Spring Break in the Smokies

The last week in March, we decided to take a spontaneous family vacation to Gatlinburg, Tennessee.  We talked about it before I had the baby and I just could not commit to driving 7 hours with a newborn, not to mention....five children.  Of course I completely forgot about the one-month-post-partum-get-me-outta-this-house phase that I would go through.  It was really a no-brainer, since cabins are actually incredibly affordable in the Gatlinburg area, at least during the week we were there.  It seemed like high-season too; the place was hopping with tourists for Spring Break.  The best part about this trip was that I got to spend 4 days with my sister and her adorable family!  That always makes me happy!  And lucky for me, she happens to have a nursing 4 month old (adorable I might add) baby boy. So we did our best to coordinate our feeding schedules, and it was so much fun to just get to sit and chat...a lot!  The cabin was FABULOUS!  The name of it was Beary Awesome 904...and it WAS AWESOME (a little cheesy I know)!  The view was spectacular, it was super nice inside too, and the perfect setup for our combined families!  The boys took the media room downstairs, and LOVED falling asleep in front of a giant movie screen playing...you guessed it...FROZEN, every single night!  Our room was next to there's, and Kat and Sam (and Marshall and Ivy) took the room upstairs off the kitchen.  Millie, lucky little princess, got the king sized loft on the top floor with her very own bathroom.  Being the oldest girl has it's perks!  We spent each day taking our time getting ready and enjoying the crisp air and view from our cabin, and the went on hikes, enjoyed some of the touristy Gatlinburg adventures like the Obergatlinburg, which is the sky tram that took us up the side of the mountain, as well as the alpine slide which was at the top of that mountain.  We also spent the one snowy day at an indoor water park/resort, which the kids LOVED!  It turned out to be one of our favorite vacays ever!  If we ever live close enough, we will definitely do it again!  

Wearing the Maya wrap with pride!

"Noah you must smile"

The day before we left, Janna Hargadon drove out from Asheville (about 2 hours) to come and have lunch with us!  It was so great to see her, as always!  We LOVE JANNA!  And wished we could have seen Steve and Caroline too.