Thompson Tennessee Vacation

Well the time is already here again!  It's time for the Thompsons to take their annual vacation.  Last year our vacaction was planned in January when Bill's uncle had become ill.  We were not able to actually leave to PA until February.  Unfortunately, Bill's uncle passed away before he was able to get time off in February for the trip to PA.  We had to alter our plans and decided to go only as far and TN.  We rented a cabin and had the most amazing family vacation we had ever taken together.  We decided to make this vacation a tradition since all of our kids love the out doors and the mountains.  We rented the same cabin from the very nice OH couple we had met and are only a week away from heading out on our new road trip tradition.  I am posting our photos from last year since I am just getting around to blogging.  This year we will be going snow boarding instead of tubing like we did last year.  We will be stopping in Georgia, going to the Applebarn and hiking.  We are excited, although the trip will be bitter sweet.  Payton has been asking me for two months now, everytime I see him, are we leaving to TN, he can't wait!  Shaylah will not be with us since she is with dad in Idaho.  Although, we will experience the cold weather she has been dealing with!  I will miss her completing our family and her great photography skills.

Payton's Birthday Week Celebration

Every year we give the kids the option of celebrating their birthday with a mini vacation away from home followed by a small family gathering or having a friend/classmate party.  This year Payton decided on the mini vacation/family gathering since Lego land and just opened a couple of weeks before his birthday.  We had not had this type of party for him since we vacationed at the Nick Hotel a few years ago, which he LOVED.  Payton is obsessed with Legos.  We have a large collection of legos for him and he is a “lego engineer”.  After we planned his week-long celebration of going to Universal Studios followed by his first visit to Lego land and his lego construction cake he was counting down the days. Although, there were a few people that tried to discourage him and steal his thunder, or rather our thunder, it was fruitless.  He did not waiver, he was so excited and continued to keep his optimism counting down the days.   The day finally arrived and it did not disappoint.  We had an amazing time at Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure.  Payton had grown 2 inches since the last time we had been there and was able to ride all but one ride.  He got to ride the new roller coaster Rockin Roller Coaster, which he went on three times that day.  Lego Land was equally impressive.  Although the rides were nothing compared to what he had experienced a few days before he was mesmerized and inspired by the Legos and buildings.  He even got his Lego drivers license.  We celebrated his birthday with his classmates by having a buffet style birthday party with donuts, cupcakes, cookies and punch on Thursday.  Finally, we celebrated his birthday with family and presented him with his Lego Construction cake.  He was sure it was made out of real legos.  He loved the cake so much he ate the lego head off right away and ended up having to spit it out it was such a mouth full!

The Brother Bond

This summer I decided not to attend summer school to allow me to spend more time with the kids.  This opportunity not only allowed me to spend more time with Shay, Shaylah and Payton but also spend some time with a very special little monkey named Austin.  Austin is Payton’s brother.  He stayed with our family over-night this summer and was an absolute joy.  From his hand holding, calling out “brother” and the happy hopping he does when he gets excited.   When he stayed over we took him on a wild adventure.  We went to Busch Gardens water park and made homemade pizza.  Both Shay and Payton were eager to help him tackle stairs, ropes, and water falls to get to the prize, the huge slide!   We had more adventures and vacations to Disneyworld I will post at a later date.

Scrapbook Passion

My husband and I recently tackled the dreaded chore of cleaning out the garage. Upon cleaning I discovered a large storage container that had been sealed since my move/divorce in 2005.  I pulled the lid off to discover a long lost treasure and passion of mine that had died when my life had taken such a drastic turn those many years ago.  The old smell of photos washed over me and I instantly felt my creative spark reignite.  I rallied my kids and we spent hours going through photos, stickers, paper, old scrapbooks, die cuts, the list goes on.  I am working on completing Payton’s baby scrapbook and the children are scrapbooking away right along with me.  Scrapbooking provides great joy to me and I have many memories with friends and family of scrapping together.  I have not scrapbooked since one of my dearest friends, Linda Henderson, and I use to get together and scrap for hours, sometimes until the wee hours in the morning.  I’m looking forward to sharing my new creations with her and maybe even reigniting her passion for pictures.