Finally I'm getting around to posting! Sorry it's been so long, but it was a busy month! We left Fort Lauderdale June 30th and headed to New Orleans. We enjoyed a wonderful week and half with The Franco's, topped off with Jeff and Jacki's wedding. Congratulations, newest Franco's! It was an absolute blast and was wonderful to see everyone again!! The picture of us with Michelle, Michael, and Erin was at the beautiful Rehearsal Dinner in Covington. Since we didn't have a lot to do the day of the wedding, we decided to head next door to Books-a-Million where Drew Brees was signing copies of his book, Coming Back Stronger. We were so excited, and although they closed the store, we could still wave from the front window! Maybe next time...
Right after the wedding, we headed up to Shreveport to spend time with the Dupuy's. We enjoyed relaxing a bit after the wedding craziness, as well as spending quality time with my folks. We played Saints Monopoly (even my father, who hates sports!), read books for fun (Chris really loved that), and celebrated our one year anniversary (albeit one month late) with our cake topper and Vernor's. Perfect (It even still tasted very good)! We divided the Shreveport trip by going up to Gatlinburg, TN with The Franco's. Shell went to running camp, so it was Mr. Zip, Ms. Mignon, Nick, Chris, and me. We had a blast!! The first day, we went hiking to see Hen's Wallaw Falls, a full 4.1 mi round trip! After 2 hours, we finally got to what we dubbed "Leaky Faucet Falls" :) It was a total dud for a 2 mi in trek, but at least we had fun! Picture is included, and although it may look like an awesome waterfall, it's really just a photo illusion :) The next day, we decided to take it easy at the condo. We played mini golf and headed to the outlet malls for some good shopping. Wednesday, we went to a water park and enjoyed the lazy river, wave pool, and Turbo Twister waterslide (or whatever it was called)! What a grand time! That night we headed to the Dixie Stampede, a fantastic show where you eat tons of country food and enjoy a choreographed horse show about the South vs the North!
After stuffing ourselves, it was hard to get up the next day to go to Cade's Cove. It's a small valley where you take a scenic road and see a bunch of old houses from the 1800's. We also saw a momma bear and her three cubs as well as lots of deer. That's where the deer photo and the one of us with the fancy old car are from. We also enjoyed a day in scenic old downtown Gatlinburg and a place they call OberGatlinburg. You take a large tram on a ski lift all the way to the top of a mountain. The picture of me with the Franco's is in the tram... it's a long way down!! That's also where Chris, Nick, and I ice skated for almost 2 hours! Within 20 minutes I looked like Super Girl tripping and diving straight into the ice, and almost busted my face, but it was well worth the effort! We also took the small ski lifts (the picture of Chris and me) up to "bobsled" down this cement track. Chris and Nick raced, and although I went very slow, I still saw plenty of action, in the form of a 3 foot long black snake right next to the track! As close to nature as I would like to ever come again. Whew! Throughout the vacation, we enjoyed the hot tub every night, celebrated Chris' fathers birthday and even played Saints Monopoly, this time with Nick. We really enjoyed each other and made memories to last a lifetime!
Upon returning to Shreveport, we celebrated my father's birthday! We had a little time to gather our things before heading back to New Orleans for the final trip back to Florida. We enjoyed two sweltering mornings of Saints training camp, and even got some autographs to take home! Who knows why we went through it twice -- I guess we just love the Saints that much (and were hoping for a second shot at a Drew Brees autograph)! The photo is with the actual Lombardi trophy, exciting! We celebrated Mr. Zips birthday again, this time with the addition of the newlyweds, Michelle, and fried catfish, yum!! (no wonder I gained more weight in Louisiana - wish I could have left it there!) As always, we loved the time spent with family, especially after living away for so long! Currently, we are back in South Florida temporarily before heading to Jacksonville for September. So, my apologies for this post being extremely long, but I hope you all enjoyed the update!
