Water Park

One day while we were on the coast, Mandy and Fischer met me and Bishop at the water park like we did last year. I was a bit nervous. Last year mom was with me (and I wasn't preggo!) and Nate was with Mandy. We made it just fine though! Toward the end of the day, Fischer had a meltdown but in his defense he is 2 and did not have a nap! Bishop had an absolute blast. We stayed much longer than I thought we would because he was having so much fun. And, I'm not sure I've ever seen him as tired as he was the rest of the day!

Sharing his goldfish with Fischer

Bishop was so brave this year, he went down the slide all by himself! 

From the Mountains to the Sea

On our last day, we all ate breakfast at the Old Mill. We actually ate there twice and it is delicious. Ridiculous amount of food...but delicious. I ordered the fried chicken and got THREE chicken breasts. Now, I know I am preggers and all...but seriously...thats A LOT of chicken! After we said our goodbyes, we headed south to Biloxi for Leon's annual work convention that B and I tag along to. We enjoy being lazy and playing in the pool while daddy works :)

Where we woke up: Where we went to sleep

God's creation is just beautiful! So thankful we got to enjoy as a family :)

He was SUPER pumped to be at the beach...we had only been promising for 10 hours!

All ready to swim

He had to wear my shirt because his were wet...this is his ghost impression. \

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Having dinner at Halfshell Oyster House in Biloxi

I highly recommend!!

Reminds me of....

Only just a few short years ago at the same place. He looks so grown up now! 

And, next year there will be 3 of us tagging along! (if I'm that brave!)

Cade's Cove

One day we decided to go up the mountain in search of wildlife at Cade's Cove. It was more my speed..in a car..with AC. The mountains are truly beautiful as are the natural streams. We got to see a few deer and a few more animals and apparently we just missed a bear! 

The whole gang. And, Jonah with his tongue out doing his impression of Billy the Kid 

Doesn't Bishop look so happy in this? I think he was OVER picture time. 

Dollywood

Dollywood is a bit touristy in the summer for this girl. It makes me realize I am probably not ready to venture to Disney World just yet. At least not in the summer. Or 6 months pregnant with a 3 year old.  I really think Dollywood is a cool place to go, but everyone else had the same thought so we didn't get to see nearly as much as we would have liked. I think we actually might have needed a few days to see all that we wanted. There is really something for everyone there. Even if you just go to people watch...because there was plenty of that! Bishop actually did really, really well..even with the 45 minute lines. He had a lot of fun. And, I only almost passed out once ;) Poor Cole got sick while we were there and ended up having to leave. That made me sad because he was REALLY looking forward to the roller coasters.  He had his day all mapped out and everything.  Bishop ended up falling asleep on the train ride and since we were all going to eat dinner fairly early, we decided to call it a day. He had had a great day with his big cousins and we didn't want to push it.

Notice all of the other kids were "driving" but B chickened out the minute we got up there. There is absolutely no driving involved but still. 

Waiting in line for the water ride. I was super nervous that he would hate getting wet. He is a bit OCD when it comes to having anything on him wet. But luckily there was another little boy about his age on our "boat" who got wet first. He laughed so then Bishop thought it was funny too. 

Here we go.....

One wet little boy!

On the train ride

And he's out. A successful day at Dollywood!

I'm not sure if I know how to do a video on here...I may have to figure out another way. We had lunch under a little pavilion that was having a blue grass band and Bishop had some serious moves. I'm not sure how you would classify them other than hilarious :)

The cabin life....

We actually spent a good bit of our time hanging out at the cabin. It was a great place for us to stay as a family. At one point there were 17 of us there, and it didn't even feel too cramped. It had a basement with arcade games for the boys and an awesome porch. And being that it was summer, it was nice that it also had a pool. Now, I won't lie, I had personally rather have been there in the cool months of October or November (and not preggo!) but we couldn't have asked for a better place for all of us to stay.

Drinking his hot chocolate on the porch with momma

Teamwork...Bishop is driving but apparently can't reach the gas so Jonah is pressing the gas petal for him. 

Breakfast with Granna on the porch

Oh, how these pictures make me long for fall and eating breakfast on my back porch. One of my favorite simple pleasures in life....too bad it is only 100 degrees outside! Moving along....

And this random photo is of the "bear" that kept getting in our trash at night. I have to say, he was almost as big as a bear! I was on the couch and kept hearing this noise outside and looked out the window and there he was. It was pretty cool watching him. One of the very few perks of not sleeping well at night!

Playing the iPad on the porch. I can't decide if this is the best or worst invention ever?

Night swimming with the cousins

Modeling their new Davy Crockett hats from Granna and Granddaddy

One day, while the big kids went to some things I thought Bishop might be too young for, we stayed at the cabin and swam. 

My boys

I really don't think Bishop missed a thing. He was perfectly content with a day at the pool! 

Hanging out with Granna and Granddaddy on the back porch

Around the world

This pregnancy thing is really getting old already...I'm seriously ready to be a better blogger. And, I know I say that often and I doubt seriously I will have the energy until baby boy gets here BUT hopefully, hopefully after he makes his appearance...and we find a new "normal"..I will get better at this. It is a hobby I love. Plus, I honestly can't remember anything and it would break my heart to loose any memory of my boys growing up. I haven't even had the energy to take any photos, let alone edit or post them! Moving on....

This summer has been full of traveling for the Hays family. I wouldn't say we've really been around the world...but we have been far enough for [pregnant] me! First we went to the Smokey Mountains with my family, followed immediately by a trip to the coast, then back home, then to Orange Beach with the Warringtons. Whew! It was really a lot of fun..we even got to relax a little bit!

There is absolutely no way I can get all of the Smokey Mountain trip pictures in one post, but I'll at least try. And, although I generally edit pictures a little before posting, these pictures are going to have to be SOOC.

We started our trip (after a day of traveling/getting settled in the cabin) with lunch at Hard Rock Cafe and a trip to the aquarium. Bishop absolutely LOVED the aquarium. He talked about it for weeks. In fact, he even told the preacher in front of the whole church that "He went to the aquarium". LOVED IT.

One of his favorite parts was "touching the stingray" He talked and talked and talked about it. It wasn't actually even a stingray but you never could tell him that :)

And, I believe that concludes day 1 of the trip.