The Dixon Dialogue » World Travels

Camping {Harrison Bay}

Amber — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 15:20:22 +0000

In October, we went camping at Harrison Bay State Park with my parents for a couple of days.

Will was very helpful with everything from gathering firewood to putting out chairs.

Thomas thought that camping was really fun.

We did a lot of playing, swinging……

and chillaxin!

Will and Honey slept in a tent all night one night! Will called the tent his “clubhouse.”

Having fun with Didi and Jonathan.

We had a lot of fun (even though the last night it started storming and we couldn’t get the awning down and it broke and I thought it had crushed my Mom against the side of the camper!) But if you asked Will his favorite part – I think he would say, “Peeing in the woods!”

Fun at the Camper

Amber — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 02:42:55 +0000

Will spent last week with Nonny and PawPaw up at the camper. He had a great week and already told me that he wants Thomas to go with him next year! Here’s all the fun they had (as told by Nonny).

We just returned from a great trip with Will to Townsend. We stayed at the Sundown Resort Campground and while we were there stayed very busy. In the pictures below you can see some of the fun we had.

We started with an afternoon of swimming

Then a trip to the playground

Will loved this enclosed slide

And this one too!

On Wednesday, we took Will to Dollywood

He chose the most beautiful horse

Then we took an elephant ride

Can’t forget the pigs

Or the ducks

And the busy bees!

He even took PawPaw for a ride in a pink Cadillac

And gave the scarecrow a big good-bye hug!

Then it was back to work on our camper. We got a new one.

There were days filled with tennis

And basketball. He is just an all-around athlete!

His most favorite ride at Dollywood was the Veggie Tales Roller Coaster. Didn’t get a good picture of it though.

Camp Honey and Papa

Amber — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 01:00:55 +0000

Will had a great time at “camp” last week! They went camping at Chester Frost park where they played in the sand, swam in the lake and played on the playground for hours. They went swimming with Didi. And they went to a Lookouts game where they ate hotdogs, pizza, peanuts, popcorn, and ice-cream. Will also made it home with a baseball bat, a foam finger, baseball cards and an autographed baseball. Here’s a few phone pictures from the “awesome” week!

Summer Vacation 2011: PCB

Amber — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 17:42:02 +0000

We had a great time in Panama City Beach last week. Here’s a video highlighting all of the fun! And I’ll probably post more pictures later in the week.

Spring Break 2011

Amber — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 02:28:21 +0000

Two weeks ago Will had “spring break” at CCC and it was at the same time as Hamilton County’s so we headed out on our 3rd annual Chattanooga/Atlanta vacation. We stayed 9 days – and it took me 9 days to recuperate!

The first weekend Will spent with Nonny and PawPaw. He had so much fun. The first thing he said to me when I went to pick him up was,”Daddy Bill got my nose!” And now at the park we have to swing him like “PawPaw and Daddy Bill does.”

We spent 3 days in Atlanta with Honey and Dana. It was a fun time with lots of shopping and some good eating at Maggiano’s. Funny story: We had to valet park at Maggiano’s because there weren’t any parking spaces and when we were ready to leave a huge private party (like 50 people) who had all valet parked were waiting to get their cars. Well, we didn’t want to wait FOREVER to get our car so I got Thomas in his carrier and took Will by the hand and politely wiggled our way to the front. Once at the front someone kindly said, let the lady with the kids go first. I knew these boys would come in handy some day

We spent one morning at the Atlanta Children’s Museum and Will had such a great time playing, playing, playing!

Grocery shopping was Will’s favorite part!

We built things and Will tore them down.

Will painted “rainbows and beanstalks” on the wall.

Will and Thomas played the drums in Timbuktu.

Thomas really got his money’s worth

And of course, we ended the trip at IKEA.

Eating breakfast in bed.

Acting silly with Didi.

New York City: 2010

Amber — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 12:00:59 +0000

We have had a busy couple of weeks around here – full of fun! So, this week on the blog I’m going to be playing catch up and including New York City, Halloween and Will’s birthday party!

Last Saturday – Tuesday we went to NYC to visit friends and have fun. Honey went with us too! Will was overwhelmed and amazed by all the transportation we took – bus, airplane, taxi, train (subway). He even learned how to hail a taxi – it was ridiculously cute.

Bill and Will watching the airplanes.

Nashville wins for the most “kid friendly” airport. There was a playground right across from our gate!

We ate dinner at a pizza place right under the Brooklyn Bridge. It was a great view and the pizza was delicious.

The Manhattan skyline from Brooklyn.

We went to Apostles church Sunday Morning and then ate lunch at a thai restaurant on the Upper East Side.

Will was super excited when we got to Times Square. Can you tell?!?!

