Dollywood

There is a little amusement park here called Dollywood. Dolly Parton started it and she goes there on opening day and several other times during the year. She is scared of the rides at the park though so she doesn't ever ride any of the rides.
Emily's very first ride was this car ride. She LOVED it and now every time we get in our car she starts asking me if I want to ride in a red or blue or pink or purple or green car.

Has it really gotten that bad?

Grandma sitting by a big huge tree trunk!

Grandpa sizing up the coffin!

We went on the train ride at the end of the day. It was long but you got to see a lot of beautiful scenery! We were tired anyway so it was a good way to end the day.

Emily getting ready to go on the "Shooting Star" ride.
When I put her in the seat she told me she didn't want to do it but I told her it would be fun and she trusted me enough to try it. She looks a little nervous here.

Unfortunately J.R. didn't get to sit by us during this ride. We were the last ones to get through the gate so we had to take what was left. J.R. is sitting next to the kid on the far right. Emily looks so tiny in that big seat but she loved the ride. She laughed and giggled the entire time. This ride takes you way up high and then it comes down really fast. Every time it would come down and stop for a second Emily would look at me and ask in a really excited voice if we were going to do it again.

J.R. and his Dad trying on hats at the Storytelling Center in downtown Jonesborough.
J.R's is a skunk and his Dad's is a moose.
J.R. was trying to look like a hick. I think he did a pretty good job!

We went to a candy store in town and Emily got to fill a little bear up with candy. It's pretty cute. They had M&M's there in all sorts of different colors and Emily loves M&M's so Grandma got her a little bag of them. Emily picked out the colors all by herself! When we left the store she was so busy eating the M&M's that she didn't want to walk so I ended up holding onto one side of the bag and she held onto the other side and we walked that way. Pretty cute!

The mall here is really small but they have this trampoline thing set up in the food court and Emily always asks to do it. We did it when she was 1 1/2 and she really liked it so we decided to do it while Grandma and Grandpa were here too. This was right before they started the hydraulics to make her go way up high.

Grandma reading stories to Emily before bed

Grandma brought Emily some magnetic dolls with magnetic clothes to play with. Emily loved to dress them up with Grandma!

The Aquarium!

The second place we went with Grandma and Grandpa was Ripley's Aquarium. It was really neat and Emily absolutely loved it!
Here we are by some really big fish!

This tank was full of colorful fish.
There were even some fish that looked like Dory and Nemo in there!

This fish was pretty cool, it's called a saw fish, it had razor like things all around the edge of his nose!

A Shark!

There was a children's area in the aquarium where you could actually touch some of the fish! Emily enjoyed touching the water and splashing it a bit but she wouldn't touch the fish. This one was a horse shoe crab.

Daddy touching the horse shoe crab

They also had these little tunnel things in the middle of some of the fish tanks so you could crawl under a tunnel and stick your head up in the middle of the tank! Emily found this little girl and started following her around. They had fun going from tank to tank together.

Emily and Mommy in the fish tank!

More bright beautiful colors of coral and fish

I don't know what kind of fish this is but it is really neat!

Jelly Fish!

Emily and J.R. crawling through a tunnel to get inside the penguin cage. Emily was a little bit scared to crawl through this tunnel because it had a clear bottom. She started through a couple of times and changed her mind but once Daddy went through with her she loved it and she did it over and over again!

Laura, J.R. and Emily with the Penguins!

Emily with the penguins!
I took this picture from inside the tunnel. It was really neat that we could get so close to the penguins without them getting scared.

J.R. Emily and Grandma Cutler

Emily really liked this fish tank. I think she liked all the bright colors

A Sea Turtle! This was one of my favorite things in the aquarium. I loved the turtle! There was only one but the reflection makes it look like there are two.

A closer view of the turtle. He was moving so it's not the greatest picture

Emily all by herself in the middle of the fish tank

Sting Rays!
There was a tank a little later where you could touch a sting ray. I don't know why we don't have any pictures of that but it was neat. Their fins (if that's what they are called) feel like velvet! They were so soft. I was really surprised about that.

More penguins with Grandma and Grandpa Cutler in the backgound!

J.R. and a penguin

Here is that cool saw fish again! The tunnel he is on is clear so we could see him while were were under the tank. It was neat to see him from the top and the bottom.

Emily with the ducks outside the aquarium.
I was surprised at how close she was able to get.

Forbidden Caverns

Grandma and Grandpa Cutler came to visit May 23-29!
We had so much fun and we took so many pictures. I am going to do this in 3 different posts so it won't be quite so overwhelming.

Emily absolutely LOVED her Grandma Cutler!
Every morning while Grandma put on her make-up Emily would sit on the edge of the sink with the water running over her feet while she played with Grandma's make-up. Grandma even helped her put some on!

On Tuesday we went to the Forbidden Caverns!

There is one spot in the cave where they tell a little story and they have lights flashing to let you experience a thunder and lightning storm, then they turn off all the lights so you can know what total darkness is like. Emily did pretty good until we got to that point in the cave (which was actually near the beginning). She was so scared during the story and during the period of darkness. I was surprised because at home she likes us to turn off all the lights and let her run around in the dark. If we mention the cave now she still gets scared and wants us to hold her. She randomly says to me "Mommy, the cave is scary!" I felt bad for scaring her so much.

This is an underground river that runs through the cave

A large piece of white Onyx. It is illegal to remove white onyx in the United States and this cave has a lot of it!

Mommy with an unhappy Emily. She wanted her blanky and she kept saying "Mommy lets go out."
Yes, I am wearing glasses. There is something in Tennessee that I am very allergic to and it bothers my eyes really bad so I can only wear my contacts for about 2 days in a row before they start bothering me to the point that I need a break.

The largest wall of white onyx in the world!

A bunch of Stalagmites

The same white onyx pillar as earlier but you can see a little bit more of what was around it.

Fishing for Lunch!

After the cave we stopped at a place where you could catch a fish and then they would gut it and cook it for you. It did cost to actually fish so J.R. and his Dad were the only ones who fished.

Grandpa was a very good fisherman, he caught his 2 fish really quick

J.R. only had to catch one fish but it took him a lot longer. They use little pieces of corn as bait and the fish kept eating the bait off J.R.'s hook and getting away!

Emily and Daddy feeding the fish. Emily loved it!

Emily looking at the fish that Grandpa caught

The fish Daddy caught!

The proud fisherman!

Grandpa Cutler, Emily, Grandma Cutler, Laura, and J.R. at the fish place