We're Back Home!

We made it safely back from vacation on Monday afternoon. Phase 4 was wonderful; we really enjoyed seeing my grandparents, Aunt and Uncle, the Mountains, and the top of Mt. LeConte (again).
Recap of phase 4: We left McKinney for Gatlinburg. We arrived sleep deprived on Saturday afternoon. Sunday we took it easy by celebrating Violet's 2nd birthday with a picnic at the Chimney's picnic area, complete with making s'mores.
Monday morning we headed up Mt. Leconte at the pace of a 5 year old (yes Olivia walked up and down), a pregnant lady (Meredith did a great job too!), and a Mimi with hurt knees. We enjoyed the views from the evenings sunset and the nice warm cabins! The hike down was nice, but not much to talk about. The trail was more narrow and rocky than expected. Needless to say that Meredith and Aaron got their money's worth out of their Chariot. At the end of the day William said, "Daddy my back hurts." Poor guy was bounced around all day.
Wednesday we picnicked again at Cades Cove and finally found Aaron as we drove through Cades Cove (long story of miscommunication).
We learned our communication lesson and made a plan for Thursday for the boys and kids to hike to a waterfall. The girls went to the crafts trail. Afterwards we went for another picnic.
Friday, we went to Mingus Mill and to Cherokee. The highlight of the day was definitely seeing Olivia being sworn in as a Junior Park Ranger. We stopped for yet another picnic and said goodbye to Grammy and Grandaddy. We headed to Ft. Payne to visit Aunt Cindy, Uncle Don, and Grandad Addison.
Saturday the girls went to Hammer's (kind of like Ross on steroids) and the boys went to the World's longest yard sale. Lastly, we went to Orbix Hot Glass. The gallery was very nice and I hope to return one day when they are blowing glass.
I feel tired just writing about all that!
This week has been relaxing; trying to get back in the groove of things after doing piles of laundry and unpacking the suitcases, amongst keeping up with the health care reform debate.
Addison's 6 month doctor visit was Wednesday. All is well. She is 90th percentile for height and weight! Leave it to me to have chunky, tall babies!