After lunch Bill and I went and saw the matinee performance of Memphis on Broadway. It was really good. While we were at the show Will and Honey spent an hour at Toys R Us in Times Square, window shopped several places and then walked back to our hotel.

After the show we ate dinner at P.J. Clark’s. We sat in a closet practically and it was so dark they had to bring us candles so we could see. Will blew out the candles as soon as the waitress sat them down Will doesn’t care where he is as long as there’s a truck and a bump bump. He was playing on the sidewalk as we waited for a table at P.J. Clark’s.

We woke up early Monday morning and went to the Today Show.

You might recognize these two from their national TV debut! Al talked to them before doing the weather at the top of the 8:00 hour.

After the Today show we went to Central Park where Bill and Will climbed to the “top of the rock.”

Will throwing coins into Bathesda Fountain.

After walking around Central Park for a while, we let Will play on the playground. He loved going down all the slides but he wasn’t patient enough to wait in line to swing. Monday afternoon we went to Columbia’s bookstore, shopping in Herald Square and Chinatown. It was a busy day!

Monday night we had dinner with our friends the Sholes’ and Mason’s. James is 8 months older than Will and they a great time playing with each other.

James and Will sitting on James’ big boy bed laughing and screaming as loud as they could.

A couple of mornings we ate at a grocery across the street from our hotel. They had a good, inexpensive breakfast and Will had pancakes, bacon & banana. Our last stop before leaving the city was Books of Wonder where we picked up a signed copy of Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good Very Bad Day.

We had a great trip! Who wants to go with us next time?

Pigeon Forge

Amber — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 01:58:59 +0000

This past week/weekend we headed to Pigeon Forge with Nonny and PawPaw for a few days of fun and relaxation. The week started off on a nasty note with both me and Will having a stomach virus but thankfully we were all better by time to leave on Thursday. We had a lot of fun and here are the pictures(all but one taken by Gayle) to prove it!

Will is ready to get this vacation started!

The condo we stayed at was really nice and had a great pool.

Swimming with PawPaw.

The condo even had a lazy river!

On Saturday we went to Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies. It was a lot of fun and Will really enjoyed looking at all the fish.

PawPaw, Will, Nonny and the diver. Can you see the diver in the water?

Will touched a horseshoe crab. He’s such a boy – not grossed out by anything!

Mommy, Will & Daddy in front of the shark jaw.

On Saturday we went to DollyWood’s Splash Country. We all loved it!

Will LOVED the water slides and went down them about 100 times.

We all had to take turns taking him down all day long.

2010 Beach Vacation: Part 2

Amber — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 16:06:17 +0000

Just a few more beach pictures. This is one of Will’s favorite things to do – swing between us while we’re walking. We count to 3 and then swing but sometimes Will picks his legs up too early – it’s funny.

Bill flying the eagle kite on the beach. This was when he first started – it got much higher

On our last day we stayed at the beach all day! Will even took 2 naps in his stroller, under the tent. Look at those crossed legs – precious!

When Will wasn’t chilling in his stroller he was relaxing in his beach chair.

One night after dinner we went to a park near downtown St. Augustine. There was a carousel and a pretty cool playground. Will and Honey were going to ride the carousel 5 times but…….

Will decided he was a scaredy cat so they only rode once.

But he wasn’t afraid of the slide – he rode it over and over

2010 Beach Vacation: Part 1

Amber — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 22:38:21 +0000

My computer has been acting a little bezerky this week – and this is the first time is has been working well enough to blog post! Frustrating – I see a new computer in my very near future Thank goodness for Christmas and birthday money that I have been saving in my bedside drawer.

We were really bad picture takers on vacation. We didn’t get the camera out until the last 2 days – therefore there is no evidence that my Dad, Dana and Jonathan were there. You’ll just have to take my word for it!

Family picture in front of the sand dunes. St. Augustine was beautiful – we really enjoyed it there. Not only a great (uncrowded) beach but a great historic downtown area to explore. Did you know it was founded in 1565?

This was the walkway to the beach.

Will really enjoyed the sand! I even caught him eating it a couple of times

He wasn’t too sure of the pool or ocean the first few days but was jumping in and splashing by the end of the week.

Will and Honey picking up seashells.

Most of the time you could find the two of us in the shade.

Will was hard at work in the sand. Every time we would build a castle he would knock it down.

Remember my little man at the beach last year?

It’s amazing how much he has changed in a year!

On Monday, for my Mom’s birthday, we rented bicycles to ride on the beach. It was a lot of fun! We rode on the road from the condo to the beach access (against the wind) and then rode from beach access to beach access on the beach (with the wind.) And amazingly we weren’t sore the next day. Of course we didn’t take a picture – but just imagine the three of us on one of these

Wordless Wednesday: St. Augustine

Amber — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 12:00:51 +0000

We have been relaxing in St. Augustine, Florida this week!