February 2022

Excuse me, 2022, why are you in such a hurry?

February brought a small bit of relief into a pretty bleak start to the new year. While we –especially me–are still mourning our sweet Audie boy, we have started adjusting to our new normal and signs of spring are popping up, despite the cold temperatures the last couple of weeks.

We kicked off this month with Little Man’s Valentine’s photos. He was a little shy this shoot and had to be coaxed into smiling.

Too busy for his own good.
📷:The Lovely Rose Photography and Design Co

This one cracks me up! He looks like Tommy Boy.

I decided to cut and color my hair. I haven’t colored my hair in 11+ years so it was time to give it a shot again. I really love how it came out.

We celebrated Valentine’s Day with dinner out.

Cute outfit lasted about 2 minutes into chocolate tasting.

Roses the Mister brought home — the cold wasn’t very kind to them.

Then miss Independence celebrated her 3rd birthday on the 15th.

We rounded out the month with a long weekend in the Smoky Mountains. We actually took a weekend (a whole weekend!) away, mostly in Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge.

On the first day, we checked out Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies and Dolly Parton’s Stampede show/dinner.

Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies

Little Man was mesmerized by the different exhibits.

Dolly Parton’s Stampede

Excuse my frumpy shirt. It’s much nicer not bunched up from the car. 🤦🏻‍♀️

The next day, we had to sit through a timeshare presentation for a few hours (otherwise, this vacation wouldn’t have happened). But were able to salvage some of the day by riding the ski lift to the Skybridge in Gatlinburg at Skylift Park.

Skybridge at Skylift Park all lit up for the sweethearts.

Not our best snap, but people were trying to swing the suspension bridge, so ya get what ya get.

Despite the cold, Little Man was smiley.

Rounded out the chilly day with some delicious Mexican food at El Soñador

Thankfully, the weather warmed up for our last day and a half so we were able to squeeze every last bit out of them.

Our last full day was spent at the Titanic Museum exhibit, checking out the shops at The Island, and going up the other side of the mountains to Anakeesta.

Titanic Museum

Photos weren’t allowed inside, except in one room. It was truly a neat experience with recreations of the Grand Staircase (to scale!) and the halls/decks. We were given passenger cards and at the end of the tour, we were able to see if our person survived. It was a very somber experience that would have been perfect, had it not been for a rowdy family in front of us with no manners. Nothing annoys me more than disrespectful parents/kids when it comes go museum-like settings.

My passenger card. Miss Murphy ran away from home at 17 and boarded the Titanic. She was lucky enough to survive.

Anakeesta

The Mister and Little Man hanging out with Willowleaf

We took off that Monday for home, but not before taking some old time photos and taking Little Man gem mining (he loves rocks so he had a blast).

Old Time Photos

Little Man was trying to prepare for the flash, so he looks more serious than usual. Plus, he didn’t want to leave the hat on.

Gem Mining

Now, I know this isn’t the most authentic experience, but for Little Man, it was perfect. He is all about rocks and helping, so this was a win-win.

Because we spent a little more for a larger bucket, we also received a free one carat cut Smoky Mountain topaz (semi-precious gemstone).

Brownish color, marquis cut. Little Man chose it. (The other option was a clear topaz in a square cut, kiddo has an eye for gems!)

We could have used our coupon toward cutting/polishing one of the gemstones we found, but it was an overnight thing and we were needing instant gratification at that point.

We found a bunch of amethyst, rose quartz, and topaz pieces as well as an emerald, some garnet, citrine, sapphires, ruby, labradorite, and a ton of cool geodes/minerals. We’ll definitely go again if Little Man still enjoys it.