This weekend on a spur of the moment whim we went up to Gatlinburg. Andy and I usually go up for our anniversary because it always falls on the MLK holiday, but this year we decided we needed a family get-away, so I called Friday about 4:00 and got a reservation, and we left by 6:00. I've never packed so fast in my life, especially with so little laundry done! Andy had to take wet jeans with him and dry them when we got there. At least they were clean. Of course, as it seems to be this time every year, they were calling for snow up there this weekend, so when we were about 30 miles away at the bottom of the last bit of mountains we had to cross to get there, we were turned away because the mountain was closed. We ended up going about an hour out of our way around the world to get there. But, the kids slept the whole time, so it wasn't too bad. We got there about midnight and crashed. Our place was really nice. We got this 2-bedroom condo, because there were no 1-bedrooms available, so the kids got to sleep in their own king size bed. The next day we took the kids to the aquarium up there, which was awesome. It's kind of expensive (not as expensive as Atlanta's new aquarium), but it's definitely worth the money. The kids loved it. They have this moving sidewalk that you ride a pretty good way through a glass tunnel with fish swimming all around. I've never seen the under side of so many fish before. It was weird because there were different kids of sharks right in our faces and freaky looking eels and some other really strange looking fish that I don't know the names of. It was neat, though. We also got to watch a diver feed some fish, which made me shiver because as soon as she got in there they completely swarmed her. You couldn't even see her. It was like the old Hitchcock movie, The Birds, except with fish. Of course they had the area where you could pet some of them, but all the kids would do was touch the water. They're completely fine with never touching a ray or a shark or a crab at this point. Frankly, I am too. The next day we went and saw The Chronicles of Narnia, which was great. I read the book to Drew, being the super-mom that I am :), so the movie was really exciting for her. Alli and Evan slept through most of it. They're at the perfect age to go to the movies, because they sit still and watch for the most part, and they're still free. Of course, we spent the rest of the time eating too much and laying around, which we all needed desperately - I mean the laying around part. On the way home we did get to cross the mountain and see why it was closed Friday night. There was probably 2 feet of snow at the top, and since the kids rarely see snow, we had to stop and let them play for a while. Alli wasn't crazy about it because she kept falling and freezing her hands since nobody had gloves, but Drew and Evan enjoyed getting to throw snowballs at each other and me and Andy. It's not very often that we actually allow them to throw things at each other. We're home now, and I'm spending my time doing this instead of the mountains of laundry that are nagging at me. Plus, the house is a wreck as usual, which is ridiculous since we've only been home for a day!

This week we went to Discover Mills Mall, which is an outlet mall about 45 minutes from where we live. They had some pretty neat things hanging from the ceilings, so my mom and I sat in the floor of the mall all for the sake of taking cute pictures. Evan loves posing for pictures, but he hasn't quite mastered the art of the fake smile. They also have a place where you can go race these mini electric cars complete with a mini track, so we had to stop and watch that for a while. While we were there, we happened to see the infamous Runaway Bride! It was a pretty funny event. I saw her first, and I recognized her, but couldn't remember where from. Then I thought maybe she knew us because she looked surprised to see us. Then I realized that it wasn't surprise - it was just her naturally bulging eyes - and that she was the runaway bride. She lives somewhere around here. Andy actually knows her family because her mom was part owner at a sporting goods store in Gainesville, and she (the runaway bride) worked at the OBGYN that my mom and I go to. Anyways, as for the kids, they're as wild and crazy as ever. I've been slowly and casually working on potty training for the past couple of months, and, as I suspected, it's been less than enjoyable, which is why it's been slow and casual. I refuse to stress over it. Alli has actually done pretty well. She tells me when she needs to go and only wears a diaper to bed now. Evan is another story. At first we thought he was gonna do great, because he always wanted to go, but the excitement wore off, and now he doesn't care at all. So, since they're using the toilet, we decided that we should take the door knob cover off the bathroom door to give them access to the bathroom whenever they need it. We soon regretted that decision. The toilet mysteriously started getting really sluggish. It would flush, but not really well. It finally got to the point where it was a complete disaster and it would overflow and it was just unusable. Andy plunged as much as he could and nothing helped. He decided to borrow one of those snake things from his dad and give it one more try before we caved and called a plumber. He finally pulled a washcloth, of all things, out of the toilet, which irritated and relieved us at the same time. But it still wouldn't flush. So, he started again with the snake, and this time he pulled out a zip-loc bag and a spring about an inch in diameter and about 2 inches long. We laughed in between our rants about our children's reasoning (why would flushing be the best option for getting rid of a metal spring!? - No, they didn't swallow it for anyone who might be considering that), and now the toilet works like new. However, the door knob cover has been replaced and there's no more sneaking in the bathroom. My mom says the only bad things about having kids are potty training and teaching them to drive. So far I agree.
The other pictures here are of Drew with her Barbie mansion that is completely furnished with a bathtub, bed, kitchen & somewhat working appliances (a light, a ticking timer, and a ding when the timer's finished), and a fireplace and couch. I love Barbies. This is a picture of Evan with a knot on his head that wass so big it looked like he was trying to grow a horn. It's gone down a lot. I don't know what he did. All we heard was a thump and a scream from the playroom and when we got in there it was instantly welped up. The only explanation from him or Alli was that he fell. And, here is Alli with a Happy Birthday hat on. It's a big birthday cake with candles, which are hard to see in the picture, but every time we go to my parents' house

she wears it. She spent about 30 minutes outside helping my dad gather sticks for a fire with the hat on. It's funny because she wears it around as if it were a serious fashion statement. The seriousness with which she wears it is what makes it so cute.