October 4-5, 2009 Tweetsie Railroad Again

A Quick Trip

We took the kids to Tweetsie Railroad back in June for Thomas The Train Week.   Because Thomas was there, Tweetsie did not do their normal train schedule with the cowboy and Indian shoot out.    Kip and I decided to take the kids back for a quick one night trip- we went to Tweetsie again, stayed at the same cabin (kids loved sleeping in the loft!) and went to Altapass Orchards the next day.  We bought a bushell of apples for making applesauce & the kids enjoyed some fudge and hot apple cider.

*sigh* It’s impossible to get a picture of all three kids looking at the camera at the same time.

Nathan on the airplane ride- Mary and Savvy in the plane behind him.

Feeding the Llama at the petting zoo.

Feeding the Llama a ice cream cone with animal feed in it.

The baby pig was only 5 weeks old- he was *THE* cutest little thing!

This was the first time the kids rode on a ferris wheel.   Nathan went with Kip first and then Mary took a turn.  Prior to this, Mary had been quite adament that she did NOT want to ride the ferris wheel because it was to high and scary.  Of course, she ended up loving it and wanting to go again.  I thought, well- I haven’t been on one since I was in high school and it used to be my favorite ride- I’ll take her the second time.     NEVER AGAIN.    I’ve become more afraid of heights as I’ve gotten older and the way the chair was rocking- I was so terrified I felt sick.   I was white-knuckling the bar and squeezing my eyes shut.  Mary is sitting next to me, patting my arm and saying  “don’t worry, Mom, you don’t need to be afraid.  I’m right here next to you. “   Pretty sweet stuff.

Good picture of Nathan!

And a good one of Mary!

Here we are on the train, stopped at the fort out in the woods during the shoot out.   Nathan spent the whole time in exactly this position and expression.  His eyes were about as big as dinner plates and he didn’t twitch a muscle.  I think he was a LITTLE NERVOUS.    Mary loved it, Savvy didn’t really understand so she was just watching the show without enough understanding to be nervous.

Fort, Cowboys & Indians.

Savvy on the train…

2009 Beach Pictures, post #2.

On Friday we went to the NC Maritime Museum.   I should preface this by saying that I am NOT into ships, the sea, etc.  It’s not an area of interest for me and in fact, if I’m honest, I’d even say I think it’s a little boring.    However, the museum was SO cool!   We LOVED it!  The exhibits are just gorgeous and there was such a wide variety of exhibits- from how primitive people made boats, life saving techniques, diving (they had a real diving bell and an old fashioned diving suit), a motor repair shop, shell displays, beach trash & recycling, ship models, etc.   Blackbeard the Pirate’s shipwreck was found off the NC shore about 10 years ago so they have a very  nice display with artifacts brought up from the wreck, a model of the ship, etc.   There was a small boat that kids could climb in, a beautiful library.  It was very, very neat.   Across the street, they have a ship building warehouse that you can tour and watch small boats being built.

Replica of Blackbeard’s ship, the “Queen Anne’s Revenge”.

Learning about pulleys.  The more pulleys you use the easier it is to lift weight.

Savannah in the ship.

Mary putting together a 3 dimensional ship puzzle.

The kids on an anchor outside the museum.

Ship building warehouse.

On Saturday morning it was quite overcast due to the effects of Hurricane Danny.   We headed over to the NC Acquarium at Pine Knoll Shores, which was about 5 minutes from our beach house.    Below, just inside the entrance- gorgeous, isn’t it?

The kids attended several classes while we were there- including a “live dive” class in the shark tank.

A presentation on the otters and watching them being fed.

LOVE this picture- Kip took it.

Learning about horseshoe crabs from one of the museum guides.

Mary asking a question during one of the classes.   They also went to a class on Alligators and Crocodiles.  Nathan got called up to help illustrate how long a crocodile was- of course he was thrilled to get to “help”.

Sunset from our porch.

Kids on the beach at sunset.

I WISH this picture had come out clearer!   I love the movement of the water & Nathan’s expresssion.

