Tweetsie Time

After setting aside some time a while ago to hopefully squeeze in a trip to visit Aunt Sara & Uncle Jerry in Florida, and to go to Disney, we unfortunately had to change our plans. We thought it would be the perfect time to take Ellison, while we don't have a baby or toddler yet, and SO into the Disney princesses. We had to wait until last minute to make sure all was going well with the pregnancy, but in the end we had to scratch the idea since Daddy couldn't get a lot of time off and we need to save up for a couple of big ticket items in preparation for baby. Since it was the only weekend I was scheduled off work, we really wanted to at least have a tiny family getaway. So we decided to take Ellison to Tweetsie Railroad, and spend the night in Boone.

It marked the first time Ellison stayed in a hotel, and she thought it was the bomb! Not only did it have an elevator (she is all about elevators and "escavators", aka escalators; every time she goes with me to an OB appt, we have to ride the elevators up to the 3rd floor and back down again, even though the office is on the 1st floor). She also couldn't believe her luck - getting to sleep in the same room with Mommy & Daddy. So we arrived at our destination Friday night after Daddy got out of work. She kept asking on our drive, "Can I stay up for a while?". She was so concerned we were gonna make her go to bed as soon as we got there.

After a good night's rest, we got up to eat a continental breakfast (she was totally hyped up about that, too), then got ready and headed out to Tweetsie.

Ellison and her funny poses

She was dancing around and singing in the square when we got there.

The first ride of the day: the carousel

Mama got a free pass to be a spectator all day. Though we did lots of walking around, the two daredevils got to have their thrills. I was perfectly content sitting out and watching. It was just as much fun for me to watch our girl's face light up with fun and happiness on the rides. My face hurt from smiling so much.

I was not thrilled with the idea of Jonathan taking Ellison on the ferris wheel. I seriously have never seen one move so fast! I think I told him no less than 50 times that he had to have a death grip on our little peach. I would just look at him periodically and say, "death grip!".

She absolutely LOVED the ferris wheel! She told Jonathan, "It tickles my tummy!", then, "It tickles my hinini!"

Ellison rode the airplane several times that day. At one point, she got to stay on it 4 times in a row. I loved how short the lines were, if there were any at all.

The one ride Mommy was able to do.

Then onto the train for a nice ride.

Ell wanted the cowgirl hat that had a tiara on it - of course. :-)

Sharing a ride with a little girl who didn't want to get off.

This is the point I should mention that the three of us went on the chairlift up to the other section, much to my panic. I am petrified of heights, but decided I needed to suck it up. After all, I did the chair lifts in Colorado in the Rocky Mountains, right? It quickly came rushing back to me how difficult those chairlifts were for me, too. So I white-knuckled it to the top of the little Tweetsie hill, with a death grip on as much of the chair as I could find. Everyone had strict, no-nonsense instructions to stop wiggling and not to move a muscle as I performed slow mouth-breathing exercises and Jonathan giggled at me the whole way. At one point, Ellison started to have a mini-tantrum and I about passed out. I was wearing her Silly Band ring (she didn't want to lose it on the rides), and she decided to suddenly focus on wanting it right then while we were on the chair lift. When one is holding on for dear life, one is not inclined to let go just to pass over a ring!!! I, in a panic-stricken voice, told her in a very urgent manner that she needed to wait until we got to the top. This made her start kicking her legs, whining, while my blood pressure rose drastically, and I began urgently repeating to Jonathan, "Death grip! Death grip! Put your arm around her now!". She told me, "You're gonna make me cry!", to which I responded, "You're gonna make ME cry!" Then we finally were able to get off of the sucker, where I had to take a few moments to bring my blood pressure back down to earth, and notice the tension headache I now had. So E & J played in the little playground area.

By the way, I took a bus back down the hill while the two of them rode the chairlift back down...

Ellison was very disgusted by the spider's teeth, saying he had cavity bugs and needed to brush his teeth. She was very reluctant to stand by him.

Elli getting her little face painted.

Daddy's favorite ride, the Tweetsie Twister.

I think "death grip" means nothing to him...

So much like her Daddy...

I think the Tilt-A-Whirl seemed to be Ellison's fave. Jonathan, who loves rides and doesn't get sick, said this one actually made his stomach turn because it whips you around so hard at times. He endured it 3 or 4 times for his little princess.

Despite a lost earring (E lost her earring while messing with her cowgirl hat), a couple of begging/whining sessions, a long moment of chair-lift panic for a Mama, going broke in the candy shop (I don't need the excuse of pregnancy cravings to say that there were things I HAD to have), and a Daddy obsessed with how dirty his shorts and feet were getting, it was a fabulous family day with perfect weather! It's not Disney, but we had a great time.

[September 24 & 25, 2010]