Weekend wrap up

I had an amazing weekend with my granddaughter, Alexis. I went and picked her up Saturday morning. Our first order of business was to go shopping with my daughter and my other granddaughter Shelby. When these two girls get together in the back seat with my phone, I never know what pics I will have on it when I get it back.

After shopping we came home and vegged out awhile. Alexis was watching TV while I finished getting ready and torrential rains came out of nowhere. A horrible black sky and rain so hard it sounded like it was beating a hole in the roof. Five minutes later it was gone and we were left with this beautiful rainbow.

So we finished getting ready and headed out the door.

We were discussing the storm and we wondered where the other side of the rainbow was, we found it as we arrived in Pigeon Forge, TN. It had landed in our beautiful Great Smoky Mountains.

We had tickets to the Dixie Stampede for dinner and a show Saturday night. We started off in the pre-show listening to some awesome music by the Mountain Ruckus band.

Of course, our favorite part of the pre-show is when they did Rocky Top.

Then we headed into the arena for the main event and dinner. Our waiter, Sam, was totally awesome. 

Alexis loved the fact that the napkin was printed with the menu inside. No need for fancy menu's since you don't pick your meal. It is just to let you know what you will be getting to eat. 

The show started and we both fell in love with the beautiful horses. I have been there many times and it just keeps getting better and better. But this was her first time and she absolutely fell in love with the horses.

I always like the wagons, too.

But the look on her face when they sat her very own whole chicken on her plate was priceless. 

There was creamy vegetable soup, a biscuit, chicken, an herb roasted potato, corn on the cob and a pork loin. Dessert was an apple turnover.

We loved the singing southern belles, but Alexis said she couldn't do that. She loves to sing and has a beautiful voice, but she was worried about the stage coming down out of the ceiling on ropes.

My favorite part of the whole show is the grand finale.

Love watching all the American flags flow around the arena as they rode and sang.

She wanted to go down and meet the riders so we did and she got to meet some awesome folks and get her picture taken with them.

This pretty lady had a beautiful horse and Alexis actually got to pet him. As we walked away she said that the highlight of the night was actually getting to pet the horse. 

We headed home and didn't get to bed until 12:00 and decided to watch a little TV in bed. She was so wired that we didn't go to sleep until 2:00 in the morning. Then we got back up about 7:30 a.m. and got ready for church. After that we just vegged out in the living room watching Monster High and then some Netflix shows she likes. I fixed pizza for lunch and later that afternoon we got ready once again for an evening on the town. This time, our dinner and show was Dolly Parton's new Lumberjack Adventure in Pigeon Forge, TN. Once again, we started off with a pre-show. 

We started off in the pre-show with some awesome bluegrass music. They were so entertaining.

Then into the arena for the story about two mountain families fighting for the rights to own the old timber mill. 

I had some of the best food I have ever eaten during the two shows this weekend. Mouthwatering chicken, buttery corn on the cob...but NOTHING beat the biscuit at the Lumberjack Adventure. Seriously, I have never in my life tasted a biscuit so divine. I tried it plain, with butter and even managed to try it with some honey (which, I have never ever tried honey in my life). But the biscuit was just so good. Alexis and I both devoured ours.

We also had fried chicken, cole slaw, corn on the cob and a baked potato half.

Just when you think there is no way you can eat all that, they come by with a big serving of pulled pork, which we added the barbecue sauce to it. Everything was delicious.

The show has a lot of acts and a lot of competition, but I fell in love with the aerial acts and the acrobatics they performed. Truly a talented cast.

The singers and dancers are fabulous.

There is even a little romance between the feuding families.

The forest around the old lumber mill was haunted by this bewitching cast and their leader, The Boo Hag. It was spellbinding.

I couldn't take my eyes off of it.

And the lumberjack competitions were totally captivating with the skill the cast has.

And I can't leave out the lumberjills. They are just as skilled as the lumberjacks.

I have always loved log rolling competitions so this was one of my favorite parts.

They even have some dogs that compete. Amazing talent.

It was a great performance by them all. 

We even got to meet the love story couple after the show. They were so sweet.

I was so happy to get to experience Alexis's first trip to both shows. She was as entertaining as the actual shows themselves. We had an amazing weekend. 

I was so happy to get to experience Alexis's first trip to both shows. She was as entertaining as the actual shows themselves. We had an amazing weekend. I love you Alexis Caroline. Thank you for giving up your whole weekend to spend time with your Mamaw.