Another picture from our back porch/deck.

sd

NC Zoo

Thursday, 7/30/2009

At 7:50am I spontaneously decided that a day trip to the NC Zoo was just the thing to do on a hot, humid summer day.  What was I thinking??? We were out the door by 8:45 with all three children dressed and lunches packed.   We had a wonderful day at the zoo.  We got there around 9:20am and left around 2:00- it took 5 hours to see HALF of the zoo and eat lunch.   That place is huge!   Maybe next time we’ll see the North American side of the zoo.

Mary- 5 1/2 years old, Nathan- 4 1/2 years old

Nathan and Ms. Barbara on the carousel.

Savvy spent the entire carousel ride like this- she was not.quite.sure. about it.

Mary’s favorite ride.

Crowned Victoria Pigeon- just gorgeous.

Savvy watching the Chimpanzees.

“Giraffy” with the Giraffes. 

Mary and Nathan in the Elephant Tracking Station helicopter.

Family Vacation, Day 1: Tweetsie Railroad

June 11, 2009:  Tweetsie Railroad

We’ve been on vacation these past few days!   We left at 7:00am on Thursday morning (6/11/09) and headed to Tweetsie Railroad.

I admit, I was initially a little disappointed to be going during the week that Thomas the Train was going to be there.  Thomas weeks are known to be very, very crowded.   You can only ride the train one time and there are heavy crowds and long lines at all the rides.   However, these were the only days that we could go unless we waited until mid-July which would have been miserably hot.   So, we decided to go ahead and go during Thomas week.   BUT- we got lucky!   The forecast was calling for rain most of Thursday with heavy afternoon thunderstorms.     It was overcast all morning and then there was a torrential downpour around lunch time.  We got to a covered picnic area and ate our lunch and watched a magic show while we waited out the rain storms.   After that, the rest of the day was sunny.   I think because of the forecast and the rain, many people stayed away.   The park wasn’t even half full!  We walked on every ride, rode whatever the kids wanted to ride with almost no lines,  very light crowds, and even got to ride Thomas the Train twice.    It was a great day!

They had these horses all over the park- Mary was so thrilled!

Thomas the Train

Nathan loved this teepee!

Mary and Nathan riding stagecoach horses.

Mary in the stagecoach.

Kip with Mary and Nathan.  I had Savannah with me.

Savvy, with me.

I wish this picture had come out more clearly- I love Mary’s expression.

I waited with Savvy while Kip had the big kids on the rides.

They had a petting zoo there- here the  kids are feeding the rabbits.  There were also deer, donkeys, sheep, etc.   Nathan is not to sure about the rabbit eating out of his hand.

I wasn’t kidding when I said it was a torrential downpour.  It was REALLY raining!

Savvy has inherited her Daddy’s hair.   Just like Kip’s, whenever it rains or is very humid, her hair curls up into ringlets.

While we were still waiting out the rain, we watched a magic show.  Mary got chosen to go up on stage and she had SO much fun!   The magician told her she was stealing the show!

Mary’s favorite ride was the carousel- she rode it 5 times!

I thought this ride would be to scary for Mary and Nathan.  It makes me sick- I can’t even ride it.  But no, not those two- they loved it.

Mary won a prize at the ball toss!   She chose the blue puppy she is holding.

Savvy, napping in the stroller that afternoon.

We got to ride the train twice- about half way through they stop for a Cowboy and Indian show….

Nathan was enthralled…

Savvy- where’s your nose??

I love this picture!

Mary had spent quite a bit of time on Wednesday drawing a special picture for Thomas the Train.    The conductor got down to take the drawing on behalf of Thomas- it was so nice of him.

A FUNNY FROM NATHAN: As we were leaving Tweetsie, Nathan turned around in his carseat and looked back at Thomas, over his shoulder.  He shook his head and said, very forlornly, “Oh Thomas, I don’t know when I’ll ever see you again!”

JUST SO YOU KNOW- nobody’s tired!

Savvy’s clothes were soaked from the rain but the suitcase was buried in the back.   So we stripped her down and covered her with her blankets.  I think she was asleep before we got out of the parking lot.