Friday we went to the Titanic Museum. This was our day to wear our matching shirts and the museum also gave us all matching stickers. It was very clear we were the Brady Bunch. At the start of our visit the museum gave us each a short bio of someone who was on the Titanic and at the end we were to find out our fate. Spoiler alert- I survived. Not too surprising since I was a first class passenger. The museum was very interesting with facts about the ship and the people. It also had a replica of the ballroom stairs, a place where you could touch water to feel how cold it was when the Titanic sank, a man playing the piano with bios on the musicians and a massive lego replica of the ship. I think my dad really liked it because he took the longest to go through it. It was his birthday so I really do hope he had a good time.
After the museum I had picked a burger joint for us to go to- Cookie Dough Monster- but it wasn't quite open yet. Some of us killed time by shopping at Nine Line which was nearby it, while others sat in their car. Tyler was very happy to get some shirts at Nine Line, he loves their stuff. I am glad we decided to wait it out and eat there. The food was fantastic. I got a chicken burger- I think it was called the Chick-jita. The sauce on it was so yummy and I would love to eat there again. I spent the rest of the day at the bnb. At one point Mike took Lillian, Penny, Lucy and Emmy to the Ripley's Museum and Tyler went to Walmart to get charcoal for grilling. When Tyler came home with the groceries, he discovered the bear was back, pawing at the front door. He quickly retreated back to the car until it went away. I failed to answer my phone and therefore failed to help rescue him. I was definitely in trouble for that. That evening we had a BBQ for my dad's birthday and we celebrated with a ice cream cake that I had made. It turned out pretty good- I had put a middle layer of caramel and fruit.
Saturday morning we went into the Smoky Mountains and hit up the Gatlinburg Trail. We walked a short ways and then the kids played in the river. Tyler almost immediately slipped while walking with Ruby and they both ended up wet. I think pretty much every person who played in the water ended up more wet than they had expected. We probably should have brought towels. There was also a butterfly that kept fluttering around a particular spot and it was pretty fun to watch but it never sat still enough for a good picture.
After a bit, my dad needed a bathroom. There was a visitor's center a short drive away and Ruby was napping so I figured they could drive and I would walk with the kids down to it. It didn't seem too far and the trail had been fairly flat up to that point and right by the road so I figured it would be fine- if we got tired they could just pick us up. That was a poor idea. The trail decided to give us some inclines and veer far from the road. With the humidity and stroller and kids...the short walk started to feel like an eternity. When we finally met up with a road I called Tyler to see if he could find us. It took longer than I would have liked but he did find us so thankfully we didn't have to do the full trail. I'm a wimp in the heat.
On our way back Tyler dropped me, Penny, Lillian and my mom off at the Salt and Pepper Shaker Museum. It was fun to see all the different sets there and at the end I bought myself dinosaur salt and pepper shakers. It was funny how many people came in thinking it was shop and became disappointed that they would have to pay $3/person to go through it. The nice part was the $3 counted towards anything you bought at the end.
After Ruby's nap my family (minus Steven and plus Grams and Lillian) did some shopping in Pigeon Forge. We hit up the Moon Pie General Store since Tyler loves Moon Pies. It had a variety of flavors and everyone was allowed to take one free sample. I got salted caramel and was going to save it for later but Ruby got a hold of it and managed to break it open. It was yummy! After that store we hit up Simply Southern where I bought me and the girls some shirts and then a We the People Trump Store which had some funny conservative shirts and banners.
Sunday we went to Parrot Mountain. This was definitely a favorite because by the end, everyone seemed to be having fun with the birds. When you walk in, there are parrots on perches everywhere which is so cool. One was dancing for us and another professed that it loves us. Then we saw some really cool birds- the toucans and kookaburras were my favorite.
After that we hit up an area where you are allowed to hold any of the birds. The smaller ones were fairly easy to get on you and often didn't want to get off- climbing on shoulders and heads. Ben had brought some change so he got some bird seed and that made him even more popular. But one bird tried to pierce his ear near the end and I think he was done with them after that. A man helped Penny,Ben and I hold a big macaw parrots but it was tricky to get it on us. I finally got it to come to me and then it hopped off me onto another perch that wasn't it's perch. The man was not happy with me letting it do that but in the moment I wasn't sure what to do. I was worried it was going to hop off me onto the ground and I know their wings are clipped. I got reprimanded which made me less excited to hold anymore birds.
Our next stop was to feed the Lory birds some nectar. They were like addicts and swarmed us as soon as we walked in and the nectar was gone quickly. Ben really liked the one in Lucy's pic that was bald- he affectionately and creatively named it "Baldy".
After that there were a few more birds to look at, and then the last stop was the nursery which was also a lot of fun. These were all friendly, baby birds that I would not mind buying because they are totally comfortable with people.
For lunch we went to the Corner Diner. Since it was Tyler's birthday I tried to pick a place with breakfast foods since they don't usually get stuck in his throat. The food was ok- I got a chicken pot pie biscuit- but I still regret not going for a more dessert entrée- the banana pie pancakes. Those sounded so good. Tyler got something equivalent to a breakfast chimichanga and really enjoyed it. After eating lunch, we hit up a couple stores again to get a few things we had missed and then stopped at the Three Bears Store. I thought this would be cool because it has live bears you can see. I did not realize that they cost extra to see and have times where you can't see them. That was a bust. But the store itself had a lot of great things and I ended up getting a gummy bear candle (that was our nickname for Ruby when she was in my tummy) and a super soft sweater for the winter.
Sunday evening Tyler attempted to BBQ chicken and the bear came prowling again. Thankfully he got back in the house safely and even managed to go back and save some of the chicken. Those bears really like our house. After that fun, he went off to Dollywood again with Ben, Lucy and Mike so they could ride some more rides and eat cotton candy. It seemed like a good way to celebrate his birthday. He said they had hardly any lines and they were able to ride ALL the rollercoasters- which was fun but also reminded him of his age. I wish I could have gone but somebody needed to watch Miss Ruby and I probably would have been done after a couple rollercoasters.
Meanwhile the rest of us enjoyed an evening in the bnb out on the balcony with the view of a double rainbow. Sitting outside with Rebecca and my mom and whatever kids came to join us are some of my favorite moments on the trip. Even if at one point Ruby attempted to eat what we thought was a leaf but was actually a bug. That was so gross!
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