at her age, I was starting to walk!! I'm very thankful she's not doing that yet! I also wanted to report that Emma is finally eating solid foods - a whole jarful at a time! yay!!

And here's a quick video from this morning of our little squirrel friend. He does this everyday and drives our kitties crazy!! There's always a big pile of nut shells sitting at that corner of the railing.