Grad Bash 2010

I was able to chaperone the Senior trip to Grad Bash at Universal Studios again this year. I love going on this trip because there are a lot of perks. First of all, I get to visit both parks (Universal and Islands of Adventure) for free. As a chaperone, I get to use the express entrance for all rides, so I don't have to wait in line for anything. The park also provides chaperones with a free hot breakfast, snacks, and unlimited coke products all night. I wanted to take a lot of pictures this year since it is probably my last year going (the fate of my school is still unknown), but I found out once I got inside the park that my camera is on its last leg (I dropped it last week). Since my camera kept messing up, I was only able to get a few pictures. Even though I don't have the pictures to prove it, I really had a great time. My co-workers and I were able to ride everything that we wanted- including the new Rip Ride Rocket rollercoaster (behind us in the picture). I loved this coaster because there are speakers on each car, and individual riders gets to pick what song they listen to while they ride the coaster. I picked "You Can't Touch This" by M.C. Hammer. Being able to listen to music while riding added a whole new dimension to the coaster-riding experience. I think that I want every new coaster to have this feature. Riding rides wasn't the only thing I did, though. I also got to hear Sean Kingston sing (he's a reggae singer). The new Harry Potter World is opening this summer, and I climbed on top of some type of structure and peaked over the fence at it. It looked awesome! Hogwarts castle is HUGE, and the town is cute. I really wish that it would have been open for Grad Bash. I guess Universal felt bad that Harry Potter wasn't open becasue they are giving everyone who went to Grad Bash a free ticket to come back before December so that they can see it. I plan to use my ticket, so you all may be seeing a "Sanders Family goes to Universal" post sometime in September.

Hiking in the Smokies

On day six of our Smoky Mountain vacation, we woke up and prepared to go home. Before beginning our long journey back home, there was one thing that we still wanted to do: hike the Laurel Falls Trail in the national park. We had been enjoying the beautiful mountain scenery all week long, but we had not spent much time in the park itself. The reason for this is that three of the more popular driving tours were closed (they were repaving the roads before the high season began), and that was about all that we could do with the kids in tow. I wanted to hike at least one trail, but seeing as how most of the trails were long and uphill, I had a hard time finding one that the kids could do. Finally, I found a great website that provided lots of information about the trails in the park, and I found a trail that I thought we could do. It was a 1.3 mile trail called Laurel Falls Trail. As the name implies, there was a waterfall at the end of the trail. So, after leaving the cabin on Saturday, we headed to the Laurel Falls trailhead.

The path was narrow and steep in some places, so we really had to watch Olivia to make sure that she stayed safe. Owen was in the stroller the whole time- we weren't even going to chance letting him walk up on his own. The trail toward the falls was all uphill, so I had to push Owen in that stroller uphill for 1.3 miles. I never realized what a chunck he was until I had to do this. At least the path was sort-of paved. I say "sort-of" because it looked like it had been paved many years ago and had not been re-paved since. It was bumpy. I got off easy, though. Brian was in charge of Olivia, and she decided that she was too tired to walk about halfway up the trail so Brian had to carry her part of the way.

Olivia did manage to walk all the way back down the mountain by herself on the return trip, though.

The payoff for our hiking efforts was a beautiful waterfall. You can see part of it in this picture, but it was actually much larger. Seeing the falls definitely made the hike worthwhile.
The kids didn't get to get down and play around the falls because there were still lots of steep drops in the area. Olivia did get down once because she wanted to "touch" the falls, and so Brian took her close enough so that she could. After spending some time at the falls, we hiked back to the car and drove home. All in all, we had a great time in the mountains, and we look forward to returning someday.

Pigeon Forge

We spent our last full day in the Smokies exploring the town of Pigeon Forge. Pigeon Forge is a lot like Gatlinburg in that there are lots of activities to do, but things are more spread out so you have to drive to each attraction instead of parking and walking. We had driven down the "strip" the day before, so we kind of knew what activities that we had to choose from. Olivia was really taken by the WonderWorks building because it was upside down. We decided to visit. Wonderworks is a cross between a children's museum, a science center, and a Ripley's believe it or not. There were all kind of really neat things to do in there for all ages. Some of the things that the kids liked the best were the sections where you could make really big bubbles, the piano you could walk on, and exhibits that videoed you and then changed your image (making you really tall, really short, or switching your head with someone elses body).

