Smoky Mountain Vacation - Part 6 (The Final Part)

We spent our last day in Pigeon Forge doing whatever the kiddos wanted to do. Our first stop was Huck Finn's Catfish Place. Since it was a Friday and it's Lent, we knew we had to find a really good fish place, and since Scott LOVES catfish, we knew this was the place. Aaron tried catfish for the first time and I think it's safe to say that he loves it just as much as his father.

We also made one last stop at the Christmas Village. If you have time to check out this village, you need to, it's amazing. If I could I would buy everything in it. They have one large store with nothing but Christmas items, they have a model train, a boutique type shop and a bakery. The kiddos loved the train and spent almost the entire time looking at it.

Like I mentioned before, we let the kiddos pick out what we were doing that day. Aaron wanted to ride the go karts from the moment he saw them, so that was our first stop. Both kiddos rode on the two tracks with Scott and had a total blast.

Jillian wanted to ride the big ferris wheel at the Island. I was going to take her on this, but when we approached the wheel and the big gust of wind came through and rocked the gondola, I voluntold Daddy that he would be taking her. They went around 5 times. 5. 5 times. I would have hit the panic button before we even left the platform.

Our last night was pretty perfect. We toasted some marshmallows and made s'mores. I had us completely packed and ready to check out first thing in the morning.

We were up pretty early because we wanted to hit the Pancake Pantry one more time before we left town. After our yummy breakfast, we made one last visit to the Donut Friar and then hit the road.

Our trip out included a drive through the state park which, minus the fog, was pretty beautiful. We actually made it back in decent time and somehow avoided the nasty storm back home.

We cannot wait to go back! The kiddos even asked if we could go back next spring break. I think it's safe to say they loved it!

Smoky Mountain - Part 4

Hello, Dolly! That's right, we went to Dollywood! I mean, really, how could you go to Pigeon Forge and not go to Dollywood?! Put on your best Dolly Parton wig, rhinestone boots, vests and hats kiddos.

To say it was cold that morning is an understatement. We were all freezing, I'm not even exaggerating. We trekked on anyway and made our way for the turnstiles. Let me point out something that threw me for a loop the majority of the day, there was no bag check. Yeah, no bag check. Disney this was not.

One of our first stops was the central measuring station. This is where you take your kiddos to be measured for all of the rides. Your child is then given a colored wristband (that matches the color coding on the rides) and you immediately know which rides they can and cannot ride. It's genius.

Speaking of rides, a lot of them were not open when we arrived because it was too cold. We were able to make it onto all of the little kid rides and they played on some of the playgrounds. We also rode the coal train, which would have been much more enjoyable had it been about 20 degrees warmer. Aaron loved it though, and if we're being completely honest, Scott loved it more.

We spent a good chunk of our day there and even went on Dolly's tour bus and went through the museum that they have there. Jill loved all of her costumes and then proceeded to sing "Apple Jack" throughout the park.

After the fun of Dollywood we headed home and made s'mores. The only time we have made s'mores was in the oven (I know, lame).

The kids loved roasting marshmallows and they would have roasted the entire bag if we let them. Naturally, by roasted I mean set them on fire and blow them out. They did not think that the marshmallows were done until they caught fire.

Jillian did not like the roasted marshmallows and preferred to just eat her plain marshmallows with her graham crackers. Scott, Aaron and I all loved the s'mores and we may have eaten several in one sitting. May or may not.

Keep checking back for the last few days of our vacation!

Smoky Mountain Vacation - Part 3

Welcome to day 3 of our vacation!

Remember how I said it was cold? Well...when we woke up on Tuesday morning there was definitely snow.

Jillian thought that Elsa from Frozen had paid us a visit and that's why there was snow on the ground. I let her go with that (see what I did there?). They even asked if they could build a snowman (okay, seriously, last Frozen reference).

We definitely took our time getting ready that morning because we wanted it to warm up before we headed into town.

Our first order of business was the super delicious cinnamon bread from the Donut Friar. Remember how I mentioned them yesterday? Oh my word, they are delicious!

The cinnamon bread is this crazy combination of traditional cinnamon bread, monkey bread and a cinnamon roll. Yeah, sit on that for a minute.  We consumed the entire loaf that week and bought another one for home. In case you were wondering, they ship. That was a bit of information I did not need to know.

After it warmed up a little bit, and I really mean a little bit, we headed into town and went mini golfing. Our plan was to go to Hillbilly Golf, but it was closed, so we headed over to Firehouse Golf. Aaron was in heaven with all of the fire trucks and fire fighter themed holes.

It was a very chilly 18 holes and I'm pretty sure my finger tips were frozen by the end of it. The kiddos had a great time though, so it was worth the battling the bitter cold.

My genius plan after this was to shop, you know so we could warm up. We found a great popcorn place that had...wait for it...Butterfinger popcorn.

God bless America, y'all.

The kiddos also had a chance to try something truly Southern at the popcorn shop...Moon Pies. Aaron naturally had the chocolate and Jillian (who doesn't like chocolate and is somehow my daughter) opted for the banana.

Not surprisingly, Jillian did not finish hers and Aaron ate all but one bit of his. I made the sacrifice that only a mother can make and ate the last bite of his Moon Pie so it would not go to waste.

After some relaxing time, we headed out for the big surprise of the day, Dixie Stampede!

I got the idea for this outing from my assistant, Amy. She told me that when she was kid her family went to Pigeon Forge and this was her best memory of the trip. Specifically, she loved drinking out of the beautiful plastic boot. I knew we had to do it.

The kiddos were sold the moment we walked in. The boots were a hit (and you bet you I had a Shirley Temple in mine) and so were the flags. The kids barely ate during the show because they were too busy watching all of the horses and riders.

Naturally, they had to have their own cowboy hats after the show. Jillian's, in true Miss Dolly fashion, has a rhinestone tiara and lights up.

We even had a chance to get an up close look at the horses that were used in the show. Aaron especially loved Joker, so we had to snap a photo with him.

The kids did not stop talking the entire ride home and even reenacted the whole show once we got back to the cabin. I would guess that our trip there was a success!

Check back on Friday for more fun from our vacation!