Sunday, August 9, 2015

A Trip to the (Wild, Wild) West

I got it in my head that this summer would be the perfect time to take the girls to Tweetsie. Turns out I was right. :)

Collins, Addie and I packed our things and headed West for an extended stay in Hickory. We were excited to spend some extra time there thanks to the summer. Brian would join us for the Tweetsie trip!

Our first stop? The pool of course. It was HOT upon arrival. Addie took over the splash pad, while Collins and Mimi swam in the big pool.



We woke up on Friday to a picture perfect day. The lake was our first stop (to feed the ducks), but there were no ducks only beautiful weather and views. So glad we went!


Addie refuses to wear her glasses (or Collins's glasses) the proper way. It's really cute.




Collins was super excited about the next part of our day...the play! Mom saw that HCT was putting on some kid theater performances this Summer, and we lucked up to be there during the "The Unicorn of Many Rainbow Colors" show. Collins and Mimi went to see the show (and loved it) while Baba, Addie and I did some downtown shopping. 


Later that night, we had a fun dinner with Poppy and Nana followed by a special summer treat. Staying up late for ice cream! Good thing we broke the rules because we were treated to a special concert and dance by our girls.



Addie was mesmerized by Poppy's voice when he joined in. :)


Saturday morning we headed up the mountain towards Tweetsie. It's probably been 25 years since I've been there, and I was so excited to show it to the girls. I have such fond memories of the place, and I wanted their first amusement park experience to be just as happy. 

Good thing we lucked out with the perfect weather. It was 79 degrees with low humidity and nothing but sunshine in Blowing Rock. Wow! 


We jumped right into things by boarding the Tweetsie Railroad first thing. I was little nervous that the cowboys and Indians would scare the girls, but it turned out fine. There was fighting and gun shots, but they were all outside of the train during the acting scenes. Collins made us laugh- the only part that offended her was the bad smell of mulch during the fort scene. She held her nose the whole time. :)

The Indians did make an impression on her though. She kept telling everyone- "and the Indian leaped off the wall and fell into the mulch!!".



We weren't surprised that Collins wanted to saddle up, but Addie did surprise us. She didn't want to get off!


We loved the Western theme and how non-politically correct everything was!


Waiting to board the chair lift, we got some laughs in the funny mirrors. 


This was Collins's first time on a chair lift, and she loved it! (Brian is totally prepping her for a ski lift here.)


Mimi and Addie didn't have such an easy way to the top of the mountain. Mimi pushed the BOB all the way up- go Mimi!


This "neigh" was Addie's favorite ride by far. 


Collins loved the rides, but this one was tame compared to the one she went on next. Mimi, Collins and I rode the "Scrambler"- it was her first "real" ride. Brian was worried it was way too fast and scary for her, but not at all. She squealed in happiness the whole time...we all did. :)


Our Tweetsie trip was well timed...Addie just learned to say "choo choo". 




The go-carts were really fun because she had the steering wheel and I had the gas pedal, but Collins deemed us "crazy drivers". She may be right. 


Brian loves trains (it's in his blood) so he was excited to explain to Collins how the coal-powered train worked.


After we got home and got our sleepy girls into bed, we tried something new in Hickory- a Crawdads game! Brian has always wanted to go to a game, and I have always wanted to show him the stadium. After all, I spent many a night there when I was younger- it was my first-ever job! I was a Crawdette back in the day, and now they have a new official Crawdette "Candy". 


We had a really good time sitting out on a beautiful evening, drinking beer, hanging out and watching baseball. And bonus- there were fireworks afterwards!


On Sunday, we played at the park and then tried a new restaurant with Poppy and Nana. It was such a fabulous trip to Hickory! We saw so many cool Hickory and Western NC things, had gorgeous weather, and got to hang out with our favorite people. Who knew Hickory would be the perfect Summer road trip destination? 






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