Family Vacation 2015-Ober Gatlinburg

 For our last day of vacation, we decided to go up to Ober Gatlinburg.  You ride up the mountain in an aerial tram.  At the top, they have several different activities. 

 I had to hold on to Sean--at each tower, the tram would rock.  It didn't freak me out in any way.  (I lie).  The girls didn't seem phased, though.

Elise managed to talk this nice man into letting her sit next to him for a window view.

 At the top, there is a small ski lift that will take you to the top, or halfway to the top so you can ride the alpine slide.

 Rhonda and Terry took the kiddos to do some activities while Sean and I rode to the top.

 The views were gorgeous.  I have seen the Rockies, so I know "mountain majesty" but the Smokeys were beautiful in their own right.

 Elise and Erin had fun riding a few rides.

 Then it was time to ride the lift up to the Alpine Slide.  Sean was worried Erin would be scared, but she loved it.  She didn't want me to hold on to her (which I ignored that request) and kept scooting forward so she could look down.

 Sean and Elise were back there.

 Those little feet so high off the ground--she was a champ!

 I couldn't take any pictures while we were on the Alpine Slide because I had to drive, but it was fun.

 The views coming back down on the tram.

 It wasn't as busy coming down, so Elise and PawPaw both got window seats.

I am still amazed my phone took this picture--it was one of my favorites from the trip!

Sean and I both agreed we'd love to take the kids back here when they are a little older so we could do more hiking, and take more than 5 days off.  When you drive 2 whole days, it makes it feel like a short vacation.  We're glad MawMaw and PawPaw talked us in to sharing a cabin with them in Gatlinburg, TN!

Family Vacation 2015-Aquarium and Gatlinburg!

 Our second day in Gatlinburg was spent at the Ripley's Aquarium and in Gatlinburg.  The aquarium was very neat, but incredible crowded.  People were moving along a pathway and if you stepped out of line from your party (to take a 3 year old to the bathroom, for instance), it was a struggle to get back to your party.  But the girls were good to stay near us and it really was cool.

 The girls had their own disposable cameras, and they used them a ton at Ripley's.  However, since Elise understood she only had 27 pictures she could take, she kept asking me to take pictures for her.  Like the seahorse.  Though I'll admit: I thought he was cool, too.

 The sharks were probably my favorite.  It was surreal to be hanging out so near them, though thankfully well protected behind the glass!  We got to see one get fed (I wasn't quick enough with the camera for that).

 Part of the aquarium did what I hear aquariums do a lot: took you underneath the animals.  It affords you quite the view!

 Erin and Elise both petted the crabs (I think that's what they were--ha!), but weren't lucky enough to get to pet a ray--they were sneakier.

 I'd say the penguins were Erin's favorite.  She was so excited to see them!  Happy Feet is one of her favorite movies, so that could have something to do with it.

 We stopped and took a family photo with the penguin outside the playhouse.

PawPaw with the girls on a cool bench in Gatlinburg.

After the aquarium, we walked a little around Gatlinburg.  Sean described it as Branson on steroids.  It was chaos.  Crowded everywhere you walked, traffic paying no attention to pedestrians, and vice versa.  We had lunch in a restaurant that was highly recommended to us by a lady passing by who heard us talking about where we might eat lunch.  Pancake Pantry didn't disappoint.  The girls mowed their pancakes, and everyone else enjoyed their meals, too.  By the time we were done with lunch, we were ready to head back up the mountain and leave the crowds behind.

 The great thing about our cabin was the reservation included access to 3 pools in the area.  We headed out to the nearest pool to our cabin (about a mile away) and Elise had a blast swimming with her Daddy.

 Erin played some in the baby pool, but was just as content to hang out at the table near the area where Sean and Elise were swimming!

Family Vacation 2015-Hiking the Smokies!

 Our first full day in Gatlinburg, we went to the Smokey Mountain National Park for a hiking trip.  I'd researched kid-friendly hikes before we left, but what I ended up choosing wasn't easy to find.  However, we did end up stumbling upon a pretty good hike.

 Check out the deer in the background (right behind the tree).  We were shocked when he came up so close to us.  We were quiet, watched him for a while, and he watched us for a while.  Then he moseyed off, and so did we.  The deer and a creepy black snake (which I high-tailed it from too fast to take a picture, and frankly who wants a picture of a big creepy snake??) were the only wildlife we saw, but that was fine by me. 

