So this was kind of a last minute trip, but I'm so glad we did it! It all started a week ago Sunday. We were having dinner at the Burnett's house, trying to come up with a fun idea for Memorial Day weekend. The Smoky Mountains were on our list of places to go before we leave this side of the country, and we had heard good things about Gatlinburg from friends who had been there. So within a few hours we found a great last minute deal on a luxury cabin, called a few friends (the Wrights, Bowcutts, & Despains), and began to plan our fabulous weekend getaway to The Smoky Mountains!Kristie and I thought we had a great plan to drive down earlier on Friday with the 4 kids before the guys got off work so we could check in, unload, get the kids to bed, and get settled before it got dark. We left at 1:00 pm with directions that said it should take us 6 1/2 hours to get there. Well, I guess we kind of underestimated how long traveling with kids actually takes . . . . and we hit a few rough patches of traffic . . . . and we took an hour to eat dinner at Wendy's . . . . and we had a few bathroom stops . . . . and we may have accidentally taken a wrong turn that added on another 45 minutes of driving. So we weren't surprised to hear that the Bowcutts, who left 2 hours after us, beat us to the check-in office. But oh, how happy we were to see the Bowcutts! Kevin saved me from driving my car into a ditch and provided added security as we drove through the dark and windy roads up the mountain to our secluded cabin. Seriously, if it had just been Kristie and I trying to find the cabin, I'm not sure we would have made it. The kids, already on edge from our adventures while we were lost, nervously kept asking if we were going the right way as we were driving up and down the STEEP forested roads to the cabin. We finally got there all safe and sound. Dan, Trever, Rocky and Joni pulled up 1 1/2 hrs later. They had left 4 1/2 hrs after us.
Anyway, here are some pictures of our cabin. It was called the AAAH-Some Lodge and we all agreed, it truly was AAAH-Some! It had 4 bedrooms, 6 bathrooms, a great room, full kitchen, washer and dryer, game room with pool table, hot tub out back, great decks, and it was right on a gorgeous river. It was perfect.
Our cabin was about 15 minutes from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. So Saturday morning we packed up lunches, loaded everyone into 2 cars, and went out to explore. We first hiked to Laurel Falls. It was a fun little hike, perfect for chatting along the way. The falls were beautiful and Annie had so much fun jumping from rock to rock in the stream. 
Next we drove to Clingmans Dome, the highest point in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. We parked our cars, looked around, and then noticed all the people walking up an extremely steep path. The half-mile path led to the observation tower on the summit of Clingmans Dome. We pushed the strollers up (again, thank you Kevin for pushing Leah! Dan was holding Annie) and got our calf work out for the day. The tower offers spectacular 360° views of the Smokies. We weren't prepared for the cold temps up there, or the crowds of people, but it was worth it. These pics don't do it justice.
Here's the whole group on the tower (except for 3 year old Cohen. I think he might have been in the stroller.)
We had worked up quite an appetite by the time we got back to the cabin. The Burnetts and us were in charge of Saturday dinner and we had decided to BBQ. The weather couldn't have been more perfect for a BBQ on the back deck. The burgers were delicious, the sound of the river was below us . . . . so fun.
After dinner we went to Pigeon Forge - a town about 1/2 hr away. This place is crazy! There's a huge touristy 5 -mile strip that goes through the town that has more mini-golf and go-cart places than I've ever seen in my life! So it seemed only fitting that we ride some go-carts. We rode the Wild Woody - a wooden, triple decker track. Then we let the kids ride a few kiddie amusement rides. They loved it. 
We went back to the cabin, put the kids to bed and had fun talking and telling stories about embarassing moments and how each couple met. Thanks for the fun stories you guys, especially yours, Ally . . . . I thnk we were all in tears! Around midnight we decided to go for a late night dip in the hot tub. But first the guys had to prove their manhood (or something like that, there has to be a reason for the things they do, right?). So as the wives watched from the heated hot tub, they went down to the roaring river to submerse themselves in the frigid cold waters. They ran back up the trail and we crammed 10 people into the 8 person hot tub. The perfect ending to an awesome day.
Sunday was a little more relaxing. We slept in, got ready, ate breakfast, and went to church (an interesting experience in rural Tennessee). The afternoon was spent having a spaghetti dinner, playing games, taking naps, going for walks around the cabin and down to the river, and even a little fishing.
Dan took his camera out for a while and had fun getting some cool shots. 
We started the night out with a game the Burnetts taught us. It's a wild and crazy pool game, much like Fandango Pool that Dan's family plays, but with a twist on it - there are 2 teams, and you can play defense on each other. You can block, shove, box out, and occasionally knock people to the ground:) It was really fun.
