Swimming Monkey...Independence from the Swimmies!

There is something special about Tennessee in the fact that both of my kids have learned how to swim there. I think it has a lot to do with being in the pool everyday with them and they want to be just like every other kid :-) We started the week off with swimmies and declared our independence from them by the middle of the week. She was swimming underwater by the end of the week. Living on a lake on the weekends you always have this fear of a life preserver not performing (like has that ever happened :-)) that they fall off the deck before they put their preserver...you know the state of delirium all of us parents seem to experience with our children.

The best thing about Cait was the whole time she was swimming to me she would be yelling, laughing, telling me she was drowning or that she wasn't going to make it. Cait is so loud like her Momma that everyone knew what was going on. If I recall I think my Dad taught me how to swim in Tennessee too...I will have to ask him? But she did it and in lightning speed, with Cait if you blink you might miss something amazing...

Hitting milestones are a huge part of being a kid and also a parent...this little one is blowing through them this year, maybe it's just because she is my baby and I want things to slow

down :-) When we were driving to the lake this week, Cait told me she wanted a sister, Cam said no way...I just looked at Tony and smiled. We have been blessed with two of the best children that a Mom and Dad could have!

Longest Post Ever

No Papparazzi Please :-)

Sorry for all the pictures, but I couldn't help myself. I took almost 200 pictures today when we were up in the mountains and it was very hard to pick out my favorite ones!

Have you ever been to a place once a year for the entire 36 years that you have been alive...have your children started the same tradition? My parents honeymooned in the Smokies and I have been there every summer since I was born.

Not something people talk about a lot but you do hear people say that "this is their idea of heaven", that is how I feel about The Chimney's. It is a place up in the Smoky Mountains National Park, a place where the temperature is about 70 degrees in the middle of summer, where the sun peaks through the trees and glimmers on the rocks, where there is always a 100 people playing in the stream, and where fun is on overload by the sounds of the laughter that carry through the mountains. The adventure starts with a KFC picnic at a table nestled in the woods. The conversation always starts out about the times we had seen a bear and what we were doing and maybe we will see one this year? Shortest lunch in history as the kids are excited to go and jump on the rocks. If you look for skipping stones, the best ones can be found here....as the mountain stream smooths all the edges. The water is a chilly 50 degrees and you do anything you can not to fall in...Cait jumps in feet first!

This place is a work of art that you know was created for everyone to spend with their family, laugh, and become unplugged with all of the beauty.