The Reid's take on Gatlinburg: Days 3, 4 & 5

 Believe it or not, by Wednesday, we still hadn't made our way into Gatlinburg! The kids were actually very content doing fun things in Pigeon Forge. It was going to be HOT on Wednesday, so we decided that would be a great morning to hit the aquarium!

Maggie was obsessed with the very first fish tank we saw...and it was only at the entrance! She is so easily impressed! We told her there was a lot more to see and she was squealing in excitement. ;-)

As I was going through pictures on my phone, I had a million of these...

...and these...

The kids would just yell, "MOMMY! Take a picture of this! Take a picture of thaaaat!" I will spare you the numerous animal pictures. You're welcome.

I did, however, think the penguins were quite cute!

We seriously had the best time together. No schedule - just letting the kids set the pace and making sure we didn't lose them in the sea of people.

Ick.

We worked up quite the appetite and headed to our favorite little restaurant in Gatlinburg.

On our first trip with Matt and Melanie eons ago, we found this little hole in the wall at the top of the strip. Someone local suggested it to us and if I could remember who it was, I would find them and give them my first born child. It's THAT good. The Best Italian. No, really...that's the name!

Their pizza is to die for! Eric and I ordered a veggie pizza (that's the first time I saw broccoli as part of a veggie pizza and I dug it!) Better than their pizza are these TO DIE FOR garlic knots.

Like, literally TO DIE FOR! Anytime we plan a Gatlinburg trip, they are the first thing I think about. SOOO GOOD!

We decided to head back to the hotel and let the kids swim, but not before we tried out a new ice cream joint! So cute - love the pink door! ;-)

The next day, which was our last full day, we headed back to Gatlinburg in the morning for a few small things. First stop was Ripley's Mirror Maze. The kids LOVED IT! They giggled non-stop!

Who wouldn't? It was a ton of fun! :-) We stopped for a mirror selfie.

I must say that one of the things I still love is dressing up my little girl. :-) I love doing her hair and she loves to have it done...especially in braids! It is really fine and she has this funky cow lick on the right side of her bangs, so this little style works great on her! Love, love, love her!!!

That afternoon, we took a little tram back to the Island and did a few more rides. (Can you tell we also hit up the Under Armour outlet store? Levi is a walking advertisement! Ha!)

Those hideous swings. Hate them. But she loves them!

Pure joy.

We also talked the kids into doing this. It was HUGE...200 feet high. I was excited and the rest of my family looked a little green. ;-)

 The view was gorge.

And guess what?

We all survived. 

Before heading out, the kids had some souvenir money from their grandparents to spend. Both of them decided they wanted to get an animal from Build A Bear! I thought that was so funny that Levi wanted to, but I loved that he is still a little kid at heart! He chose a dog, Max, and Maggie chose Twilight Sparkle (My Little Pony). Thanks Papa and Grammy!!

We told the kids they could pick anywhere they wanted for dinner since it was our last night. Seriously. As much as things change, they still remain the same. Ha!

These were too funny not to post: the kids were utterly WORN OUT.

I love my little family and I love the sweet, sweet time we had together! We made memories that will last forever. So thankful for this time with them!

 Until next year, Gatlinburg! <3 p="">

The Reid's take on Gatlinburg: Days 1 & 2

 About three weeks ago, Eric came home from work and asked me what I thought about taking the kids to Gatlinburg for a week. I WAS DOWN WITH THAT! The four of us have never been on vacation together by ourselves. We go every year with my big ol' family, which is fantastic, but there are always other people with us. I was looking forward to some family time! Eric already had Gatlinburg planned out...where we'd stay, things we would do, places we would eat...all I had to do was pack us some clothes and show up! That's my kind of vacay. Eric and I have been there with friends almost every year since our first year of marriage, so we have a few favorite things we like to do. We quickly found out that you have to readjust your schedule when you bring two kids along! ;-)

Our first potty break on the way down resulted in milkshakes and chocolate chip cookies for the kids. Let's just say Eric was in a jolly mood and the kids could have asked for anything and the answer would have been YES! Ha!

(Look at those little freckles starting to pop out! ^^)

We checked in to our hotel and headed out in search of dinner. We haven't been to Gatlinburg in two years, so we didn't know about this new area called The Island. 

It was gorgeous! I love Ferris Wheels and there was a new ginormous one there. They had new little places to shop and some fun new restaurants. Paula Deen has a new place there -- love! They also had a Margaritaville which is where we chose to eat. 

While we were there, a dude on stilts came up and made the kids some balloon thingies. Mags called him the tallest man on Earth. Cute ;)

After dinner, Levi was D Y I N G to get to the Alpine Roller Coaster. YOU GUYS! There was this coaster...off the side of a mountain...and it looked insanely scary.

Okay, so the pictures don't really do it justice, but take my word for it - scary! They said it took something like 8 minutes just to travel to the top. Blah.

The boys were all about it and Levi LOVED it! 

In fact, they ended up riding it four times that week!

Next up was some time for Maggie to do something fun. We asked Levi to ride the train with her and he was less than thrilled! Ha! But, she loved it, and that made him happy. :)

She also loved the carousel. Her age is sooo incredibly sweet. Little things make her happy and she is easily entertained. 

And you can't really go to Gatlinburg without riding go-karts 8,000 times! Oy. (Look how small Maggie looks!)

Most of our evenings ended with this:

a little night swimming where daddy throws you in the air a billion times!

On day 2, we headed to an evening show called The Lumberjack Feud. It was really awesome! The kids loved it and it was really entertaining.

I was impressed with how well it kept the kids' attention! I guess when you're throwing axes, fighting on logs in the water, climbing trees, and using chainsaws, kids will somehow be attracted to that! Ha!

Ended our evening with some mini golf. I always thing mini golf is just the best idea EVER! That is, until about three holes in and the kids are bored with it, we have to wait on the people in front of us to finish, and my hair starts to get insanely huge from the humidity. Then, I am done. But, any time spent with these three is a good time, right?! (Insert sarcasm.)

So far, our week was off to a great start!