This weekend was incredible. My family went with me to spent a few days at the DreamMore Resort, Dollywood, and Dolly Parton’s Splash Country!
My nieces and nephews are the absolute coolest people in the world.
I learned so much from each of them individually,
so I had to split up my stories between these tiny humans.
Emma taught me about facing my own personal fears.
The backstory: When I was little (probably 8) my parents
told me Blazing Fury at Dollywood was going to be an
educational ride where I would learn about forest fires
and how to prevent them! Sounded awesome, right?
It would have been if that was actually the situation.
To this day, I don’t know if they were misinformed or
were just trying to get me on this ride.
SO… my 8-year-old self was expecting a calm ride,
when out of nowhere we came upon a
“railroad crossing” sign and our car dropped into a
roller coaster ride. At that moment, I was traumatized
FOR LIFE. No… it was far from awesome in my
8-year-old eyes. Since that moment (of betrayal)
I have had trouble with roller coasters.
What happened this weekend: All the tiny humans went on
Blazing Fury (while I avoided the situation) and THEY
loved it. When I gave them the reason I wouldn’t go on
with them, they challenged me to face my fear…
especially Emma.
She said I could “un-scar” myself if I went on Blazing Fury
and faced my fear. She’s way too wise for an 11-year-old
and had WAY too much fun telling me she’d ‘hold my hand
if I got scared’. It had to happen. I had to right the wrong
of Blazing Fury. So I rode it. If you’ve been to Dollywood
you already know how this is going to end. Blazing Fury
is a very mild and VERY fun rollercoaster. I was 100%
FINE! I survived and felt incredibly silly for the anxiety
I felt waiting in that line.
Emma, thank you.
Owen taught me about fearlessness.
First, let me clarify by cluing you in that Owen is 8-years-old.
He kept saying ‘dare me to go on any ride’! So we all did.
Owen wanted so badly to get on Wild Eagle.
One of the biggest and scariest rollercoasters at Dollywood.
The one that all his friends had told him about
before he even got to the park.
It was incredible to see him just run off ready to go!
(I wish I could be like that) Due to weather, twice,
Owen was sent away from the ride. He never saw this
as an excuse to give up on the biggest, BADDEST
roller coaster. The announcement came over the PA
system at Dollywood that all rides opened again and
he was more than ready for Wild Eagle. He conquered
it like a champ! Every time I asked what Owen’s favorite
ride was all weekend – without question it was Wild Eagle.
Otto taught me about bravery.
Little Otto is 6-going-on-25.
He doesn’t know how much his attitude and gumption
with life inspires me. Our entire family was fortunate enough
to go to Dolly Parton’s Splash Country for a day.
Otto climbed 70-feet up into the air for Fire Tower Falls.
Unfortunately, the height got the best of him and
he climbed right back down.
When Otto stepped off the stairs he told me,
“I wasn’t brave enough for that one.” THAT completely
broke my heart because everything he did this weekend
made me question MY bravery. Some rides? Like RiverRush,
I only went on because 6-year-old Otto went on them
and I would have looked ridiculous being scared
next to him. Otto is vivacious, brave, and just an
incredible little human. He won’t know for years how
much him just going on ANY RIDE inspired me.
Evelyn taught me about family.
My heart melts and my eyes tear up when I think about Evelyn on this trip.
She showed me so much and made me
feel way too many things. I’m not always the
most comfortable with emotion, but she pushed
her way through my walls unaware they even exist.
Evelyn’s eyes tell you immediately
what she needs: space or comfort.
While at Dollywood – Evelyn sharpened up my
“parenting” skills when she became very concerned
about how her baby doll was doing in our room at
the DreamMore resort. What was it in me that
thought of this? I’ll never know. I ‘called’ the
DreamMore to ‘check-in’ on how baby was doing.
After a 30-second improvised conversation on my
part – Evelyn was satisfied that her baby was safe
and taken care of and we were friends for life after that.
The first night? Evelyn snuck into my bed and
pretended she didn’t mean to. The second night?
Evelyn fell asleep right on my chest and that was
the most incredible feeling in the world.
This tiny human trusts me enough to fall asleep right there?
Why me? Evelyn makes me want to have a family
of my own. Why is that hard to admit?
Jen and Chad – are not tiny humans, but a great couple with a great family.
I want to thank my sister Jen, and my brother-in-law Chad
for letting me be a part of their family for the weekend. I
loved every minute. Yes, there is a lot of chaos that
comes with 4 kids, but I’m home now and so sad that
I’m not with them! I can only hope one day I have what
they’ve created. Thank you to everyone that helped this
amazing trip to Dollywood, The DreamMore Resort,
and Dolly Parton’s Splash Country happen!
