Orange Beach

So just a warning, this is a very photo heavy post of our vacation to Orange Beach, Alabama. My grandparents were kind enough to take us there and we stayed in a condo on the beach. The weather was perfect for sunbathing and floating on the waves in our dorky inner tubes.

We went to Lambert's one night for dinner. They throw humungous rolls at your raised hand (or head). I hadn't been there for about 12 years, but the rolls and apple butter were almost as good as I remembered them. I tend to build things up in my head.

I asked Forrest to take a picture of the outside of the building and these photos are what I got.

Full disclosure: I was just pretending to catch a roll here.

The Roll Man! We were seated in the corner with a fake roof over with equally fake hams hanging from the side so it was really hard for us to catch rolls. I didn't even catch ONE.

Megan caught one.

And then we went down to the beach for the sunset.

I have no idea.

The next day, we went down to the beach and I didn't bring my camera again because I like my camera and don't want it to die a salty death. We were having fun trying to skimboard when all of a sudden, a huge shadow descended over us. We all looked up and saw this:

We looked behind us and everyone was packing up their towels and umbrellas and booking it out of there. These photos are from our balcony after we got scared of being burned up by lightning and headed up (it didn't even actually rain in Orange Beach that night).

Due to the imminent storm, we all headed over to Pensacola to meet my uncle for dinner. We stopped at the Pensacola fishing pier on the way.

Dolphins!

And my little cousins.

So dorky, but so fun.

Now we're in Kentucky with Forrest's dad and brothers! We visited Abraham Lincoln's birthplace on Saturday and went to the Kentucky Kingdom theme park yesterday in Louisville. We're having a pretty good vacation, I'd say.

**Thank you to my sister Megan for taking all of the pictures with me in them. ;)

Rattlesnake Saloon

We've been in Alabama now for about a week and I always wonder why I ever leave here. Except I just remembered about the humidity, so I guess that's why.

It has been so relaxing being here. We've been sunning ourselves by the pool, hanging out with our cousins, doing some antiquing, and just having an overall wonderful time. My grandparents took us to a restaurant called Rattlesnake Saloon a few days ago. The food wasn't very good, but the location was pretty amazing. The restaurant is in a cave. We ate lunch in a cave.

Here is the saloon, as you can see, built under the rock.

And a deer licked me! Deer noses are very wet, did you know that?

There was also a part on top of the cave that we walked up to. I got a lot of red dust inside my sandals in the process.

And here is my cute Papa.

We just got to Orange Beach, Alabama today and we're about to enjoy some white sandy beaches for the next few days. Forrest has never been to the gulf before so I'm excited to show him a good time (shark tooth necklaces, boogie boarding, and night-time crab hunting included)!

Gatlinburg

We had a family reunion last weekend in the Smoky Mountains. We stayed in a 12 bedroom cabin with a gorgeous view of the hills. It was wonderful being able to see and meet a lot of Forrest's family, especially our adorable niece!

I didn't realize how few pictures I actually took of the weekend until I sat down to edit them, but here they are anyway!

I fell in love again with our little Savannah. She's the sweetest little girl with the bounciest reddish-blonde curls. When I hold my arms out to her, she squeals and runs to me and it makes my heart full to bursting. I hate that we live so far away from her and from all of Forrest's siblings. 

I never really knew why they were called the Smokies until I spent a few days there. They really do look like they're smoking.

We (Forrest and I and his sister, her husband, and Savannah) went down into Gatlinburg on Saturday to go on the new Smoky Mountain Alpine Coaster and the Wonderworks in Pigeon Forge which is kind of a science-y museum with over a hundred hands-on exhibits. It was really fun and really exhausting. But I guess most things are pretty exhausting after a  four day long cross-country road trip.

After we left the cabin, we decided to go swimming. Forrest had already told me about this particular swimming hole and how many snakes he had seen there. I would just like to say how terrified I am of snakes. I've never lived in a location where there are poisonous snakes or really any snakes at all (hello, Washington and England which are basically the same), so it took some convincing and a lot of begging and/or taunting to get me into the water. I even used the rope swing!

Savannah loves water and her Uncle Forrest.

I may have been scared for my life, but I have to admit that it was a beautiful place to swim.