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Friday, March 4, 2016

Wonderworks and Dollywood Resort Chess Tournament


Last weekend, the kids and I headed over to the mountains for an "adventure" gifted to us by JP's aunt and uncle at Christmas.   We started at Wonderworks.  We were able to take advantage of the homeschool days offered during the month of February.   I was amazed at how much Wonderworks was geared to older kids/teens.  Frankly, many of the things were overwhelming to Michael especially in the natural disaster room.  We just waited for Tera and Daniel to do things before we moved on. He still had a wonderful time, but it was a nice change for Tera and Daniel compared to the other museums we usually frequent.  














 Michael and I got a little impatient waiting for the two older ones to get unharnessed from the astronaut simulation ride. 






After Wonderworks, we headed over to the Dollywood Dreammore Resort for a three day chess tournament.   Tera and Daniel's first experience at this type of tournament was a great experience for them.  Our room exceeded our expectations.  The resort is comfort itself.  The rooms had all those little extras that you write in reviews..."I wish they had this..." 



There were even lifeguards at the pool...




Hanging out with friends...











The resort has kids activities throughout the day.  Michael and I roasted s'mores every night for a small fee.  He LOVED this!  All the fire pits outside were beautiful.  You could look up and just stare at the stars.  (Well, you could if you weren't trying to keep your 7 year old from burning himself on those beautiful fire pits.)




Bedtime stories read by Savannah, one of Camp DW staff. 




Another staff member, Amberley playing with the kids.  The staff was so personable that I felt like we made new friends over the weekend.  



Late nights wore this boy out!



We really missed Daddy, but it was such a lovely weekend.  Daniel won his class prize and tied for second overall in the Amateur section.  Tera tied for 3rd in her class.  We hit the ground running Monday morning and have been going ever since.  So, many things this week, thus the lateness in posting about our trip.  


Thanks again Uncle Roy and Aunt Nancy!