Tweetsie with Pop and Gigi

We went with Ray's parents (Pop and Gigi) to the mountains this weekend and it was perfect!  Ray's parents rented out a four bedroom house which was amazing because everyone had their own bedroom and we had plenty of room to play, cook, and spend quality time together.  The place where we stayed was in Blowing Rock - it was right beside Tweetsie - we heard the train from 9:00am - 11:00pm.  But it was the perfect location because we went to Tweetsie both days we were there. 

We arrived when the park opened on Saturday and it was a little misty, but that didn't bother us at all.  We got in line right away to go on the train.  Both Ray and I went to Tweetsie when we were young, but neither of us remembered much.  We knew that there was shooting on the train, so we didn't know how James would do.

He loved the train ride and looking out the window.  He liked the loud noises from the train and the smoke.  But he didn't love all the guns and shooting.  It was loud.  You could tell he wanted to be brave and hold it together, but he had one tear come down his cheek.

Luke was fascinated by it all.

James loved all the other rides in the park.  He wasn't scared of anything.  This chair lift made me a little nervous, but it didn't bother James at all. 

Luke did well overall.  He had a hard time on Saturday because it was misty and the ground was wet.  Usually Luke NEEDS to get on the ground and crawl around or walk (he started walking this week!), but we didn't want to put him on the ground to get wet and cold.  He was mostly content when he was in his carrier, but when we tried to hold him, he just tried to dive to the ground... So pictures were impossible. 

Riding with Dada on the chair lift...

James loved watching the chair lift...

We rode the carousel several times...

We spent the morning at Tweetsie and ate lunch there and then came back to the house to take naps.  We all took nice long naps.  After naps, we got up and attempted to go play Putt Putt, but the place was closed for the season.  So instead, we went to the grocery store and got things for s'mores.  Our version of s'mores is just a roasted marshmallow and a graham cracker.  That's enough sugar in my book - no need to wire my children with chocolate.  James calls them "marshmallow crack-as" and he loves them.  The first night at the house, we had a fire outside, but it was raining a little, so we just did a fire in the fire place this time.  James still loved it.  Luke was exhausted so he missed out on the marshmallow crack-as action.  James loves spending time with his Pop and Gigi... they brought some new books for him to read - some seek and find books - and he enjoyed sitting down and reading them.  Luke loves his grandparents too.  It was nice to go on vacation with them because we got to spend time with them and relax a little since there were four adults watching two kids. 

On Sunday, we got up early and were back at Tweetsie when the park opened again.  The weather was much better our second day.  The whole park had fall stuff everywhere and was so nice.

James loved the loud whistle of the train and watching it come in...

He rode all the rides again the second day, but we skipped the big train since it scared him a little the day before.

There was a second smaller train that was more James's speed.  It went through a tunnel where mice were mining cheese and singing songs.  James really loved this and rode this ride three times.  When we put him to bed tonight he cried because he wanted to ride the "mice train" again. 

Luke liked the ride too... despite his face. 

There was a small playground there and James and Luke loved that just as much as everything else.

We went to the petting / feeding zoo area and James had a blast feeding the goats, llamas, and sheep.

Luke had fun with the baby goat...

But he couldn't quite figure out how to feed the animals...

The Emu birds were just plain freaky.  Pop went to give a little nibble of food and the bird almost took off his hand.  I screamed.  James said "That Emu hungry!"

Luke loves his Pop!

It was great.  We got season passes, so we will be back next year.  Luke fell asleep about five minutes after getting in the van this afternoon and James was right behind them.  They were exhausted.  It was so worth it.  Thanks so much, Pop and Gigi!

We really hope that Uncle Evan and Aunt Kaitlyn can join us on our next Bower family adventure!