Banner Elk | Day at Tweetsie

On the first day of our vacation, we went tubing down the New River. I didn't take my camera, but have so many memories in my mind. My FIL was a mess during our tubing adventure. At one point, Uncle Mike thought it would be a good idea to get out of his tube to walk but he didn't anticipate the bottom being so sharp and slippery. My FIL continued to paddle us away from him, laughing the entire way. Eventually, Mike belly crawled to us while my FIL single-handedly stopped all 9 of our tubes (we were tethered together) by holding on to the ground. It was a fun day.

Our second day (and last fully sunny day) we went to Tweetsie. We had a blast and this day was full of so many special memories for me.

We started the day off by riding Tweetsie herself. The boys also had a good long talk with the sheriff and even got to touch his gun! You can bet Carter focused on his shoes and when he plans to take them off.

Then came the rides... There were smaller rides that Landon was too big for. Last fall, Carter wouldn't ride them by himself but he didn't even think twice about jumping on them this time! I rode many dizzying rides with Landon like the tilt-a-whirl.

Landon and Carter both rode the scrambler with me. Carter could barely see over the bar! It is down in the books as one of my most favorite moments as a mother. We laughed and laughed and laughed. I looked down at them as we were going round and round and all squished on each other and thought, "This is it. Right here. This." I wanted to bottle that moment up and keep it always.

And my brave little Landon. Christopher and Uncle Mike were in line for the Free Fall ride. Big kid ride that takes you up and drops you straight down, like an elevator falling. And it does it five times. I wouldn't dare set foot on that ride. Landon was just tall enough to ride and decided he wanted to. I was all panic on the inside thinking that I wasn't doing my job as a mother by protecting my baby. But I knew that I had to let him do this if that's what he wanted. So I faked a smile, said a prayer, and watched my baby go up, up, up. And the face he made as it fell was HILARIOUS. I have never seen anything more funny in my life. After it finished its drops, he had the biggest smile on his face. He got off and I asked how it was. He said,"I'm not sure if this makes sense... I didn't like but I did!" Perfect sense, honey. And he rode it again. My 7 year old is such a big boy.

My FILwas so exhausted by the emus trying to eat his watch in the petting zoo that he fell asleep sitting up. The kids had fun on the playground and eating yummies.