One Sly Fox Family: Vacation!!!!!!

Ahhh, vacation....there's just nothing like it...of course, there's nothing like being back in your own bed either! We had a fantabulous trip.....this year we again freestyled, for the most part (freestyling is basically our families word for "we are going on a vacation. we have a beginning and an ending point. we also have booked a hotel for each night. however, we are not sure what we are doing, seeing, eating as we have politely asked Mom (Amanda) not to plan every aspect of our family vacation including gas and potty stops!) So, as we drove if we saw something we wanted to see, we stopped, saw and ventured on. We started this way of vacationing last year in Chicago...and for the uber planner that I am, it was mighty difficult to let the cards fall where they may...but I tell ya, I am a fan of this freestyling thing....absolutely no stress! I book the hotels and voila! That's it...we are heading out! So, we were gone for a very long time...10 days total, that is the longest trip we have ever done....even before kids! The next longest was San Fran a few years back, but that was only 8! So, I have opted to blog our trip by days...a few days there won't be anything as these were purely in the car days...so you won't be reading for 10 days straight! Enjoy!

Days 1-3 - We started out at 5:15 a.m. on Friday morning...our final destination for the day---Pulaski, TN--the home of Elden and Doreen! It was a mere 12 hour drive for the day...but what a beautiful drive it was...once we were in TN! We stopped just a few times on Friday for food, potty and stretching...pretty much it was a car day. We plugged the kids in and off we went! We arrived to Elden and Doreen's around 6:00 that evening and enjoyed a nice drive around the area's Amish communities and a yummy Mexican dinner! It was a great visit! The next morning after breakfast and some visiting we headed for Knoxville---home of the Lee Family! Easily the part of the vacation Grady and I were looking most forward too! We had a fantastic time catching up with Carla, Josiah and Dustin and getting to meet sweet baby Ethan for the first time! On Saturday, when we arrived to Knoxville, we checked into our hotel and headed right over to their house! The boys picked up right where they left off...you would never have guessed they hadn't seen each other for 2 years!

We had many laughs over dinner that night....it was so great getting to see them again! The next morning we attended the church where Dustin works!! The church is very awesome...it is huge, but with a very good feel. The kids went to Kid's Church with Josiah and we attended the Contempory Service with Carla. Dustin was on stage and we even got to see him perform 2 baptisms on some of his teens! Awesome! After church, we had lunch at Wasabi and then on to Zuma! The kids and hubbys rode go carts, bumper boats and played some arcade games! We ended out visit with the Lee Family back at their house relaxing and chatting! Thank you so much for letting us spend some of our vacation with you!! We miss you guys already!

Day 4 - On Monday morning we left Knoxville....next stop... MYRTLE BEACH, SC!!! Right after leaving Knoxville, we saw a sign for Pigeon Forge....we had heard about this place and decided to go check it out! We stopped off in Seiverville first to see the huge knife store--my guys were in heaven! We then headed over to Pigeon Forge where we saw the Titanic!! Gabe was all in! He couldn't believe it! So, we turned into the Titanic Museum. This was an awesome stop. You got to go through the museum and view artifacts from the ship, feel what the water felt like that night and they even gave you a card at the beginning with one of the passengers so you could follow them through the museum and find out if they made it! It was a fantastic stop! But, then it was back to the road....beach bound!

Day 5 - Hello, Myrtle Beach! We got in sort of late on Monday night, but never fear first thing Tuesday morning we hit the beach...and stayed there most of the day! The boys boogie boarded, while I basked in the sun! It was perfect! We went in for lunch and then back out to the beach! Our hotel was fantastic...they had a beach side cafe where you could eat lunch and dinner along with an awesome water park for the few afternoon storms that pushed us off of the beach!

On Tuesday evening we headed down to the boardwalk for dinner, shopping, and the SkyWheel!

Day 6 - FISHING DAY! A beautiful day on the Atlantic! Shawn and Gabe are definitely the fishermen in this little clan...poor Grady is not a boat person it turns out! We had all taken Dramamine before we got on the boat...so, thankfully we all kept from getting sick..can't say so much for the rest of the passengers, but it knocked poor Grady out! He got up for lunch, but other than that we was pretty much socked out in the galley! Shawn and Gabe caught several smaller sea bass and some other fish, but no huge catches of the day! They had a blast, Grady had a good nap and I loved the boat ride and reading time!

Naptime in the Galley! I called the galley the infirmary...most every one in there was losing their lunch!

That night we played mini golf, pizza and ice cream for dinner and finished the night off with a walk on the beach! It was a beautiful evening!

Day 7 - Another lovely day at the beach! We spent the entire morning and a better half of the afternoon at the beach..as you could tell from our crispy skin! The waves were perfect for boogie boarding, the sand was great for sand castle building and the weather was just right for relaxing...ahh, this was the life!!

That evening we went to Ripley's Aquarium where the boys got to pet rays, we got to see an awesome dinosaur exhibit..complete with moving dinosaurs!, and sharks! We have been to a lot of aquariums, but this was a very good one! We ranked it 2nd overall....only falling to the one in San Francisco! We had dinner that night at Key West Grille and dessert at Hard Rock Cafe! We ended the evening in the game room at the hotel.....a great way to end our time in Myrtle Beach!

Days 8-10 - On Friday morning we left Myrtle Beach and started the long trek back to Kansas! We did have one more stop before setting foot back on the prairie though...Chattanooga, TN! This was a total freestyle...we knew where we were staying and Dustin and Carla had told about a fantastic place to eat, but other than that we were free! So, we grabbed some brochures from the hotel lobby and opted for the Lookout Mountain area for Saturday's festivities! We started out at Rock City...and gorgeous hike to the top of Lookout Mountain where you can see 6 different states along with a water fall! After Rock City we headed back down the mountain to ride the Incline Railway to the top! This was pretty cool...if you've ever done Pike's Peak in CO. it was very similar to that only a lot steeper incline...like about 70 degrees or so....pretty much straight up and down...you just hoped the brakes didn't fail!

After lunch, we ventured over to Ruby Falls Cave. The cave was about a 1/2 mile walk, but what was at the end was amazing.....and highest underground waterfalls in the U.S.....WOW!

That night we headed to the Art District in Chattanooga. We had dinner at Tony's (YUM-O Thanks Carla and Dustin), shopped, found the moon pie factory and had ice cream on the bridge!