One of the neatest features at our resort is this thing called a "bounce pillow." It is so much fun to jump on. They had a ball and one even said their favorite thing we did in the mountains was the bounce pillow. :)
We had lunch at Mama's Kitchen, a restaurant where they serve the food family style-
And they have a little playground-
On Sunday afternoon we drove through Gatlinburg (which was packed!) and into the Great Smokey Mountains National Park where we enjoyed the visitor's center and hiked. Annie loved the bears just her size at the park center.
And we were so happy she was willing to get in our baby backpack. We have used this for all our children!
I found a leprechaun! :)
So happy to have a strong Daddy who can carry our sweetie for a long way. :)
Brother took a turn too!
We went back to the condo to let Anastasia take a nap and we all rested. Then we had dinner and headed over to the Buttonwillow Civil War Theater. We have been trying to see this show for years. It was in Chattanooga until March. We first heard about it when we passed a sign for it during the Great American Eclipse. We finally bought tickets this March and were driving there when I realized they had moved to Pigeon Forge! They gave us a refund and we promised to come soon.
The show was very well done, although it is more of a dialogue between two characters than a play. We loved it, but I would not suggest it for younger children. Older folks LOVED it and clapped, cheered and shouted "Amen" throughout.
On Monday we went to our favorite breakfast place in the mountains- Flapjacks. The boys really wanted to get our traditional teddy bear pancakes.
Then it was on to Dollywood for the entire day. The crowds on weekdays are much lower so we were able to ride everything we wanted to! Marc Jr. and Tucker rode a TON of roller coasters. The rest of us rode a few! :) I didn't take that many pictures- just know we loved it!
Annie wasn't sure about the rides at first, but quickly came to love them!
Miss Daisy driving Daddy-
We rode the Dollywood Express train. :)
Sweet Julia rode some baby rides with Annie. :)
Hands down her favorite ride- the bumble bee that goes up and down. She cried when it was over. We rode it three times.
Dollywood is very good about having things for little ones to do while big ones ride rides. In between a bunch of roller coasters is this shady block area. Anastasia and I sat and played while folks rode rides. Of course, Mommy is the photographer so we don't have pictures of the folks on the rides, but here is baby girl. :)
Wait- here are a few folks on the Firechaser Express!
Sweet angel did fall asleep and take a nice little nap.
This is what she looked like to the world. :)
We wrapped up Dollywood around 7:00 p.m. and amazingly got into the Old Mill Restaurant for dinner in less than 30 minutes. It's one of the nicest restaurants in Pigeon Forge and serves food family style. You usually have to wait an hour to get in.
This morning we packed up and hit the road. We broke up the trip by stopping in Athens, Tn, at Mayfield Diary for a tour of their plant. It was such a nice time.
We watched a movie, got hair nets and toured the factories. We saw how they processed milk and ice cream. They actually make their own containers as well as the milk. We all enjoyed it.
And of course we got free samples at the end. They have several flavors at the plant that they don't sell anywhere else.
We got back home around 4:30 this afternoon and the boys had choir practice at 4:55. This train doesn't stop! We are jumping right back into life. So glad we got away for a few days with our little family. The mountains were calling, and I am so glad we answered!
