Real Life Update: Memorial Day Weekend – Gatlinburg Trip with the kids!
So, I thought I would share a Real Life update and provide a mini-trip report on our family trip to Gatlinburg this past weekend with the kids!
Keith and I decided at the last minute to price out a quick trip to Gatlinburg, TN with the kids over the Holiday Weekend. I lucked out and found a hotel with some availability (and decent price), and I was somewhat familiar with the hotel because it was where some of Emma’s Dance Studio Parents/Kids stayed when we were there for her Dance Competition. So, I booked 2 nights at the Oak Tree Lodge in Sevierville, TN (short drive from Gatlinburg and home of Dolly Parton!).
5/22/15: Finished up with work at 5pm and started packing. Luckily, Keith had done the laundry…well his version (wash, dry and throw in a laundry basket…no folding involved). So, as I was folding the laundry I threw what we needed into the suitcase.
I soon discovered that Keith did not get all the dirty clothes into the laundry because I could not find any of his clean shirts. I looked in the bathroom and lo and behold a pile of dirty clothes…UGH! I packed what I could and went down to get the kids situated for dinner and into bed since I was planning for an early departure.
After dinner and a bath I got Joey into bed, and fell asleep myself…oops! So, that was the end of the day before we left…not exactly as I had planned!
5/23/15: I woke up around 2am and went downstairs and proceeded to wash the rest of the laundry and get the rest of the packing done. Joey woke up from a bad dream around 5am so I went back to his room and fell asleep again (ugh…I blame it on his dark and cool room). My plan was to wake up around 6am so we could be on the road by 8am, well that didn’t happen. I woke up at 7:15…UGH! Oh well.
I got the family fed, the rest of the packing taken care and everyone ready and out the door by 9:15.
Let's go!
The drive from my house to Gatlinburg takes between 3.5-4 hours. We got a ways down the road and stopped for an early lunch at Hardees. The kids were getting a bit restless and hungry which is never a good combination.
After some lunch we hit the road again.
Time to break out the shades!
We arrived at the hotel a little before 2pm and luckily they had our room ready for us. The kids had spotted the pool with splash pad and slide, so I knew we would be making our way over there at some point.
I took the kids up to the room while Keith unloaded the car. Once I had unpacked (yes, I’m one of those that likes to unpack everything even if it’s just for 2 nights), we asked the kids what they wanted to do and of course it was swimming. I was fine with this because we had been in the car so this would help them get their yayas out! After getting the kids in their swimming suits I realized I had forgot to pack the sunscreen…oops! So, Keith offered to run down to the store to get it while I took the kids to the pool.
We had a blast down at the pool and my “baby” went down the slide with his sister!! He loved it! Joey started to get a bit cranky so I decided to get out with him and lay on one of the lounge chairs and let Emma play with some friends she had made. The pool was located right by the main street so I could see the traffic was bad and this helped explain what was taking Keith so long with the sunscreen. Joey ended up falling asleep for a bit while laying on me, I made sure to cover him with some towels because he inherited my Mom’s British pasty skin!
That is the top of his head peeking out from under the towel.
Keith soon arrived with the sunscreen and he played with Emma in the pool for awhile. Joey ended up waking up and I decided to take him back up to the room. So, Joey and I had some Mommy/Son time…he had some snacks and played with his play doh we had brought with us.
Keith and Emma came back to the room not too long after us. We decided to get dressed and go for a ride to find something for dinner. Of course everything was super crowded because of the Holiday, and Joey was a bit overwhelmed and tired since he didn’t get a true nap. Keith took me and Joey back to the hotel and he and Emma went to grab something from the Olive Garden which was right next to hotel (so much for trying something we can’t get at home). They brought me back something to eat, and then they headed back out to check out the Outlet Mall across the street while I got Joey ready for bed.
We brought an air mattress for him to sleep on and he loved it and was asleep pretty quickly…poor baby. I barely remember Keith and Emma coming back to the room, they were both asleep soon after they got back.
