Gatlinburg, Tennessee!

In March we went on VACATION!!!  WOW we were in need of sometime together as a family.  This residency thing is not the easiest at times, so when we can have time off we like to get away.  We had some friends invite us on a cruise but since we went to Chicago without kiddos in September we didn't feel like we could leave our kids again so we planned a vacation with our families.  We had such a good time!

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First stop was Wonder Works museum.  We had some people offer some free tickets, so we only paid about half the price which made it even better.  This Giant light bright entertained our kiddos for quite a while.

The bubbles were quite the hit!!  We could have done these all day!  Scotty was able to get almost all of the kids inside a bubble.

The shadow board was was pretty fun as well. 

Swimming was fun as always.  Of course our kids prefer the hot tub.  With no fat on their little bodies I don't blame them.

There are so many dinner shows to choose from and we decided on the Dixie Stampede and it did not disappoint.  The horse, pony and pig races were pretty fun.  Lilly LOVED the part with the dancing, singing girls with the lighted dresses.  It is a fun show with great food!  Other then Scotty's serious allergic reaction to the horses it was great!  Nothing some benadryl and albuterol couldn't fix.

The fact that Lilly got this close to the animals was shocking!!!  She even touched the horses!!  Lilly hates animals!!  Seriously does not like any.  Hopefully this is a sign she is coming around.

Ripley's aquarium was the next day and with it being rainy outside it worked out perfect!!  The kids were absolutely fascinated by the fish.  Barrick wanted to stop at every single exhibit and learn about all of the creatures.  I cannot get enough of Lilly in this picture.  She adores that big brother of hers and this picture shows it all.

Briony loved growling at ALL of the fish.

By far the favorite part was the tunnel you would ride through and look at the fish.  The kids could not get over the sharks!!

Even though it is fuzzy this was my favorite picture.  They would squeal every time a shark would swim by.  We went through this 3 times!!!

We let the kids pick out and crack a geode.  They were amazed by the sparkles inside and also the fact that they broke a rock.

They all got to pet some sting rays, Jelly fish and a couple of others I can't remember. 

We then went and looked at some of the shops downtown.  Such a fun atmosphere!!  Bands playing on the streets, cute little shops all surrounded by beautiful mountains!!  We took the kids to a fun candy shop with everything you can imagine in it.  We told the kids they could choose any treat they wanted and Liam chose a ring pop.....  Seriously this child is so easy to please. 

Lilly got a little bigger candy, and Barrick who I didn't get a picture of chose a gum stick the length of himself. 

We found this fun little fountain area where they had a doughnut shop!!  YUMMY!  As you can see everyone was way too focused on eating their doughnuts to look at the camera.

They chased birds, played in the fountain and relaxed which we never get to do.

Me and my Barrick boy!!  This kid is really the BEST!

 

 Another day we decided to go on Ober Gatlinburg.  You ride the tram up to the top of the mountain where they  have a ski resort, ice skating rink, shops, and an animal exhibit.  The kids loved the ride up, Barrick wouldn't admit it but he was scared of how high it was.  He put on a brave face.

 

While up there we decided to see the animals and this was by far Brionys favorite thing.  She ran around and growled at the bears and was pretty mad when we made her leave.

This was the kids favorite bear.  They thought it was hilarious that he was sitting in a tree.  Here are the Scotty and the kids showing us their best bear face.  I think Barrick was a little embarrassed. 

 

We also walked around downtown some more, and did a little miniature golfing.  That was their number one request for our vacation was that they got to mini golf.  They are a little obsessed.

Of course you cannot vacation and not have some amazing food!  We went to a Hibachi restaurant and our kids were mesmerized.  Scotty and I go quite often but never take our kids.   They loved it, including the food.  I think Lilly ate her body weight in salad along with a lot of shrimp.  Liam and Barrick stuck with chicken.

We also ate some amazing BBQ.  This night we wanted to stay in and got some yummy take out and fed the kids oatmeal at our condo.

The kids all had a buddy that they hung out with.  Briony mommied Declan and he didn't seem to mind.

Lilly and Carson were inseparable.  I think Liam got a little jealous, he came to me one day and said Lilly is my girl!

Even for their age gap these two got a long really well.  They played ipad games together all night.

It was so nice to have a big condo.  Everyone had their own bed.  The boys were upstairs in the loft, Lilly and Briony shared one of the bedrooms and Scotty and I in the master.  As much fun as we had playing, we had just as much fun relaxing. 

Who doesn't love a big jet tub. Lilly was a little nervous in it but the boys thought it was the coolest thing ever!

One of my favorite parts of the trip was being able to jog outside in the mountains!!  Man alive I miss the mountains, and the best part was jogging up to those cute little faces waiting for me to come back!!  

It was such a fun vacation with such amazing friends!!  They are moving to Spain this summer which makes me so sad.  We feel lucky that we got to spend an amazing vacation with them!!  Thanks Brandi and Justin for such a great week.