Gatlinburg with the Gilland's

We got back from a short little vacation with our family a few weeks ago.  We drove up Friday night and got there about midnight - and Tucker woke up WIRED.  I guess it was because everyone was there, but he was ready to go, and in very rare form.  He was so hyped up that we didn't make it to bed until after 2am.  On Saturday we went to Cade's Cove and saw a few turkey's and a bear, but the deer weren't really moving.  The views were gorgeous.

Sunday we took it easy that morning and then went into Pigeon Forge around lunch time and shopped a little and went back to the cabin and swam.  

Monday we went tubing.  I wasn't sure how Tucker would do, but he really enjoyed it.  The water was low, so we got stuck on rocks a lot, and we had tied all three of our tubes together so that was interesting.  Tucker didn't even ride in his tube more than 5 minutes, so I really wish we had thought about it and not even gotten one for him, but we had a great time.  Tucker enjoyed going through the water and seeing all the different scenery down the river.  I think it would have been more fun had the water been up, but it was a great time had by all.  Monday night we went into Gatlinburg and walked around the cute little shops they have for a few hours.

They styled his hair post sunscreen and it was a little crazy. 

Showing off our wrist bands. He was very interested in it at first but then just wanted it off as quick as it would come.

Getting into the tubes

Kassie's View from her Tube

Floating down the river - Slowly...

Shopping in Gatlinburg

A little photo op

Tuesday morning we got up early and went to the apple barn.  The apple butter is so yummy!  It's a lot like a cracker barrel to me, but it was pretty good. They also have several shops - A Christmas shop, an Apple Barn shop, a candy shop, and an ice cream shop.  It was a neat place, but we kind of rushed out of there because we were on our way home.  Jonathan had to work Wednesday morning, so we wanted to make it back in time to get everything done at home and get a good night's rest.



We found a new life saver for traveling in our vehicle...a DVD Player!  I don't pull it out first thing or anything, but when Tucker gets to the point that he is done and can't wait to get out of his seat, I popped in a baby Einstein video and he was hooked.  It made for a much more peaceful drive than we had when we went to Panama City earlier in the summer.