Great time in the Smokeys

We got back last night from our trip to the Smokey Mountains. It was a great trip packed with lots of fun but also time for relaxing too. Here's how the days went...

Saturday-Got to Pigeon Forge after lunch and shopped for a few hours. I was proud that I actually got a lot of birthday and Christmas gifts purchased as well as some very cheap jewelry for me. We then went and ate at the Apple Barn. Talk about GOOD food! We took plenty of pictures of Riley in front of all the fall decorations.

After we ate we were wore out so we checked in our room. We always stay at Westgate Resorts and like it a lot. It's in between Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg so you're minutes from either. The rooms are within big cabins and are always nice. Plus, they have an indoor water park for Riley which she LOVES. It's very reasonably priced too.

Our first night was rough...Riley had a hard time adjusting to a new place and falling asleep. Once she finally fell asleep, I couldn't go to sleep thanks to very noisy neighbors upstairs. They must have had a slew of small kids because it sounded like they were running the Kentucky Derby. This went on up in the night and once I finally fell asleep it seems that I woke up every hour after that.

Sunday-I woke up tired and, I admit, grumpy. We ate breakfast then headed to an outlet mall, specifically my favorite children's store, Carter's. I spent WAY too much money on clothes for Riley but my reasoning was she had hardly any clothes for fall and winter. After shopping we took a motor trail up in the mountains. I was amazed at how excited Riley was about going to the "mountains!" That's all she talked about. We got a lot of great pictures and tried really hard to "go on a bear hunt" but never saw one. Riley did spot a deer along the way...oh she made her daddy proud.

After the motor trail, we headed back to the room for lunch and a nap. It was nice for all of us to lay down and actually sleep for close to two hours! We got up and headed for some more shopping then to Riley's favorite, the Dixie Stampede. She got to see the show over the summer when we went to Branson and LOVED. She gets so into the show she doesn't even want to eat the delicious food they have. We thoroughly enjoy this show and the food and highly recommend it for a fun family outing.

The night was finished up with visiting some souvineer shops, one in which we purchased an unwanted $20 John Deere piggy bank. If you know me, I am NOT a John Deere fan (as Riley has been taught to say, "John Deere is stinky, Massey is awesome!) but I know God has a sense of humor. Riley reached for the bank and when it fell I caught it...temporarily. It then fell out of my hands and off broke an ear! We could have just put it back but we felt that was dishonest so we took it to the counter hoping for some mercy. NOPE, just a tally of our bill! Ugh, I was so mad at myself!

Riley did finally get to see a bear! Sadly it was just a stuffed one at one of the stores...

Once we got back to the room, I honestly dreaded the night ahead with the way the previous night went. We prayed, as we do every night with Riley, for a good night's sleep. And thank God for answered prayer because that's what we got!

Monday-I'm sure this was Phil and Riley's favorite part of the trip...we spent the whole morning at the outlet mall where I, once again, bought way too much stuff for Riley. After the hours of shopping, we retired back to the room for lunch and a nap. Then off to the water park. Since my belly is really growing, I decided not to attempt a bathing suit so Daddy was a good sport and entertained Riley until closing time. She had a BLAST! I think she almost wore the slide out.

Monday night, we decided to finish our trip up walking around the interesting shops in Gatlinburg. We rarely every buy anything there because most shops are overpriced but we just enjoy the walk and seeing all the different people. By the time we finished walking up the hill then back down on the other side, we were spent. Back to the room we went for our last night of our vacation. I always get down on the last night because you know the next day means, back to the real world! Oh well, at least I have a good "real world" to go back too, right?

Tuesday morning-After we got everything packed into the car and checked out, I drug Phil and Riley back to a few stores. He says I am the "queen of take-backs" and I hate to say I agree. After trying some clothes on Riley, many didn't fit and plus I bought too much so I had to take some things back! That took a little while then we stopped at a jackpot of a shoe store on the way out of town. I've been wanting some Sperry's but couldn't bring myself to paying the $80 or more they go for. I'd actually bought a pair for $50 at one of the outlet stores but once I wore them around the room decided they were too small. Anyway, I found a pair of knock-offs at this shoe store that I think look identical for $30! I was so excited! That's still more than I normally pay for shoes but this was the only big purchase I made for me the whole trip.

We grabbed a delicious lunch at Olive Garden thanks to a gift card from some family then hit the road. The trip seemed to take forever between Riley having umpteen million wet diapers and Mommy having to pee umpteen million times. We finally made it home last night and I got most of the unpacking done so I wouldn't have to dread it for today.

It was a wonderful trip and we truly enjoyed making some great memories. Now that I am home, I do miss the beauty of this...

But did miss the beauty and peace and quiet of this too and am glad to be home...