dollywood and the sweet sorrow

Friday afternoon was a real treat! We met Megan and the girls at Dollywood. Lucky girls got to skip school for the afternoon (hey, it's educational!) and we had a chance to catch up. The girls were lovely guides, giving us pointers on their favorite and least rides at the park. In the end, everyone but me went on a roller coaster. The adults got headaches, but the kids were exhilarated. After one particularly fast roller-coaster ride, Henry came running up to us, breathless with excitement.

Henry: That ride went like 200 miles per hour!
Me: Nice! Did you like it?
Henry (still excited): NO!

And that about sums up our day. After the rides, we stopped for some food, and five Forts got their first taste of fried green tomatoes. YUM. We also got to explore all the pumpkin displays for the fall IllumiNights show, which were impressive. I think these were my favorites:

After an afternoon at the amusement park, we kind of wanted some downtime at the cabin, so we settled in. I laid down for a nap, and I woke up because Henry was in the bedroom shouting for me. Turns out that Mike and Max had made a quick grocery and food run, and while they were gone, Liam and Henry took Pluto out for a quick walk. He must have seen a squirrel or something, because he took off, and dragged Liam right into the curb. Liam jammed his big toe pretty badly in the process. Poor kid. Bending the toe was hard for him, let alone walking on it, so we made the executive decision to pack up and head home Saturday morning instead of Sunday. Between the injury and the extreme weekend crowds everywhere, it really wasn't a tough decision to make, and it's nice to be back home.

Until next time, Gatlinburg!