Meanwhile, Annie, Leah, and Cohen were upstairs watching a movie. We had gotten them ready for bed, gave them their blankets, got them all cozy on the couch, gave them a few snacks, and turned on Bolt. I thought everything would be fine. Then all of a sudden, we heard the most awful scream, followed by crying, and Dan, Trever, Kristie, and I sprinted upstairs to find a hurt little Annie. Somehow a drinking glass had broken, and Annie went to pick it up, probably trying to clean it up for the little kids before the parents would see it. Poor thing. She was cut pretty bad. Good thing Trever (a med resident) was there to help us out. He took care of her while Dan and I tried to find the closest medical center to take her to. Unfortunately that was 45 min. away in Sevierville, TN. We left the cabin at 10:00 pm, not really knowing how long of a night we were in for. I won't go into detail about how crowded the ER was, or how frustrated we were that there was only 1 doctor on staff that night, or how everyone there (besides the doctor and nurse, thank goodness) was the biggest redneck we've ever seen. But Annie's finger was taken care of (she needed 4 stitches - our first experience with stitches), and I was so grateful that it wasn't anything worse. We finally got back to the cabin at 5:30 a.m. Thank you to all our friends for helping us out that night, for taking care of Annie, helping us call places, setting up the GPS for us, putting Leah to bed, etc. - you guys are the best. Here's a little timeline of how the night went down:
The four of us (even Leah) slept in until 10:15 the next morning (Monday). We got up, got ready, packed up, and checked out by 11:15. Then all the families split up and went there different ways, some already headed home. The Wrights were driving home with us, and before we headed out we decided to explore the town of Gatlinburg. This was such a fun little touristy town, with lots of things to do. But we only had a few hours, so we just walked around a bit, ate our lunch in The Village, went into some shops, saw some famous cars (including Herbie), and of course took some pictures. 
The town of Gatlinburg has got to be the capital of Old Time Portraits - we probably saw 20 shops within a mile walk. We all talked about doing one, but Trever and Kristie were the only ones gutsy enough to really do it! 
Well, it was a great Memorial Day weekend. Besides our little midnight escapade to the hospital, everything went smoothly and we all had a blast. It was fun to see the Smoky Mountains and to explore that beautiful part of the country. Besides, sometimes it "feels good to mingle with the laid back country folk, don't it hair?" Thanks to all our friends for making it such a fun weekend! It's always so fun to just hang out and get to know everyone better. Til next time!
We love our babysitting group! Every Saturday night we get a free date night, except the week that it's our turn. But we don't mind these weeks either, because Annie and Leah love having their friends come play at our house. The Comins moved a few weeks ago, so for now we are down to just 3 families . . . . 3 families with all girls. So how do you entertain 7 little girls for a couple of hours on a Saturday night? With a princess party of course! 
So this was kind of a last minute trip, but I'm so glad we did it! It all started a week ago Sunday. We were having dinner at the Burnett's house, trying to come up with a fun idea for Memorial Day weekend. The Smoky Mountains were on our list of places to go before we leave this side of the country, and we had heard good things about Gatlinburg from friends who had been there. So within a few hours we found a great last minute deal on a luxury cabin, called a few friends (the Wrights, Bowcutts, & Despains), and began to plan our fabulous weekend getaway to The Smoky Mountains!
Our cabin was about 15 minutes from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. So Saturday morning we packed up lunches, loaded everyone into 2 cars, and went out to explore. We first hiked to Laurel Falls. It was a fun little hike, perfect for chatting along the way. The falls were beautiful and Annie had so much fun jumping from rock to rock in the stream. 
Next we drove to Clingmans Dome, the highest point in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. We parked our cars, looked around, and then noticed all the people walking up an extremely steep path. The half-mile path led to the observation tower on the summit of Clingmans Dome. We pushed the strollers up (again, thank you Kevin for pushing Leah! Dan was holding Annie) and got our calf work out for the day. The tower offers spectacular 360° views of the Smokies. We weren't prepared for the cold temps up there, or the crowds of people, but it was worth it. These pics don't do it justice. 
Here's the whole group on the tower (except for 3 year old Cohen. I think he might have been in the stroller.)
We had worked up quite an appetite by the time we got back to the cabin. The Burnetts and us were in charge of Saturday dinner and we had decided to BBQ. The weather couldn't have been more perfect for a BBQ on the back deck. The burgers were delicious, the sound of the river was below us . . . . so fun.
After dinner we went to Pigeon Forge - a town about 1/2 hr away. This place is crazy! There's a huge touristy 5 -mile strip that goes through the town that has more mini-golf and go-cart places than I've ever seen in my life! So it seemed only fitting that we ride some go-carts. We rode the Wild Woody - a wooden, triple decker track. Then we let the kids ride a few kiddie amusement rides. They loved it. 
We went back to the cabin, put the kids to bed and had fun talking and telling stories about embarassing moments and how each couple met. Thanks for the fun stories you guys, especially yours, Ally . . . . I thnk we were all in tears! Around midnight we decided to go for a late night dip in the hot tub. But first the guys had to prove their manhood (or something like that, there has to be a reason for the things they do, right?). So as the wives watched from the heated hot tub, they went down to the roaring river to submerse themselves in the frigid cold waters. They ran back up the trail and we crammed 10 people into the 8 person hot tub. The perfect ending to an awesome day.
