Tennessee Spring Break 2012

We arrived home last night around 10:30 PM, from what had to be one of our favorite family vacations ever.  We went to the Wilderness Water Park at the Smokies in TN.  We had the best time and now that Cooper is 6 and quite a proficient swimmer, going to a water park no longer means that Greg or I have to be at arm's length of him at any given moment.

After going to church on Easter Sunday and then having a delicious meal with my parents, two of my brothers, my SIL, and my adorable niece we came back home and packed up the minivan for our journey to TN.  We left home a little after 4 PM and made it about 45 before blowing a fuse and having to stop at a gas station.  I guess when you have splitters hooked up charging 3 DVD player, and five different personal devices something is bound to blow!  Fortunately Greg fixed it and we were back on the road in a matter of a few minutes.

Kids these days travel in style and comfort I tell ya!  That's T for Tennessee.

We drove to somewhere in KY and then spent the night at a Holiday Inn Express.  We arrived at the Water Park in Sevierville, TN around 3 PM after lunch at TX Roadhouse.  The line to check in was CRAY!  It didn't take as long as I thought it would and the park was not as crowded (thankfully) as it seemed at check in.

The gorgeous view from our room of the outdoor park before it opened one morning.

We spent a glorious five days in TN.  The weather was not as hot as it could have been, but it was definitely warmer than what we left behind in WI.  I spent my days lounging at the outdoor pool and read the book, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.  It was in the high 50s one of the days, but I braved the chill and went into the outdoor pool with Drew.  We had the entire lazy river to ourselves for about an hour. All the lifeguards were wearing hoodies.  :)

Drew and I braving the chill in the air.  We are hearty midwesterners for goodness sake!

The boys and Greg spent much of the time in the indoor water park going down the tube rides.  They also spent time at the indoor Adventure park playing games, laser tag, and all sorts of other fun stuff.  We ate at lots of great restaurants and just had a fun awesome chill vacation!  I even hit the outlet mall and believe it or not, but I did not buy a single thing.  I checked out several stores and found nothing that interested me.  We were so blessed to not hit any significant traffic whatsoever.   Unlike our horrible trip home from FL a few years ago.  We absolutely loved where we were in TN and I would highly recommend it as a vacation spot.  It was nice to only have a 10 hr car ride from WI instead of the 20+ we are used to when traveling to Port St Lucie, FL.

My favorite boys in the world!

Drew catching some waves.

We created tons of fun memories and I cannot believe how fast the boys are growing up.  I can't even bring myself to think about how many years it will be and then *poof* Ben will be gone to college.  This Spring Break vacation was exactly what I needed to get my mind off the stress that comes with the end of the school year.  I am completely reenergized and ready to go back for the remainder of the school year.  I am looking forward to hearing about how my students spent their Spring Break.  I also have another week of teaching before my student teacher is going to be taking over full time for a few weeks. I look forward to finishing the school year with some fun activities and lots of new learning stations for the students.

The bunk beds the boys slept in and also watched TV or just chilled.

These guys were crazy on the water slides!  At the beginning of last summer Cooper was not even swimming on his own.  Look at him now!

One last time at the indoor park before heading home.  Boo hoo!

Today I am spending the day doing laundry, unpacking, grocery shopping, and getting the house back in order.  The necessary evils after returning from an amazing vacation!  Feeling so very very blessed to have the amazing family I do and feeling so fortunate that we were able to take this wonderfully amazing trip together.  I hope you all had a wonderful Easter and Spring Break!