vacation = the forest!

So, after a relaxing week at the beach with the Etheridge clan, we headed north to Knoxville to "Camp Ya Pa Pa Ya" (aka the Hightower home!) for a FULL week of family fun and activities!

Our early arrival allowed the boys to get some much loved one-on-one game time with YaYa:

Then the Mississippi crew arrived just in time for Father's Day - and we celebrated in style with some of Aunt K's very special homemade creations!

Once everyone was there, "camp" was officially in session.

What better way to kick off the week than a dance party with all the cousins!

As if dance parties, Legos, foosball and catching butterflies wasn't enough to keep the kids occupied - there was so much more planned for the week at camp!

POOL TIME

First and foremost was the neighborhood pool... and the ride on YaYa's golf cart to get there!

COOKIE DECORATING

Did I mention Aunt K's amazing cookie creations? Well she brought along a bag of cookie dough, some fun cutouts and lots of icing so the kids could make their own!

What a great activity - fun to make and even more fun to eat!

FORT BUILDING

"Camp Ya Pa Pa Ya" is a beautiful, wooded retreat with a creek flowing through the back yard and occasional frogs or turtles to entertain any aspiring explorer!

This week's mission for the latest back yard addition was a fort - and PaPa played foreman to a pretty respectable troop of day laborers:

the final product:

You would have thought they'd be hiding out there for the rest of the week, but they just had too many other fun things to do...

FIRE PIT

... like watching Uncle T roast weenies over an open fire!

Seriously - how fun! A weenie roast and full-fledged backyard picnic.

(there were, of course s'mores ingredients available as incentive to eat all your dinner!)

Yet, even with all the fun things to do... I'm pretty sure the reason we keep coming back to "Camp Ya Pa Pa Ya" is the great staff! (ha!)

Seriously - it's time spent with family that makes it all fun. And PaPa and YaYa do so much to make it great - the food, the toys and games, the food, the activities, and especially the food!!!

We even took a moment to get the Hightower men + one traditional picture:

But don't worry, YaYa got plenty of photo-ops with the grandkids, too!

Here's the best part - THAT'S NOT IT!!!

The grand finale of the week at camp was a day at Dollywood's Splash Country - and there were so many fun pictures from that day, it'll have to wait for another post...

so keep in touch!