The Smoky Mountains, Finally

When the Burnetts called to see if we wanted to go on a Memorial Day weekend trip to the Smoky Mountains .. . what else could we say but yes?! We were super excited without a clue as to what we were getting ourselves into. All we knew was that we were going to be there with good company (also, the Bowcutts, Waltons and Wrights) and a beautiful location.

William was a champ on the drive. So was Jordon since he drove the whole way there!

We drove by Cincinatti. Actually, we also stopped there to have dinner. Traffic was horrible with a predicted 90 minute delay. We stopped at a park to have dinner. It ended up being a kinda scary park. Well, for me at least. The park itself was beautiful, but it became rather obvious within minutes of sitting down that we were in downtown Cincinatti- and obviously not fitting in. It just became more apparent as the number of cars with booming sub whoofers increased, as well as baggy pants, cigarettes(?), and an English I couldn't understand. There was two moments in which I thought that the end of our trip would be Cincinatti. The first was when there was a gathering on the sidewalk in front of our car. I admit, I was a little worried we weren't going to be let through- we were allowed to pass, however. The second was when we were trying to leave and had turned around the car. Someone came out on the street and stopped us from continuing on as people moved off of the sidewalk onto the street. Some of them crossed in front of us, others didn't. I'm still not sure what the point was, but we didn't really get to stay longer as a police car came down the street the opposite direction. I don't think I've ever been so happy to see a police car. It resulted in instant safe feelings quickly relaxing my nerves. We continued on down to Tennessee!

William playing with the car at a quick pit stop to feed and change him.

On a random side note, while in the car I finally got a video of William's pre-sneeze. You'll see what I mean.

Sometimes, he does it two or three times before he actually sneezes. We get a kick out of it.

We finally got to our cabin. It was big and beautiful with a perfect location on the river.

We went to bed not long after arriving, and the next morning Jordon took William exploring the bank of the river behind the cabin so I could sleep in, Wahoo!!

William getting bundled for his outing.

The river. The picture above was taken by Jordon. The following two were taken by Dan. You can see Jordon and William in the second one if you look closely.

I woke up to a picture perfect breakfast made for me by my boys. Mountain Laurel included.

And a really cool moth that Jordon found on the deck outside our bedroom.

Then everyone packed up and we went hiking in the Smoky Mountains!

William was our official tour guide. Can you just see him pondering where we should go?
Dan, for obvious reasons, was our official photographer.

William decided Laurel Falls would be a good place to go. Good choice William! It was beautiful!

Although maybe a little more tiring than he had expected. :)

After that we headed for an observation point on one of the highest peaks in the Smoky's.
It was quite the trek up to the top.

The whole gang.

But as you can see, it was totally worth it.

Heading down was only slightly easier. We saw quite a few spills by other people not in our group.

A pretty flower at the top.

That night, we had a BBQ!


And who could resist the gazillion go-cart places in the nearby tourist town of Pigeon Forge? Not us!!

What would an adventure be without some romance?

While being fed at the go cart place, William and Chloe played footsies. Here's the video.

That night we shared embarassing moments- which won't be recounted at this time- (but maybe later?) and after being so revealing about each other, we all felt comfortable enough to squeeze 10 of us in an 8 person hot tub. And yes, the water overflowed.

Sunday, we went to church. That was quite the experience. We sat next to this little old lady, who I thought looked rather sweet. Her sweater did remind me suspiciously of a possum (although I'm 68% sure it wasn't). She thought William was adorable and kept reaching out for him, cooing at him, and at one point, had her hands under his armpits as if to hold him. Jordon, seemed oblivious to her attentions and didn't relinquish his hold. I was a bit confused, usually I am the oblivious one, but I shrugged it off. When I mentioned it afterwards, Jordon simply replied, "she scared me, so I pretended not to notice." For some reason, I found this immensly funny. That my big, strong, sweet husband was scared of a little old lady at church trapped at the end of the row, with nowhere to go. In fact, I am laughing as I type this, although I'm pretty sure it's one of those have-to-be-there kinda things. But I'm including it in this post so I can laugh about it again later.


Then, we had dinner and partied! The Burnetts taught everyone this game called Crud. It was SO fun. I have been itching to play it again since. Anyone have a pool table?
Unfortunately, while the adults were playing, sweet little Annie cut herself on some glass and had to go to the hospital to get 4 stitches. We're so glad she's okay and it wasn't worse! She was really brave about it!

Monday, after a brief stop at the Christmas store, we headed home!

And oh, I just had to post this picture so I can laugh about it later too.


We had such a fun time getting to know everyone better! It was the perfect weekend. Thanks again guys!