onward to gatlinburg

My mom, Loni, and Jack decided to join us in Gatlinburg for a couple of days, which made our visit here all the sweeter. We didn't do much on Monday other than get here and get settled in ... and enjoy the sensation of not being confined to a single hotel room with three kids and a dog (or in Mom and Lon's case, one kid and no dogs). We got pizza for dinner, and the boys all hung out downstairs playing pool and air hockey and running around. Jack loves spending time with his cousins, and we love it because it seems like they fight a little less when all of them are focused on the cuteness that is Jack.

Tuesday morning, we headed to downtown Gatlinburg to visit Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies. Side note: My sister-in-law Megan lives here with her family, and I got to see her and the girls for about 30 seconds on their way to school. They were dropping off a VIP pass to area attractions that Megan had gotten somewhere and wasn't going to use. They also worked their magic to get all of us passes to the aquarium, for which we are super grateful.

Anyway, the aquarium. It was fantastic! I was so excited for them to see the moving sidewalk through the huge tanks, and they did not disappoint. Jack loved almost everything ... he most emphatically did NOT love the wax statue of FDR in the Pearl Harbor/WWII exhibit. He cried every time Lon took him anywhere near it! (We think he thought it was a real person, and he wanted nothing to do with that guy.)

 

After the aquarium, we took a jaunt on the Motor Nature Trail to give them a taste of Great Smoky Mountain National Park. We made a couple of stops along the way too. That's one of the things I really love about this park: There are pull-offs along the road at regular intervals, and you can just get out and explore the scenery without having to commit to a giant hike. We took full advantage of that because our guests had limited time.

It turned out to be a pretty full day, but we got to spend the morning at the aquarium, the afternoon in the park, and top it all off with a delicious late lunch at an Italian restaurant before Mom and Lon had to pack up and head back home. I would say their visit was a success: Before they left, Mom kept talking about how much Dad would love it here and wondering if we could all come back next year.