After visiting Wonderworks, we went back to the cabin for a nap. That evening, we attended Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede. This is one of those dinner shows where you sit in an arena and watch a show involving horses as you eat. We arrived in time for the pre-show which consisted of a bluegrass band playing all of the bluegrass favorites (Dixieland Delight, Rocky Top, Dueling Banjos, etc...) Owen really liked the music and clapped along with the music (see video). Once the pre-show was over, we went into the arena for the main event- which was really cute. The arena was divided into two teams- the North and the South. We were on the South team (of course). There were all kinds of events- like barrel racing, chicken chasing, pig racing, and a lumberjack relay- that had the two teams compete against each other. Audience members were pulled from each side to compete. In the end, there was a tie. I think that the competition was rigged because everyone knows that the South can't be beat. The show was really entertaining, and the kids actually paid attention to it the whole time. It also didn't hurt that they kept bringing us food throughout the show. Once the show was over, the audience members got to walk down to the arena to meet the horses and riders. Both of our kids got to pet a horse named "Joker". Olivia said that this was her favorite part.

Zorbing

One of my favorite television shows is The Amazing Race. I have watched every show since season 1 (2001). If you're not familiar with this show, it is a reality competition that has teams of players race around the world completing various tasks. One memorable episode that aired in 2004 had players roll down a hill in a big plastic ball. It was called "zorbing". Brian and I had never seen anything like it and immediatley decided that we wanted to give zorbing a try. After doing some research, I learned that New Zealand was the only place in the world where you could do this (and that's where they did it on the TV show). Although we wanted to try zorbing, we weren't about to go to New Zealand to do it. Since 2004, the Zorb company has opened one other location in the world. As luck would have it, it's in the U.S.- and it's in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee (apparently, though, there are knock-off companies in other locations and the Zorb people are not happy about it).

So, here's what I've learned about zorbing. There are two ways that it can be done- wet or dry. If you zorb dry, then you are strapped into the ball by your hands and feet (think blonde girl in King Kong) and you roll head-over-heels down the slope. If you do the wet ride, then you can chose either a straight track or a zig-zag track. In the wet ride, you climb into the ball and they put a tiny bit of water in it. I'm guessing the water is there to make things nice and slippery. You are not strapped down at all, so as the ball rolls down the hill, you are rolling around in the ball. Everyone at the Zorb place said that the wet ride was way better and that 90% of riders chose the wet ride. Brian and I both decided that the wet ride was the one for us, and we both picked the curvy track.

How was the ride? FUN. It was like a waterslide on speed. If any of my siblings or cousins on the Buie side are reading this, then you may understand the following analogy: Remeber when we use to go to the waterslides at the beach and we would make a "train" of about seven or eight people and go down the slide. It was so much fun because it was really fast and out of control. That's what the Zorb is like except you're not worried that someone is going to go over the side of the waterslide or get their foot or head smashed against the side of it. Brian and I really enjoyed zorbing, and I am happy that I have another thing checked off of my "bucket list".

Dollywood

As you all probably know, Brian and I are huge theme park/roller coaster people, so we couldn't possibly visit the Smoky Mountain area without spending a day at Dollywood. Dolly Parton is from the Smoky Mountain area and this park is named in her honor. She visits the park every year to open new attractions and to perform, but she was not there when we were. Brian and I have been to many theme parks, and we were both impressed with Dollywood. It had a nice "country" feel to it. The park seemed to really make an effort to showcase the traditional lifestyle of the region. In addition to the rides and shows, there were shops that you could visit to watch craftsmen work in the traditional trades of the region (like blacksmithing, leather tanning, glass blowing, etc.). With so many things to see and do, it was not difficult to spend a whole day in the park...and that's exactly what we did.



















We arrived shortly after the park opening, and we left when the park closed. It made for a long day, but the kids loved it. They rode several of the kiddie rides. Olivia was even tall enough to get on the kiddie roller coaster! That brings Olivia's coaster count to 3. One of the kids' favorite rides was the little cars because they got to "drive". The cars were on a little track, so the kids really couldn't drive off that far. Even Owen got to sit behind the wheel. Other things that the kids liked were the large playground area and the children's ropes course. We spent a lot of time at these two attractions.

Although Brian and I were not able to do all of the adult attractions, we did make it a point to hit the one that really mattered. Of course, I'm talking about Thunderhead- former winner of the Golden Ticket Award for "Best Wooden Coaster" and currently ranked #5 wooden coaster in the world. We both got to ride it once, but we didn't get to ride it together. Bummer. The good news is that Olivia is that currently 39" and Owen is 33" tall. The height requirement for most coasters is 48", so it won't be too long before we'll all be riding together.

