We drove up Friday afternoon and arrived just in time for dinner at Dixie Stampede. We've gone before, but we haven't seen their Christmas show in years. It is definitely worth the trip- it's awesome!
When we arrive there was a little opening show with Mountain Ruckus, a bluegrass band. We have their C.D.s so the children loved singing along. My children know all the words to Rocky Top! :)
"Rocky Top, you'll always be....home sweet home to me......."
The trick riders are always fun to watch. This lady was standing on two horses and jumped through a ring of fire!
During one section a toyland came down from the ceiling-
The carousel of live horses!
And our favorite part- the three kings coming in on real camels!!
Presenting their gifts to the King of Kings!
The angel sang "O Holy Night".
And it "snowed" inside!
After dinner we went to our hotel- the new DreamMore Resort. It is really beautiful and comfortable! The room had a little section with bunk beds.
The little boys slept on a pallet on the floor.
Saturday morning we woke up and had breakfast at the hotel restaurant, Song and Hearth. The resort has only been open since July and is gorgeous!
Then we decided to drive into Gatlinburg. We knew that Dollywood would be crowded on a Saturday and we wanted to go ahead and get snow tubing tickets for Monday. Just a tip- to get snow tubing tickets you have to go IN PERSON and get them- usually days before you want to tube. We were fortunate to have figured that out or we would not have been able to do it. They were selling out left and right.
After getting our tickets we did a little shopping and got the three little ones new winter coats.
Then somebody had the idea that we should all ride the chair lift up the mountain face. I really did NOT want to do this. I was scared to death the little boys would fall. I rode with Tucker and never took my hands off him!
I will admit that the view from the top is impressive!
But then we had to ride back down....
AAAAHHH! Is this not scary? That's Marky and Julia in front of us-
After the chair ride we had great authentic Italian food. Then we went to the Christ Museum and Gardens. We had never been before, but it got really great reviews on trip advisor so we decided to try it. I'm so glad we did- it was a beautiful production of the life of Christ. The costumes and expressions on the mannequins were perfect. At the end we actually saw Jesus rise into heaven in clouds. The children really enjoyed it and it seemed the perfect thing to do to keep the Christmas spirit going. No pictures were allowed inside, but here is one from the internet-
After a quick stop for ice cream and shopping we headed to Mass at Holy Cross Church in Pigeon Forge.
After mass we were looking for a place to eat dinner and everything was packed. We finally decided to go back to the hotel and try the restaurant there. It was a wonderful home-style buffet.
Everybody was beside themselves when we said they could go swim at the indoor pool! There were a lot of children.
After walking all over Gatlinburg and going all night Charlie was completely done! He just couldn't get himself together or stop crying. After his bath, Mommy had to hold him and sing to him until he fell asleep. (a little treat for Mommy) :)
