Travelogue: Wednesday at Dollywood

Wednesday dawned early because little tykes do not know the meaning of sleeping in, much to the consternation of their tired older siblings.

We enjoyed the delightfully delicious buffet breakfast at the Song and Hearth restaurant in the resort. A child carried a full cup of water out of the restaurant and spilled it in the hallway.

David is getting very good at self-feeding with spoon and fork.

We've been practicing for months how to "train up," which is walking with one adult in front holding the hand of the youngest walking child, following the children from youngest to oldest, and mama with the baby bringing up the caboose. It worked pretty well in crowds throughout the trip.

We had discovered late the night before that Thomas' backpack never got loaded into the van (and was found later under our dining room table at home), so I took him to Wal-Mart to buy three days' worth of clothing.

We entered the park only a bit later than the ten o'clock opening time!

A replica of Dolly Parton's family's one-room cabin

Thomas wanted his siblings to ride the ducks with him, so they sweetly complied. When I asked Thomas, "What was your favorite ride? The ducks, the pigs, the elephants, or the bees?" he replied, "The ducks, the pigs, the elephants, and the bees!" (But he said the teacups were scary.)

We ate lunch in the park at Aunt Granny's, where we spilled one full glass of water.

The only ride for David was riding in the stroller for two days straight, which was not the most fun. He did enjoy waving and saying "hiiii" to as many passersby as possible!

In the afternoon, we road the Dollywood Express, a coal-fired steam engine, while David took his afternoon nap in my Ergo.

In the late afternoon, I handed off my three little boys to Daddy, who took them back to the resort on the complimentary trolley that runs every 15 minutes for a pizza dinner in the room while I took the three oldest children to see a musical version of "It's a Wonderful Life." We quite enjoyed the production, although my jaw hit the floor when I allowed my children to go buy us some concession popcorn before the show started and they came back with no change because the tiny bag cost $8.

Dollywood is overtly Christian and very family-friendly which made this experience so appealing to us. We are not really a family to seek out an amusement park because most contain so much offensive to our values. We visited Dollywood during the first week of January, so gentle and religious Christian music was playing everywhere (and not blasting). (I don't know what music is played the rest of the year.) The various entertainment shows spoke of God and Jesus by name. The staff people at different restaurants, kiosks, and shops in the theme park were all dressed in old-fashioned costumes, as if from another era, with the ladies bustling about in skirts to their ankles. (The uniforms were Christmas-themed, so I don't know how they differ during other seasons.) (I did note during "It's a Wonderful Life" that there was one dance number about money in which the ladies were wearing short and sleeveless shimmering silver dresses, which I did not appreciate. And one music number during the Dixie Stampede used rap music.)

Overall, I felt comfortable bringing my children there and appreciated that cultural difference very much.