Gatlinburg

While on vacation, we spent most of our days in the towns of Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge. These two towns lie outside of the Smoky Mountain National Park, and they are major tourist destinations. Our country may be in a recession, but you would never know it if you judged the economy by how many people were in these two towns last week. While I personally prefer towns that are less "touristy"and more quaint, for a trip with kids these towns offered plenty to do. There were tons of activities- putt putt, laser tag, go-kart tracks, fun houses, wax museums, Ripley's attractions, etc... Our plan was to visit each town, walk around, and basically just do whatever we felt like doing.

The first town on our list was Gatlinburg, and we spent the second day of our vacation exploring this town. In Gatlinburg all of the attractions are really close together, so you park your car in a pay parking lot and walk to everything. One of the first things that we spotted while walking down the sidewalk was a putt putt course. Brian wanted to do this, so we did. The kids had never played putt putt before, and it was a lot of fun for them. Olivia really liked it- so much so that we ended up playing another round on our last night of vacation. Unlike her brother, Olivia really tried to hit the ball using the club, and she did pretty well. Owen was not so patient, and he usually ended up kicking the ball or picking it up with his hand and placing it in the hole.

After our putt putt game, we grabbed a bite to eat at a bar-b-que place and then headed to Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies. Viewing marine life is always a hit with our kids, and this was no exception. The kids spent a lot of time looking at the fish. The sharks and sea turtles were some of their favorites. As far as my review of the aquarium goes, I thought that it was just okay- not bad, but it can't touch the aquariums in Atlanta or Chattanooga. I will say that I was impressed by the super-long glass tunnel that you could walk through to view the fish. I've seen tunnels in aquariums before, but none that were as long as this one. After spending an hour or two in the aquarium, the kids were really tired, so we headed back to our cabin for a much-needed nap.

We returned to Gatlinburg after napping to visit the Ober Gatlinburg Ski Resort and Amusement Park. Of course no skiiing was going on, but there were plenty of other things to do. To get to Ober Gatlinburg, we had to take a tram. The kids loved this. They were tall enough to see out of the window of the tram- so they just stood there and stared during the entire ride up. Once we got to the Ober Gatlinburg resort area, we decided to do the alpine slide- which was kind of like a sled on wheels that went downhill on a track. To get to the top of the slide, we had to take a chair lift. I was nervous about having the kids on a chair lift (that's why I made Brian ride with Owen- he squirms more). Once we got to the top, we got on our sled thing and got ready to go. There were two tracks, so Owen rode with Brian on one track while Olivia rode with me on the other. Even though we all started at the same time, Brian and Owen finished nearly a whole minute before Olivia and I did. The alpine slide was really fun and if we had had more time, we would have done it a second time. It was getting late, though, so we headed back to the cabin. This ended day two. At the bottom of the post I have put a video of Olivia's "victory dance". She did this dance after doing really well on a hole in putt putt. All I can say is that she gets her moves from her mama :)

Great Smoky Mountains National Park

We have just returned from our spring break trip to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. We had such a wonderful time, and I will be doing a series of posts detailing all of the fun things that we did on our vacation. Our trip began last Monday as we made the long drive from Blackshear to the Wears Valley area (located just outside of the national park) where we had rented a cabin for the week. The already long drive was made even longer by poor little Owen who got car sick and threw up twice within the first two hours of the drive. After that, though, he felt better and did not get sick any more that day (he did get sick again twice on the way home). Other than Owen getting sick, the kids were excellent in the car. They did not whine or complain at all.


We arrived in Cherokee, NC in the late afternoon and then crossed the Smokies into Tennessee via the Newfound Gap Road. This is a scenic drive that runs through the heart of the national park. It took us quite a long time to drive this road from one side to the other because we got so distracted by the scenery. We stopped and got out of the car four or five times so that we could take in the beauty of the area. This road had it all- mountain vistas, roadside streams, waterfalls, and various types of woodland areas. The kids were in awe because they had never seen terrain like this before.

We were almost finished with the drive through the national park when we spotted a large number of cars parked along the side of the road and people outside of those cars looking into the woods and taking pictures. There was no spectacular view, so we wondered what all of the commotion was about. We got out, and then we saw them- two bear cubs! According to the other bystanders, the mother bear was down in the forest, too, but we didn't see her. I couldn't believe it- we hadn't even made it to our cabin yet, and we had already seen wild bears! At that moment, I knew that we were going to have an awesome vacation.