5/24/15: I woke up about 6:30 thanks to Mr. Joey. I figured I might as well get up to start getting things ready for us to head out for the day. I got up and spotted a Disney Store bag…WHAT????? Apparently, there was a Disney Store over at the Outlet Mall across the street…woohoo. Emma had picked out a Winnie the Pooh Tsum Tsum for her brother and he LOVED it (what a great big sister)! She had picked out a Marie for herself which Joey promptly started calling Hello Kitty…LOL. These were such a big hit we knew we would be heading back there to start a collection. (see there is some Disney in this Real Life Update).
Emma and I went down to partake in the free continental breakfast and brought some stuff back up for the boys. Once everyone was fed and dressed we were on our way and heading to Gatlinburg.
We parked and started checking out the shops and different activities…I forgot just how much there is to see there. One of the first stores we stopped in we had these made for the kids
The weather was perfect that morning and it was so nice to be outside and enjoying the time together as a family.
Joey was not in the mood for a photo shoot at this time!
Emma and Keith checked out one of the arcades while Joey and I walked around outside (the boy loves to be outside). About this time we were starting to get a bit hungry and decided to stop for lunch. Our choice was Johnny Rockets. This is always a fun environment for the kids, and not to mention the cheeseburgers are yummy!
Once we had lunch we headed over to the Skylift for Emma and I to ride…this is definitely a no-no for Keith…he does not like heights. Emma was a bit nervous but ended up enjoying it.
The view from the top!
On the way back down
After that we decided to head over to the Outlet Mall (aka: Disney Store) and back to the hotel.
We made it to the Outlet Mall and found a close spot to the Disney Store. Both kids picked out 4 more tsums tsums (using the money their Mamaw gave them for the trip). At this point, Joey was hitting his limit so we headed back to the hotel.
I got Joey down for a nap while Keith took Emma to a place called Wonderworks. It’s basically an inside amusement park/science museum type of thing. Joey took a pretty long nap (2.5 hours), and I just enjoyed the quiet time in the room.
Keith and Emma grabbed some Subway for dinner on the way back from Wonderworks to eat in the room. After dinner we all headed down to the pool…we started at the outside pool, but then headed for the indoor pool hoping for a bit more quiet (not so lucky).
We all went back up to the room and got ready for bed. Joey ended up not being as excited about the air mattress and woke up around 2am and ready to play. Keith ended up getting him back to sleep. So, none of us had a real restful sleep thanks to Mr. Bud.
5/25/15: I woke up about 6:15 and started packing everything up since we would be heading home that day. We headed out about 9:15 and decided to go for a drive in the mountains. It was just a pretty view and Emma was hoping to see some bears…I however was very happy we did not come across any!!
We went to Pigeon Forge around 10am to a place called The Island…it has a bunch of little shops and restaurants. The kids and I rode The Wheel (a huge 200 foot Ferris Wheel that have little air conditioned gondolas that you sit in…again this was a no go for Keith). It was a fun ride and an amazing view.
That little tiny red dot would be Keith!
After our ride we headed over to grab some lunch. I just have to say I will be glad when Joey can sit through a meal at a restaurant without me having to inhale my food and try to entertain him! Luckily, the hostess took a liking to him and kept him occupied for a bit while we finished our lunch.
We then decided to go look at some of the shops. Keith took the kids to one of the toy stores while I went to check out the Thomas Kinkade store, where I saw these beauties:
See I fit Disney in this update again!!!
Oh, how I would love to have these in my home...a girl can dream! After a quick potty break we caught the tram back to the parking area where Emma proceeded to tell me it reminded her of the Disney Tram (but she quickly added Disney’s tram was better…I had to agree).
We loaded everyone up in the car and decided to head home…we took a more scenic route home and went through Cherokee and Maggie Valley. All in all it was a fun trip, but Keith and I are definitely looking forward to our trip next weekend to DC…just the two of us! It will be good practice for our Disney Trip!
I hope you all enjoyed this real life update!
