hikers off!

We dropped off David and Brother Larry this morning for the start of their Appalachian Trail adventure. Dennis posed with them, and a few minutes after they disappeared into the woods, he wanted to go after them. He and I hiked a tiny portion of the AT as well, long enough for him to realize that we couldn't catch up with them. He says he wants to really hike the trail when he's "just a little bit bigger."

We toured Boone and Blowing Rock before hitting the Blue Ridge Parkway and heading for Gatlinburg. We had the best day! We started out at a super cool general store (Mast) where we loaded up on candy for our journey, lots of old-fashioned candy, and a real highlight was getting Nehi Grapes from a Coca-cola cooler identical to the one that was in my Papa's grocery store. Oh, what a good memory, and what fun it was teaching Dennis how to open our glass bottles with the opener on the edge of the cooler! The Parkway was spectacular, of course, with eye-poppingly gorgeous vistas around every bend (and there were lots of bends!). We stopped at Cove Memorial Park and walked the manor property, basically frolicking in a big grassy orchard with an incredible view. When we stepped out of the van, I was delighted to find myself shivering just a bit in the cool breeze! Yes, we got a little chilly playing outside on a July afternoon--how wonderful is that? We also spent a good deal of time at the North Carolina Mineral Museum, where Dennis earned his Blue Ridge Junior Ranger badge. This badge requires some work! So much work, in fact, that the ranger on duty awarded ME a Junior Ranger badge and certificate and swore me in alongside Dennis. He is very proud of his badge, and I'm hoping to use mine as a Christmas ornament (unless it's pulled into emergency service as a back-up for him).

Tonight at the cabin in Gatlinburg, he learned to play a couple of card games with Gran. They played Snap and Go Fish, and it turns out that he's quite the card player! He told me he only cheated once, but he won a bunch of times. In his mind, he's the winner EVERY time. We don't have his permission to beat him!

Great vacation so far! Am hoping the guys on the trail are also having a wonderful time.

commentary

The only silence we've heard today happened while Dennis napped. He chattered constantly for nearly all the 10 hours we were in the car today. My ears are tired!

At lunch, I heard a kid yelling in the bathroom about a crack attack, so I asked Dennis if that was him I heard after he got out of the bathroom. He said "no, I was the one yelling LAND HO!".

He told David, "I'm going to take the heck out of you--I have tweezers to get it out!". He asked all the rest of us in the car if we had any heck in us and offered to tweeze it out as well. I asked him what the heck was doing in us and he said "the heck makes you do bad things and that's why we need to get it out!".

I'm too sleepy to write more. We're enjoying beautiful Boone, NC, and tomorrow we'll drop David and Brother Larry off at a spectacularly gorgeous lake that we passed, and that's where they'll start their hike.

librarian in training

Today was a frenzy of vacation preparation. We took some library books back and while we were there, Dennis picked out a stack of books and sat at a table in the children's section to read. I went to get a couple for myself, and when I returned, Dennis brought his stack to the counter to check out. The librarian told me that an older lady had come in with her grandchild and they sat down at another table, and then Dennis told them that they were disturbing him while he was trying to read! He told them also that you are supposed to be quiet in a library! She told me that he was so serious when he said it, and that it was so much the opposite of what is usually expected from small children in the library.

happiest 4th

Dennis was a real character today. He got plenty of sleep last night and his 'funny' genes were full on today. This morning we lost him for a minute at the lake house, always scary, and we fanned out to search. Allison found him leaving the screened porch, and he told her "you have ruined my escape plan!". He had decided to visit the neighbors without telling anyone, so he signed himself up for a nice long safety lecture.

He pooped in the lake today. I never would have believed it--something he never even did as a baby in a swim diaper! He told me he'd done it as he was finishing, and I was horrified at the idea of cleaning out his swimsuit. That wasn't a problem--he informed me that he pulled it down to poop. Swimming was a little less fun after that (since we were keeping our eyes peeled for floating you-know-what). I guess he's a real wilderness kind of guy now. I guess we never told him NOT to poop in the lake... Shortly after that, he told me that rain was what happened when the sun peed in the sky.

Tonight at Walmart (yes, another bathroom story), he and I went to the restroom while Daddy shopped for more gear for his trip (I think he grossly underestimated his cost for a hiking vacation, but we do want to make sure he has everything he needs). Dennis was in the bathroom stall next to mine. I heard him go to the sink and wash his hands, and then I heard him say "ahhh...that was refreshing!!".

The picture shows him making a hand puppet out of our Whataburger table number. We got home tonight to discover that our air conditioner was broken and deemed it too hot to cook. We ate out and then went to see the fireworks, a great conclusion to a really fun weekend.

big bangs and booms

Today was made up of the best things of summer. We grilled burgers and hot dogs, we spent hours swimming in the lake, and we roasted marshmallows over a campfire. We laughed, we talked, we ate too much... We took the boat out 50 yards from the dock to feel the breeze while we watched fireworks, lots of fireworks! And Dennis gave us some dancing shows, one on the boat while wearing glow-in-the-dark bracelets on his wrists and ankles, and one indoors after which he fell backward and whacked his head on a chair. As Monte came in from the porch, he said "oh no! She's going to sit in that mean old chair!". He warned her to be careful.

We played a few rounds of Cootie today. Dennis admitted "I cheated and rolled a two! I like cheating!". The last game he won fairly (unless he's better at cheating than I think he is).

One more day of lake fun before I have to start getting ready to leave for the big vacation on Wednesday!

big Harley adventure

Yes, that is Dennis on the back of a real Harley, wearing the cool helmet with the pink flames (and flashing two thumbs up). He had a breakfast date with Miss Julie (a friend from church)--she took him for a cruise and a visit to McDonalds. He LOVED it. He was all smiles when he arrived back and gave Julie a big hug and thanked her. When she cranked up the bike to drive away, Dennis said "I love that noise!". Another grand experience in his young life (even I've never ridden a motorcycle!), something I thought that would scare him but totally didn't.

Noisy motorcycles don't scare him, but splinters do. Big drama over a sliver in his finger, HUGE ordeal, and it took his grandmothers to take care of it. Allison and I made an attempt, and he cried so hard he nearly threw up (before we were able to touch his finger) then rubbed his freshly applied sunscreen into his eyes. Much rinsing and crying later, he happily jumped in the lake with us for a swim. Fireworks tomorrow night! Wonder how he'll like that...

holiday weekend!

I'm wondering if afternoon naps have gone the way of the dinosaurs. Dennis tried to take one today, tried for an hour, and told me his brain just wouldn't let him nap anymore. Naturally he fell asleep in the car on the way home from the lake tonight.

He called us "fools" tonight at comically appropriate times (if it's ever appropriate for a 4 year old to call an adult a fool), as in when I forgot to fix his water "you fool! I wanted water!". It was as funny as it was rude. I think he was stuck in Pirate Mode (he also threatened to shoot us with his pirate pistol if we didn't do what he told us to). I hope he's a nicer character tomorrow.