Gatlinburg, Tennessee

 We took a trip to Tennessee with our friends the Goffs, Cutlers, Becks, Wades, Hendricksen's, and Merkley's and stayed in a huge cabin.  We were gone 3 nights and 2 days, and saw it all.  It was a blast!

The cabin had 4 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, 2 hot tubs, pool table, air hockey table, foosball, etc. We split up the meals between families, which worked out great.

 Ripley's Aquarium

First thing we did in Gatlinburg was visit the Ripley's Aquarium. It had the coolest underwater tunnel to view sharks, big fish and sea turtles.

The kids got to pick up these sea crabs.

 Jurrasic Park Jungle Ride

The second day we headed to the Pigeon Forge fun strip and spent way too much money to ride the Jurrasic Park Jungle Ride. It was a 10 minute smooth boat ride in this big building.  The kids were actually scared to death, which made it kinda fun.

Go-Karts/ Kiddie Rides

After the Jurrasic Park ride we took our kids to this place that had two-level go-kart courses, but Ella was scared to go on them, so
we let them ride the kiddie rides.

There's this huge Wonder Works attraction that we toured the free little museum thing with antique magic show items. They had lazer tag, magic shows, interactive exhibits and rope challenge course.

Next door to Wonder Works was this Hillbillie Dinner Show that had animals you could pet in front. The kids loved seeing the goats, chickens, pigs and turkeys.  Then next door to that was the Titanic Museum, which had a replica of the entire ship at 1/2 the size.  It looked amazing as well, but again, it was expensive, and looked at the antique items in the shop that had exact replicas of clothing, purses and jewelry. I could've gotten the blue hope diamond necklace for only $89!

Camel Rides

Right infront of the Magic Show Building we saw camel rides, pretty affordable comparable to other things there, and let the kids ride. They loved it, especially being able to pet it afterwards.
Thanks Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge for the fun times!!

End of Summer

Today was one of the hottest days its been in weeks, and I realize it's probably the very end of summer, and the last summer here in Indy. So, sad. We had so much fun at the 2nd annual Pool Party at the Featherston's Residence in Edinburgh with all our fun friends in our ward. (Click here to see last year).  Good food, fun, and the best company... what could be better?

The guys had a ton of fun goofing around as always, and played some volleyball, cornhole, and climbing on the shark in the pool.

 I was really proud of my kids this year. Cole was swimming so well all he needed was floaties. Ella took swimming lessons at the YMCA, and did really well at the end. She CAN swim without floaties as well, but isn't really confident to do it all the time. 

Girl's Weekend: CHICAGO

All of us 4th Year Dental Wives are such great friends we wanted to go on a trip during our last year here.  Chicago was so much fun! There were 8 of us in 2 adjoining hotel rooms, including 3 preggo ladies (myself by far the biggest).



The first day we ate lunch along the Chicago River, and then shopped on Michigan Ave (The Magnificent Mile).  Then After eating at a super fancy Italian restaurant where we couldn't read the menu, we took a walk to the Chicago Beach. There were beach volleyball games going on, and people swimming, but we just wanted to walk around, so fun!



The next day in the afternoon we went on an architectural boat tour of Chicago River which lead to Michigan Lake. I love that we did this and learned so much about the city.



The second day after some of the ladies did Zumba in the park with 100 people, we went out for Brunch and then for peticures.  We bought a weekend CTA pass so we could use the trains and buses as much as wanted, but had to use the crazy Taxi's a couple times late at night.

The last night we went to Navy Pier after eating some genuine Chicago pizza at Gino's East. (like Giordano's better if you're trying to decide between the two). The Navy Pier was so fun, most rode the rides, ate Ghirardelli Ice Cream and Garrett's Popcorn while watching the fireworks.

I'm sure gonna miss these girls when Dental School ends, what a fun group of ladies! Thanks so much Christie and Kimberly S.  for planning it all!
(Rachael Westergard, Jenna Gunnell, Kim Jones, Jennalee Fortner, Me, Christie Farnsworth, Kim Stewart & Lindsey Nehring taking picture)