Father's Day Weekend Update

This weekend was wonderful. We headed to my dad's in East Tennessee for Father's Day weekend. We just hung out with him on Friday/Friday night. He cooked us a big dinner and we waited on Mimi (Ms. Cathy) to get home from work that night before we had yummy blonde brownies and ice cream for dessert. It was so good!!!! Saturday, we got up, hung out for a little while, and did some shopping. I've never seen so few people in Pigeon Forge in my life! It was wonderful. No traffic!!

This picture above is of Sadie watching cartoons in her special chair that Poppy and Mimi set up just for her. She felt like such a big girl.

Although Sadie looks like she is dancing in the picture above, she's actually just learning to walk in her new Stride Rites that NaNa bought her for her birthday. It took her a little while to get used to walking in them. We just thought it was hilarious watching her walk around in tennis shoes.

After Sadie's afternoon nap, we all went to Metcalf Bottoms...one of my most favorite places in the world. Dad grilled burgers (yum!) and bratwurst (yuck) , and the weather couldn't have been more perfect. It was about 71 degrees outside since we were in the mountains. It had been raining, but had quit before we arrived, so it ended up being a gorgeous night.

Sadie didn't know what to think when we took her down to the river to see the water. At first, she was a little hesitant to let Dennis put her down, but then he started "teaching" her how to throw rocks into the river, and she loved it! Then, she wanted to do it all by herself...over and over again. She was not a happy camper when it came time to go back up to the campsite and eat dinner. But, all was well soon after. Here are a couple of video clips of her throwing the rocks and playing in the water.

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We ate a wonderful meal and on the way back to my dad's house, we spotted a bear!!! He was crossing the street, and we spotted him just as he was headed back into the woods. I think it's the first time I've ever seen a bear like that! I tried to snap some quick pics, but they turned out too dark. It was so neat though! I wish Sadie was old enough to have appreciated it, but she was busy watching Elmo and could've cared less. We let Sadie play out on their screened-in porch with all of the toys out of "Mimi's Toy Box". You would've thought it was Christmas, because they were all new toys to Sadie...lots of Elmo toys, Barbie dolls, Mrs. Potato Head, trucks, etc. She definitely had no problem entertaining herself with all of those toys. Ms. Cathy has 7 grandkids of her own, so she's definitely fully stocked in the toy department. After Sadie went to bed, we had dessert again, and then we actually got to engage in some adult conversation out on the porch until about 11:15 that night. It was quite nice! That just doesn't get to happen very often with a little one around, but it was soooo nice. I wasn't ready to go to bed! We woke up this morning and hung out for a while, packed up the car, and headed on home.

This is a picture of Dennis reading to Sadie this morning. What a precious dad to be so unselfish on "his" day.

I thought this picture was so cute of Sadie playing with Mimi's earring. What a girl!!!

Sadie missed her nap today, because she won't sleep in the car, so after a lot of drama when we got home, she ended up falling asleep on me at 5:30, and we put her to bed at 6:30 in her clothes with no dinner, no bath, nothing...I felt like a horrible parent, but we tried everything, and she was just sobbing because she was so tired. So, as we speak, I'm waiting for her to wake up starving to death! Who knows what the night has in store for me!!! Bless her little heart. I don't think I've ever seen her like that. Normally, if she misses her nap, she survives...it may not be fun, but it's not the end of the world. I guess the weekend was too exciting for her and it must've wore her out! Not to mention, I have to wake her up early tomorrow morning for her 15-month check-up. I'm sure that'll be fun!!! "Sadie - time to get up early and go get some shots!" Fun, fun!!!!

Update: Sadie ended up waking up at 8:00, so I got her up, we fed her some dinner, let her play for a few minutes, gave her a bath, and put her right back down to bed around 9:00, and so far, she seems to be snoozing. So, maybe my night won't be so bad after all! Praise the Lord!!! Last but certainly not least, I have to give a shout out to my precious hubby on Father's Day. What a wonderful daddy he has become over these past 15 months, and I absolutely cannot wait to see him with a little boy. He is so good with Sadie and she just eats him up. I couldn't ask for a better companion to raise these precious children with. God has blessed me beyond anything I could ever imagine and I am so thankful for Dennis and what he means to me! Thank you honey! Happy Father's Day!!