All About Us: Smoky Mountains

We had been planning a trip to Williamsburg for several months and the kids were so excited. But then Florence the Hurricane decided to change our plans. We were able to get a refund from our hotel and two days before Tanner's days off we decided to go to Gatlinburg, Tennessee.

Right when we got to the Smoky Mountains we decided to stretch our legs with a hike.

The whole hike ran alongside a beautiful creek.

Austin did so well on this 2.5 mile hike and only had to be carried a little ways at the end.

Though the Smokey Mountains are smaller than mountains out west it still felt good to be amongst mountains again.

After our hike we went to the town of Cherokee, NC. It was such a cool little town. All the street signs were written in Cherokee and English. We were sad to see that the Cherokee Indian museum and Village closed at 5 pm. We got there about ten minutes after five. If we ever go back to the Smokey Mountains that is definitely something I want to do. There were some men that were doing Native dances on the street and the kids had fun watching them. We learned that Eliza does not like drums. At the end of their dances they asked if anyone wanted to dance with them. Mariah was the first up on their little stage. Austin would only go up if I went with him and Chet flat out refused. It was so cute watching Mariah concentrate so hard on dancing in perfect time with the drum beat.

On the drive back to Gatlinburg we saw these big guys. These Elk were way bigger than the ones we saw in Logan, UT.

The next day we decided to splurge and go to Dollywood.

They have an old fashioned coal powered engine that went all the way around the park. Besides being covered in soot at the end it was pretty fun.

Austin even took a power nap on the ride.

Although it was hot and humid Eliza was pretty content the whole day.

Sometimes it's hard being two at an amusement park. Austin wanted to go on all the same rides as Mariah and Chet and was pretty sad he couldn't. I don't know if Dollywood purposely hires the elderly to work at their parks but they were all so cute. Most the little kiddie rides were manned by these sweet little old ladies who would say things over a microphone like, "What does a duckie say? Wave to your meemaw and papaw!" All in the sweetest southern accents. That was probably my favorite part of the whole park.

Mariah and Chet's favorite ride was the river ride. They were soaked at the end but they thought it was pretty cool.

There were two roller coasters at the park that Mariah and Chet were tall enough to ride on. Tanner took them to the first one and they had no desire to go on the other one after that. So I guess they aren't quite ready for the big kid rides.

The water park was already closed which was a bummer but Mariah and Chet still managed to get soaked at their little splash pad area. Austin still isn't a fan of water being splashed in his face so he steered clear of the water and played with the giant blocks instead.

At the end of the day we went to their bird show and got to see all kinds of different birds and learn so much about them. They had the birds fly right over our heads. It was pretty cool.

The next day we began the drive home but right before the exit decided to brave the storm and go to Greensboro, NC to visit the Hiltons. They were so welcoming to us even with only a three hour heads up. I wasn't planning on us being away from home on Sunday so Mariah, Austin and I borrowed church clothes and Tanner and Chet went in shorts. It may have been the first Sunday where Tanner didn't change right when he got home from church.