Sunday was a little more relaxing. We slept in, got ready, ate breakfast, and went to church (an interesting experience in rural Tennessee). The afternoon was spent having a spaghetti dinner, playing games, taking naps, going for walks around the cabin and down to the river, and even a little fishing.
Dan took his camera out for a while and had fun getting some cool shots. 
We started the night out with a game the Burnetts taught us. It's a wild and crazy pool game, much like Fandango Pool that Dan's family plays, but with a twist on it - there are 2 teams, and you can play defense on each other. You can block, shove, box out, and occasionally knock people to the ground:) It was really fun.
Meanwhile, Annie, Leah, and Cohen were upstairs watching a movie. We had gotten them ready for bed, gave them their blankets, got them all cozy on the couch, gave them a few snacks, and turned on Bolt. I thought everything would be fine. Then all of a sudden, we heard the most awful scream, followed by crying, and Dan, Trever, Kristie, and I sprinted upstairs to find a hurt little Annie. Somehow a drinking glass had broken, and Annie went to pick it up, probably trying to clean it up for the little kids before the parents would see it. Poor thing. She was cut pretty bad. Good thing Trever (a med resident) was there to help us out. He took care of her while Dan and I tried to find the closest medical center to take her to. Unfortunately that was 45 min. away in Sevierville, TN. We left the cabin at 10:00 pm, not really knowing how long of a night we were in for. I won't go into detail about how crowded the ER was, or how frustrated we were that there was only 1 doctor on staff that night, or how everyone there (besides the doctor and nurse, thank goodness) was the biggest redneck we've ever seen. But Annie's finger was taken care of (she needed 4 stitches - our first experience with stitches), and I was so grateful that it wasn't anything worse. We finally got back to the cabin at 5:30 a.m. Thank you to all our friends for helping us out that night, for taking care of Annie, helping us call places, setting up the GPS for us, putting Leah to bed, etc. - you guys are the best. Here's a little timeline of how the night went down:
The four of us (even Leah) slept in until 10:15 the next morning (Monday). We got up, got ready, packed up, and checked out by 11:15. Then all the families split up and went there different ways, some already headed home. The Wrights were driving home with us, and before we headed out we decided to explore the town of Gatlinburg. This was such a fun little touristy town, with lots of things to do. But we only had a few hours, so we just walked around a bit, ate our lunch in The Village, went into some shops, saw some famous cars (including Herbie), and of course took some pictures. 
The town of Gatlinburg has got to be the capital of Old Time Portraits - we probably saw 20 shops within a mile walk. We all talked about doing one, but Trever and Kristie were the only ones gutsy enough to really do it! 
Well, it was a great Memorial Day weekend. Besides our little midnight escapade to the hospital, everything went smoothly and we all had a blast. It was fun to see the Smoky Mountains and to explore that beautiful part of the country. Besides, sometimes it "feels good to mingle with the laid back country folk, don't it hair?" Thanks to all our friends for making it such a fun weekend! It's always so fun to just hang out and get to know everyone better. Til next time! 
Tuesday night we saw Wicked in New York. The Ward's, another resident family in Dan's program who also went to Boston for the conference and joined us in NY, watched the girls for us. We had watched their 3 girls the night before while they saw Phantom. Their hotel room was just a few doors down from ours, so it all worked out really well. 
After the show, Dan's cousin, Seth, met up with us and took us backstage to say hi to Nicole. So fun to see her dressing room and to tell her how awesome she was!
We also met a few other cast members including Alli Mauzey, who plays Glinda. I was shocked at how heavy her costumes were! I loved Glinda's character in the show. So funny.
After the show, Dan and I walked to Times Square and took in the New York City night life. This place is seriously the city that never sleeps! A movie crew was starting to set things up to film a chase scene for an upcoming Nicolas Cage movie. We could have seriously stayed up all night watching them film, but we knew we had to get back to the girls. We were sure Stephanie Ward didn't want to spend all night in our hotel room:) So we grabbed a few slices of pizza and a piece of cheesecake and walked back to our hotel. It was such a fun night out on the town with Dan. What a perfect ending to our trip! 
It was so fun to experience the hustle and bustle of New York City! What a crazy and unique place. It definitely wasn't the most stroller friendly city . . . . stairs into almost every store and restaurant and also getting down to the subway. But when I think of it, I don't think I saw too many other strollers, or kids for that matter.
We did find some kid friendly activities to do with the girls. And what's more kid friendly than FAO Schwarz? The girls loved it! And so did we. And no stairs going into this store.
The American Girl Doll Store. I think I was just as excited about this as Annie. Maybe more!
The rainy weather kept us from doing a few things we would have liked to do (like going to the top of the Empire State Building and taking a ferry boat over to the Statue of Liberty) but hey, all the more reason to come back sometime, right? The highlight of our New York trip was seeing Wicked, which will be our next post . . . . stay tuned! 