Mini Summer Mountain Vacation

The whole purpose of this trip was to take Grant to see Thomas the Train at Tweetsie Railroad. We had pre-paid for a vacation at this resort we like where we've stayed previously. It just made sense to book it so we could make a mini vacation out of the Thomas event. Sadly, it'll be the last time we stay there because of how they tried to force their time share stuff on us. (I could get into ALL the stuff that happened prior to our check-in but my mother-in-law reads this blog and I don't think Husband would want her to know what he said to these people. So I will leave it at this: Festiva Resorts - our stay was at their Blue Ridge Villas in Banner Elk - is a very crooked business and I would never again recommend them to someone.) 

The view from our room (during a rainy spell). It made me
sad we won't be visiting here again.

Anyway! On the drive up, we stopped at a rest stop and I grabbed a brochure for Grant about Tweetsie Railroad. 

He sat back there "reading" it to us and asked us when we were going. For the four hundredth time, we told him we were going the next day. He told us "According to this, it says we have to go...um...today." I think he was just a little excited.

We tried to make the most of our time at the resort because it's a nice place to stay. They have a nice indoor pool so we hit that every night. 

This boy LOVES to swim, just like his Mama!

The day before we left, Husband had thrown his back out. Doesn't that make for a fun vacation? So when he had to rest in the room for a bit, Grant and I would go on adventures around the resort. 

We played at their little play area.

Went for some good walks.

And Grant developed a love for Tether ball and
Cornhole (he called it bean bags).

The condos there all have gas logs in the fire place and we'd never used them. It was a bit chilly at night and we liked to have them going at night. Grant would constantly pretend to be cold and bring us the remote for the logs "Here. Here you go. I'm cold."

They have a little mini golf course there too, so on our last night there we had a family game of mini golf. I firmly believe there is no one on this planet worse than me at miniature golf...and clearly our child gets his mini golf skills from me. But it was fun all the same.

Proud of himself for finally getting the ball in hole!

Showing Daddy how it's done (I love this picture)

And the next morning it was time to leave. Vacation always seems so short but it was a nice little family getaway!

We kept the door open a lot and Grant loved to go
outside to see what was going on. That morning
it was ducks on the pond.

I talked Husband into driving part of the way home on the Blue Ridge Parkway. I don't think it could ever get tired of the views on the Parkway!

I love the mountains!

A Day Out With Thomas

Raise your hand if you love all the stuff your kid is into. Anyone? Me either. But given some of the stuff that's out there...Thomas isn't so bad. I'd even go so far as to say I don't mind him anymore. Grant isn't as into Thomas as he used to be. Cars, Avengers, and other superheroes seem to be more his thing these days but when I saw that Thomas the Train was going to be at Tweetsie Railroad, I mentioned it to Husband. The mountains in summer with a super excited kid sounds fun, doesn't it? It does to me :)

I'd been counting down the days for Grant for about a week before the event. And the day of he woke me up with: "Mama! It's time to wake up! It's morning! IT'S ZERO DAY!!" 

I booked our tickets for a weekday (Thursday) which turned out to be a fantastic plan. It wasn't crowded at all. We got there shortly before our scheduled train ride and Thomas was right there when we walked in. Grant was so excited "It's THOMAS! Do you see him? He's RIGHT THERE!"

We had some time before our departure so we
just wandered and took pictures.

Grant couldn't wait to get on the train (a big difference from almost 2 years ago) and had already picked out which car he wanted to ride in.

Husband hates my family selfies everywhere we go.
(Also, I hate the word "selfie".)

I think the ride is about 20 minutes "around the mountain". Usually they do a western gun fight type thing but they didn't use the guns this time.

Over the bridge

Past the fake cemetery

Past the little village

To the fort to look for indians (a.k.a. a bunch of white guys
painted up to look like indians)

There they are.

They let us go. Clearly you can see from their body
language that we weren't worth it.

Headed back to the station.

We only got to ride the one time but Grant didn't seem to care. There was a lot of other stuff to do and I'd been promising the chair lift all morning. I wasn't sure how he'd feel about it but he acted excited.

One more picture before heading up the mountain. (I like that
it looks like Thomas was looking at me for the picture.)

Next we found their Thomas activity area:

Hahahaha!

Trains to play with...

Stuff to color...

And a tattoo booth. He picked Harold the helicopter
and for the rest of the day tried to only hold hands
with his right hand so as not to mess up Harold.

On our way to the chair lift we passed the candy store with
these adorable marshmallows in the window.

Not being a fan of anything suspended from cables, Husband took the shuttle to the top of the park. I figured Grant would see the chair lift and then we'd be on the shuttle too. But he loved it. "We're flying!" he told me and he took every opportunity to wave to people.

At the top was a ton more stuff to do. They have their petting zoo and some kiddie rides up there including a smaller train ride that Grant went batty over.

Panning for "gems" (rocks) with Daddy.

Showing off the souvenir badge we got him (I
couldn't resist - there is never anything with Gran on it!)

Riding the airplanes

 The petting zoo. If you know me, you know I'm not a fan. I'm not that mom that runs around with hand sanitizer like a crazy person but I don't think people get how sick you can get from petting zoos! Husband says my job has ruined me. Anyway...I really branched out this time and actually let Grant touch and feed the animals. And I watched him like a hawk! 

He was a big fan of the deer.

But the goats were definitely his favorite.

After the petting zoo, Grant asked to go on the Twister (I've always heard it called the scrambler). He called it the spinny thing. I tried explaining to him that it goes really fast and that if he gets scared they won't stop the ride. "I want to do it." So we did.

Can you see that face? He was cracking me up! Yelling "HAHAHAHA!
OH MY GOSH! THIS IS CRAZY!" Later we went on the tilt-o-whirl
and got the completely opposite reaction.

He did the boats too but after the Twister, the boats just
were...well, just boats.

We took the chair lift again back down to the other ride area. Grant was only too happy to ride that again (and I was excited that I have someone to ride the chair lift with!). Shortly thereafter I discovered that the tilt-o-whirl isn't fun anymore so I smoothed out that experience with the helicopters.

Which he, of course, loved.

We stopped at the candy shop on our way out for some edible souvenirs and headed back to the resort. We all had such a great time, I'm so glad we decided to go. Grant hugged us both at the car and told us "Thank you for coming to see Thomas". I love this kid!

High Five for Friday

Today I'm linking up with Lauren to share some fun stuff from my week.

1) We packed up Saturday for a quick weekend road trip for my soon-to-be-sister-in-law's bridal shower and some family time on my in-law's farm. 

Noting quite like a road trip nap.

In our driving around we found this pretty spot to walk around for a bit.

2) Not only did we get to spend some good time with my in-laws but we got to watch Grant have so much fun on their farm. He was very much wanting to stay.

Playing some serious fetch with one of the four dogs.

Clinging to uncle Sparky's leg so he doesn't have to leave.

3) One of the foods I miss from back home is french fries with cheese and gravy. I had to get Grant early from school on Monday and get groceries...so I calorie splurged on my craving for fries with cheese & gravy. So good!

I ate it all.

4) Speaking of back home, I got a ring in the mail that I ordered! I got a NY one for me and an NC one for my sister. I love it!

I got it from THIS Etsy seller, if you're interested.
She was very accommodating and quick!

5) I didn't make coffee yesterday morning like I usually do so I had to make do with some instant stuff I keep on reserve in my desk drawer. It was actually so good, I made two cups. What made it even better was getting to use my mug that my co-worker gave me for my birthday a couple years ago :)

Happy Friday!

Have a great weekend!