 The hike we ended up on was gorgeous.  The best we could tell from the map, we hiked about 4-5 miles that day.  We were shooting for a waterfall at the top of the trail, but we didn't make it all the way up.

 Elise was a rockstar.  She was our leader most of the time, setting the pace (which was a pretty fast one!).  She loved finally getting to try out her new hiking boots.  She never whined, never asked to be carried, and while she did get sweaty and red-faced, she had a blast.

 Erin, on the other hand, was not so keen on hiking.  I'd guess she walked on her own about 1/3 of the time.  The other 2/3 of the time, her Daddy and I took turns hauling her.  And might I add that she didn't want to ride piggy back, which is the easiest for me.  Oh no.  She wanted to be carried on a hip.  Needless to say, I was exhausted, and Sean ended up carrying her the majority of the time. 

 Almost the entire trail was near water, so that was neat.  When we finished hiking, we went down to the water, and the girls put on their water shoes (I had wisely packed them, hoping we'd get a chance to wade in somewhere) and I went out in the water with them.  It was refreshing after a long hike!

 For some reason, the pictures loaded in reverse order.  This is literally less than 5 minutes after we started off.  Notice who is already being carried.  We might've done better if we'd noticed earlier that we could drive this road to the trail head.  We had parked farther back, then Sean figured out on the map (that we bought where we parked) that we could drive up further--it was narrow, and hard to get two cars passing each other on the road, but it was fine.  He went back for the car and picked us up, and we drove over there.  If we wouldn't have already walked this road before hiking, I like to tell myself we could've made it to the top.

The girls with our map, ready for an adventure!

Family Vacation 2015-Roadtrip!

 This year, we decided the girls were old enough to make an attempt to take a family vacation.  A road trip.  10.75 hours one way to Gatlinburg, TN.  Seemed like a good idea at the time.  We left after Sean mowed the yard and I got the car packed up on a Saturday morning.

 And honestly, the girls were even better behaved than we could've hoped.  Sure, there were squabbles here and there, but nothing outside the norm.  And they were SO EXCITED to be on vacation.  We took our time heading out there.

On road trips, at least on the way TO a place, Sean and I like to try to eat local.  We're usually not disappointed when we stick to this method, and the kids enjoyed it too!

 For lunch on the way there, we stopped at this gem.  It was delicious, and THE PIG!  Barbie Que!  The girls were in "hog heaven" (sorry, I had to)!

 On the way there, we decided to stop around the 7 hour mark in Clarksville.  We had planned to get up and check out an art museum in Nashville, which was just a little further down the road, the next morning, but those plans didn't work out as I failed to check the Sunday hours.  They didn't fit in with our schedule, unfortunately.  In Clarksville, we had dinner at the local brewery (again, another good find, though the pics wouldn't upload from the phone), and played in the pool that night and the next morning.  We got them good and worn out for the rest of the drive into Gatlinburg. 

 One "chain" thing we did take advantage of the entire time we were on our trip was Dunkin' Donuts.  Sean and I both love their coffee, and we tried to time our potty/gas stops at an exit that was in close proximity to a Dunkin' Donuts! 

 The girls get carsick (in fact, Erin got sick just after lunch on Saturday, but thankfully the mess wasn't too bad), so we dose them with dramamine.  A great side effect of dramamine: it makes the kids drowsy!

 This trip was Erin's last hoorah with her paci.  We were going to take it away when she turned 3 (a few weeks before we left on the trip), but we wisely decided to wait until AFTER the really long road trip.  She actually did really well when we took it away after we got home.  Asked for it the first 3 nights, and hasn't asked again since. 

 

Not the best picture, as my phone was fogging up after being in the air conditioned car for so long, but this was our cabin!  It was up in the mountains, and we absolutely loved it.  We slept on the lower level with our own bathroom, and the girls were on that level as well with their own bathroom.  There was a hot tub and pool table a few steps down from our rooms.  Upstairs was the living room, and then up some more stairs was the kitchen, and Rhonda and Terry's bedroom (they joined us on Monday night, and stayed an extra night after we left) with their own bath.  We went through VRBO, and let me tell you: we love booking with them!  We've never been disappointed!