Dollywood

Our friends, the Ledbetters, invited us to go to Dollywood this past weekend.  They are season pass holders, and so they had guest passes for us.  The Ledbetters are a family of 5, with three teenage kids- BJ, Vivian, and Emma.  We left around 8:30ish and headed for Pigeon Forge.  Mercy rode with the Ledbetters, while BJ rode with us.  BJ was much less high maintence than Mercy in the van.  We ate at McDonalds and then headed to the park.  When we got there, the traffic for parking was backed up, and it looked like it was going to be a crowded day.  Turns out that Dolly was actually there that day.  Since Brian and Jennifer know their way around, we headed over to a parking area and rode a trolley straight into the park, by-passing the traffic.  It was VERY crowded, with people EVERYWHERE!  The line was pretty long for the first several rides, but later, the crowds thinned out, and we had no (or very little) wait for bigger rides.  We had a fabulous time!  Here are some pictures of our day.  It was very eventful!!! 

Family shot by the sign

This is the Rockin' Roadway.  Mercy got to ride this time.  Of course, she loves all rides.

Ryan and Mercy

Josiah: a solo driver

This is how we roll at Dollywood.  Do we need a stroller?  No way!  We have BJ, Vivian, and Emma!  I don't think I carried Mercy all day long!  Our kids love their kids!

Aedan on Emma's back

Mercy with Vivian

Josiah on BJ's shoulders

Sideshow Spin
There was a LONG wait for this one.  I think it may have been the longest wait.  It is a miniature roller coaster.  Josiah and Aedan LOVED it!

Josiah and I

Emma and Aedan

Me

Next~the Lemon Twist

This one cracked me up to watch!  Mercy and Brian went on this one, in the slow moving tea cup.  Ryan was with everyone else in the fast one! 

Mercy and Brian

Ryan, Vivian, Emma, Aedan, and Josiah
~about to spin~

Here they go!!

Check out Aedan's face here.  haha!  It cracks me up, poor thing!

Here are some videos to see the spinning speed of Ryan's tea cup.  Feel free to compare it to Brian and Mercy's tea cup!  hahaha!

Here they are afterwards~

Not sure if Aedan is going to be able to walk.

Now, here are some easier rides.  haha!

Duck Video:

 

Pig Video:

Busy Bees Video:

My favorite game at Dollywood.  Every duck is a winner!

Carousel

and a video:

Next, we rode the train.  The timing of it all worked out well.  We actually made it on the train, and didn't have to wait a long time. 

Mercy and the boys enjoyed some cotten candy

Next, we ventured to other areas of the park, that we (the McGanns, not Ledbetters) hadn't seen before.  I really liked how the boys were able to ride many of the bigger rides.  Josiah could ride everything, except for the newest coaster there.  The boys were sooo brave rding on things.  Here are some that we rode.

Mountain Slidewinder
This was the boys' first "bigger" ride.  We LOVED it and were eager to ride more.

Next, we rode Daredevil Falls.  The drop was pretty steep.  Aedan got a little scared on this one, but when it was all over he said he liked it. 

Next, we headed over to the Tennessee Tornado.  It is described as a "70 mph triple-loop steel roller coaster".  When we went to ride it, Josiah looked at it, and decided against it.  I was okay with that, because I thought it would be a little much for him.  So, we didn't push him and went while he waited with Brian and Jennifer.  As Ryan and I were on the coaster pulling out, I see Brian and Josiah.  Guess he changed his mind!  The whole time I was on the coaster, all I could think about was Josiah on a triple-loop coaster for his first REAL roller coaster.  Oh my!  And, when I got back, he would already be gone, so there was no way of me stopping him.  When he finished, he looked a little shocked, but then smiled!  So, it was all okay!  whew!

Here's his official Dollywood picture:

Here is a video of the coaster if you're interested in seeing what Josiah went on:


Josiah and Aedan also rode the Blazing Fury (an indoor coaster), River Battle (not a fav), and River Rampage.  (see video below)

We had a great time at Dollywood.  I really like the park a lot, and am so thankful to the Ledbetters for taking us along!!!

