Meet & Greet/Weekend Getaway

Well, our adventure for this past weekend was a quick trip to Gatlinburg, TN to see and meet Thomas Kinkade ...but you know us...we had to add in a few extras along the way...

We stayed in this great place along the river in Gatlinburg...

















This was the view from our balcony...



We spent some time just walking around town...

We took a day and went to Dollywood...

For the Barbeque and Bluegrass celebration...

The food was great...

Did a little shopping...a little enjoying the fall decorations...
Riding our favorite rides...this was waiting for the best ride...The Thunderhead!!!

As you can see, we pretty much had the park to ourselves...not many other people!!

Saw our favorite shows...The Kingdom Heirs...

...and Wings of America

It was a fantastic day at the park!

Then thanks to John, our art dealer, we got to see, meet and talk to Thomas Kinkade...

He talked about how he got started, what keeps him going, introduced his wife, Nannette. And then he signed and drew a sketch on our painting...it was awesome!!

We also took in some nature...we saw wild flowers (complete with bees)...

We saw some wild animals, some we got pictures of and some we didn't. We did see a young black bear...he was busy looking for some berries, but we weren't at the right angel to get a picture...not one of the critters you want to go running up too!

Coming home we drove a good piece of the Blue River Parkway, it was BEAUTIFUL!!

Waterfalls and babbling brooks...

...a sea of clouds in the mountains...

Lots of tunnels...

Windy at the highest elevation...

...but a very calm and beautiful drive...

...another great weekend, brought to you by Trashman Tours & Travels!
We are truly blessed.

Ava's 1st Birthday Party and the AA County Fair

Today was a very busy day at the Mraz house...and a very special one. Today we began our afternoon by celebrating Ava's 1st Birthday. It was a very special time spend with some of our very special family...our church family. Ava looked especially pretty today in her birthday dress that her grandma bought for her.











Ava had lots of her friends come to her party...

Ava and her Dad

Ava and Megan

More friends...

...and even more...

I believe Ava's favorite part may have been the cake...what do you think? Thanks Ava for letting us spend time with you celebrating your very special day...you are certainly very special to us.

After we left all the fun at Ava's party we headed over to check out the Anne Arundel county Fair...we started with a few pig races...what is a fair without a good pig race!!

We checked out the Brosey's award winning cow...

...and their award winning pig...

...and let's not forget the award winning lambs...I'm seeing a pattern here...congratulations to all the Brosey's for a job well done!!

Then we took in a tractor pull...

And finished the evening with a walk on the Midway...there is just something cool about a county fair!!

Grandparents Day

Well, my big news for this week is that I got to go to Tayden's Grandparents Day program at his preschool. I flew out there on Monday morning and on Tuesday morning I went to school with him for his program. It was very cute, they sang songs and he made me a card in the shape of a heart, along with a self portrait and we had donuts with juice. I think that was Tayden and Tia's favorite part. We spent the rest of the time playing...we went to the play ground (the outside one and the one at the mall), we played ball, we read books and of course, we played dinosaur...a favorite of his and Tia's these days. It was great and Nana had a wonderful time...a big thanks to my wonderful husband who bought me the plane ticket so that I could go. Just for the record...Jerry and I think this Nana and Papa thing is WAY cool!!

Labor Day Weekend

Well, we had a great Labor Day weekend...we had the kids visiting and it was very nice to get to spent some time with them. We went for a lunch cruise on the Spirit of Washington and spent a lot of quality playing time. As you can see Tayden loved the play ground and little Ms. Tia enjoyed some good chow. Jerry took the big kids to see a Nationals game in the new stadium and Nana stayed home and played with the kids...I think Nana got the best end of the deal, even if the Nats did win!!

Twayne and Amanda had an opportunity to have a date night, which I think they enjoyed.

All in all everyone had a great weekend and hopefully it won't be too long until we are all together again!!