Pajama Day!

We had a great weekend! Daddy and Papaw did some work around the house while Mommy and Waverly did some cleaning and hanging out. On Sunday, we stayed in our jammies all day long!

Of course, when you look this adorable in pj's, why not wear them all day?

Waverly loves her new Elmo jammies. She would periodically come over to show us Elmo on her shirt!

We are participating in today's Monday Mingle at Tough Cookie Mommy. Thanks to Samantha for giving us the information.




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May Flowers

It seems that April Showers really do bring May Flowers...

Or at least, all that hard work Mamaw Jean has done planting flowers this year has paid off!

Waverly was very excited to help Mamaw water the plants and flowers outside.

She got her watering can ready...

carried it over to the flower bed...

and started pouring!
She thought this was great!
Water, water, water! Those cute little toes were all wet!
She had to get closer to really figure out the watering can...


and then she forgot about the plants and watered the sidewalk!
Back on track, now!
Sheww, that was a lot of work!

Baby Benelli

Welcome Baby Benelli!

Benellie Rose Mangan was born to the proud parents of Josh and Katie on May 10, 2011 at 8:45 PM. She weighed in at 9 lbs 8.8 ounces and was 20 inches long!

Waverly will be so excited to meet her new cousin. We just can't wait!

I stopped by the hospital to welcome this sweet bundle. She is very precious! She is a sleepy little girl and didn't wake up the whole time I was there. I told Katie to enjoy it because it doesn't last long! From the looks of it, Elli is going to be a well-behaved youngin' though!

We are so happy that Elli is here and that both mom and baby are doing well now.

Congrats to Josh and Katie, and all the family, too!

Heading Home...

Our last afternoon spent in Gatlinburg went by quickly!

We did a little bit of shopping, taking turns running in stores while the other parent stayed with our wee one during her nap.

Then we had a late lunch at the Applebarn's Apple Wood Farmhouse Grill.

It was absolutely delicious!

We had a big lunch, starting with Apple Fritters and homemade Apple Butter.

It was really good! Waverly learned how to "dip" her bread into the apple butter. She was so careful and dainty about it.

She enjoyed her apple fritters very much!

She kept telling us "Yummmmmm" every couple of bites!

We walked down to the Cider Mill to buy our homemade apple pies, as is tradition. Mom just couldn't leave without picking up a few to take home! Since today is Mother's Day, we picked some up for Mamaw Gail, too!

Waverly was all packed up and ready to go home!

She had a great vacation! She wanted to ride with the luggage all the way to the truck!



Hitchin' a Ride!





Waverly was such a good girl traveling! She took long naps, colored and played quietly when she was awake. She really liked playing with stickers and occupying her time by sticking them all over Papaw's truck! (Papaw doesn't mind!) We took few breaks, and our little trooper did great!



On the way home, we stopped by to pick up Crissy, who had stayed the weekend with Aunt Phyllis and her big dogs. She had a great time! She loved seeing her family again, though! She snuggled all the way home! Harley and the kitty-cats were also glad to see us when we got home! They were glad to get some treats for being such good pets while we were away!


It was a great vacation! Even though it was our last day in Gatlinburg, Mommy enjoyed her Mother's Day! We want to wish all Mommy's and Mommy-to-be's a Happy Mother's Day!

Maybe this will be an annual vacation? Hmmm, I think we would all like that!

Great Big Fishies...

Sunday was a busy day in Gatlinburg!

We had breakfast with Mamaw and Papaw before they left for home.

Then, it was off to the Aquarium!

We were very excited to see the new penguin exhibit!
Daddy, Mommy and Waverly made our way straight there so we could see the Penguins get fed.

There was a whole colony of African penguins. These little guys and gals are warm-weathered penguins, so they had indoor and outdoor play areas. We watched them eat their breakfast and Waverly loved being right up on the glass to see them!

The penguin exhibit was Mommy's favorite. There was a glassed area to see them swimming underneath your feet as you walked by. Plus, you could see the penguins swimming in their big tank and playing on the rocks.
Check out these neat videos from the Ripley's page.
PenguinPlayhouse

After playing with the penguins, we back tracked through the aquarium to see all the sights!
Waverly loved the giant jellies!

See?


This jelly liked her, too!

She put her hand to the glass and the big fella came right over to investigate!

Da-dum, Da-dum...

Guess what's up next???

Check out the JAWS on this baby!

Daddy said he didn't want to have to pay the dentist bill for this one!

It was a little disorienting to be on the moving sidewalk, watching the fish and sharks through the acrylic tunnel. You really feel like you are under water!

Waverly wasn't so sure about it, but she just held on to Mom and remained on the lookout!

She really liked the giant sea turtle that swam overhead, but check out the great big sharks approaching us from behind! Yikes!

At least Waverly was keeping an eye out!

Waverly kept pointing to the fish, just to tell us "Fish". Up until now,

the only fish I know of she's seen has been goldfish crackers!

A little break for some Dippin' Dots!

We also watched the sting rays have lunch, too!

That was an awesome display, with several different kinds of sting rays and all different sizes. There were some huge sting rays! The divers hand-fed them while the sting rays swarmed all around. It was really amazing to see these gentle giants!

After checking out the giant crabs, we were ready to pack it in!

Waverly had so much fun at the aquarium, she was ready for a giant nap!