CBS

Another year at CBS is over:(  Now is the time to register for next year, if you are interested-especially if you have children.  We had a great year studying Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 and 2 Samuel.  Wow!  It was a lot of reading, but well worth it!  Next year we'll be studying John.

Here is our core group shot.

Here's Aedan with Ms. Susan, his teacher.

Aedan's class

The children's program at CBS is excellent!  There are classes all the way up to high school (for students that are home schooled).  Jennifer (at the mic) is stepping down this year from the children's coordinator position:(

 Here are a couple little videos~

Happy Birthday, Ryan!

Ryan is now 35!  woohoo!  Ryan came home from work a little early on Tuesday and took the boys to swim lessons.  We all went out to eat afterwards at Chili's.  We came home and opened presents next.  We got Ryan some shirts from Old Navy.  (One of them is laying behind him in the picture below.)  And last, but not least, we ate cake and ice cream.  I made Ryan a peanut butter cake.  It is seriously, some of the best cake EVER!  It is so delicious!  I hadn't made it in a while, knowing that if I make it, I 'll eat it...all of it!  So, this was a great occasion for it.  Ryan ate his peanut butter ice cream with it, too! :)

Ryan and the kids

The cake!!!
It may not be the prettiest looking cake, like my other creations, but it makes up for it in taste!  oh, yeah!!!  Also, the kids were confused by the one candle.  Shouldn't we put 35 candles on it?

The kids singing!

Happy Birthday, Ryan!  We love you, and are so thankful for you!!!

Discovery Museum

Josiah's school year is coming closer to the end.  That means-field trips!  Recently, he has had two.  The first one was to see the Chimpanzee movie.  Josiah loves those science documentary shows/movies so he loved it.  Second, they went to the Discovery Center in Murfeesboro.  Josiah had a blast!  Here is he and his friend, Emily, from school.  These two have been good friends since the beginning of the school year.

I really think, too, that Josiah and Emily kind of look similar!  What do you think?  They look like they could be brother and sister to me.

Dogwood Park

Dogwood Park is a newer small park in the center of town.  Recently, they built one of those fountains (like in downtown Charleston) where the kids can play and get wet.  Danielle and I ventured out there last week.  If you notice the circles, there is supposed to be water shooting up out of those, but it was broken on the day we went.  Mercy was very unsure at first, whereas Aedan quickly got all wet.  The ground is somewhat slippery, so water shoes are a good idea.  It's also a good idea not to run~see picture below of Aedan.  We were only out there for a little over an hour.  They liked it a lot, and definitely want to go back!  Here are some pictures~

Running

and CRASH!!!  So, no running!  After we left there were some men posting Dogwood Park fountain rules.  One of the rules is no running.

The sweetest picture EVER!
Mercy and Liam

Soccer (is Over)!

Our soccer season ended this past Saturday.  Wow.  We woke up to rain Saturday morning, and headed out to the fields.  We had to stop by Walmart on the way for me to buy an umbrella.  I have been meaning to buy one for a while now, and the thought of sitting in the rain with Mercy to watch a soccer game didn't sound pleasant.  They had a great last game after a challenging season.  (Actually the past several games were better then previous ones.)  Since it was raining, some of the players on the other team weren't there.  Ryan rotated some of our players to their team to make it more fair.  They didn't mind playing in the rain, and actually had fun jumping through puddles with each other before the game.  We'll be taking a break from soccer next fall.  Aedan wants to try baseball next fall, and Josiah wants to try basketball, which will happen through the winter.  We'll see what happens, if they decide to go back to soccer, or are retired from competitive play. :)

Here are some pictures from our season.  (In no particular order)  I didn't take any pictures during the last game because I didn't want to take my camara out in the rain.  I took a couple with their medals when we got back to the house. 

Josiah

Go Josiah!

Aedan with his tongue out!  Go Aedan!

Ryan is placing Josiah where he should stand.  This is a common scene on the soccer field.  haha

Ryan with some of the team

It's not uncommon to see this: two players down due to tripping each other.

Ryan with the boys after the last game!

The kids and I.  The boys loved their new cool medals.