molly's first vacation

molly and i headed out for a few days of summer vacation

our destination:

pigeon forge, tn

this was our first vacation or trip by ourselves

and i wanted to go somewhere within a few hours of home

to just "test the waters" of traveling as a single mom

 also, we have plans to go to a much bigger theme park this fall

for a longer vacation

and i needed to make sure we would be up to it! ha!

 she love every minute of it!

we had a great time and i wish we could have stayed longer

i planned it perfectly for the middle of the week when the crowds would be the lightest

and the hotel rates the cheapest!

she loved all of the rides and we also watched 2 different shows in dollywood

one was this educational presentation pictured below

featuring live birds, owls, and a bald eagle

it was really great and molly loved it!

 all of the flowers in dollywood were so beautiful!

 her first "holy coaster"

 waiting in line

 feeding the ducks!

 on our first full day we arrived right at opening time

and went straight to the children's area

she got to ride all of the rides once, and some of them multiple times without a wait

 we rode the ferris wheel and the carousel

 they have a cute children's play area

and below, you see a gorgeous country church

so cute!

 below is a picture of her first ride, the river rampage, which is actually a "big ride" that she barely met the height restriction for

and it was a wet ride too

but, she loved it!

 i know this pic is out of focus, but she was so happy on the ride!  i had to include it:)

 loving the carousel!

 and of course we had to ride the "polar express" which is a 20 minute train ride up the mountain and back

this is a real coal steam train and it was great for a train lover!

on the way home i asked her what her favorite parts of the vacation was and she said:

1.  the hotel pool (got to love that!  could have saved my $60 park ticket and just stayed at the hotel, ha!)

2.  the polar express train

3.  the river rampage ride

and i got to say my favorite part was being able to take my girl on a fun, vacation!

and now we are counting down...

93 days until DISNEY!!!

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molly's first vacation