Wilderness of the Smokies - Day 2

We woke up and headed back to the indoor waterpark.

Because the kids wanted to ride the surf rider and the line was super short right when it opened. {Click through to watch Payton and Rylan too!}

All 3 kids LOVED the Surf Rider at Wilderness at the Smokies! #wildernessatthesmokies #surfrider

A post shared by Rebecca Lewis (@lewisrebecca) on Sep 2, 2017 at 5:28pm PDT

My boys!

It started to get crowded and we headed out.  We couldn't go to the outdoor waterpark because it looked like this...and it felt just as cold!

So we drove down through Pigeon Forge and then through Gatlinburg.  It was raining/drizzling when we got there so we decided to head back to the hotel.

We ate dessert that the hotel...

And then headed back to the room for the night!

Dylan's 13! {Wilderness of the Smokies - Day 1}

See that kid in the back seat?  He's a teenager. {Wow, that's crazy!}

We loaded up the car and hit the road.

Made one pit stop. {and photo op!}

Until we reached our destination...The Smoky Mountains.

See why they are called the Smoky Mountains?  It's beautiful.

We stayed at Wilderness of the Smokies which is a hotel/waterpark.  We got settled, changed into swim suits,

and headed to the indoor waterpark {it was SUPER windy}.

We played for a couple of hours {which I didn't take my phone/camera}. Then back in the room we celebrated with a Cheerwine, {Dylan discovered this soda when we were here last and fell in love with it!}

And Thin Mint Cookies for the birthday boy.

Then we played some Monopoly Deal where he got this card.  Ha!

T•H•R•I•T•E•E•N

Happy Birthday Dylan! My heart smiles when I think about you. You make us laugh all the time. You are so creative and I love hearing about how you would create a gadget to make anything we are doing easier/better. I love your passion for reading and wish I could read a book as fast as you do. I'm proud of all you've accomplished in taekwondo, and that you've taken to mountain biking like a fish to the water. I guess I think your all around a pretty awesome young man. So glad that your my son. Love you buddy. ❤️

Celebrating Dylan's Birthday

Dylan's birthday is TOMORROW, but since we are leaving out of town we are celebrating tonight! We piled in the car,

And drove straight into a storm {remnants of Hurricane Harvey}.

But it was worth it to get here.

We HAD to get the Cotton Candy Bacon of course.

And we were surprised that Payton and Rylan liked everything that we ordered.

We knew Dylan would love the steak {as you can see!}.

And then we had their Banana Bread for dessert.

Happy birthday son!

When we walked out of the restaurant the tornado sirens were going off.  It's funny, because 6 years ago, I would have been camped out in the bathroom waiting until all was clear.  But we just checked online to see where the storm was going (just north of us) and went on our way.

~

Rylan feel asleep quickly in the car - a good food coma will do that to you.

THIRTEEN tomorrow... and he's the same height as me.

I love you buddy.  Thanks for bringing so much laughter into our family.  You truly are a rad kid.  I am excited to see the young man that God is growing you up to be.