Vaca Favs!

My Top Ten Vacation Favorites - In pictures
(This post is loaded with pictures. I made them small but you can click on them to see a larger version.)

10. It's Vacation!

While we did have to drive for 9 hours to get to and from Gatlinburg, TN, the 5 full days we were there were incredibly relaxing! We read books, played games, swam, hiked, talked, visited, and most importantly didn't worry about the normal day to day dilemmas. With 12 adults around, we were able to tag team meals and clean ups. Being a parent means that you're never really "off duty" but there were always extra hands around to help out. Plus the kids had a great time playing with their cousins and needed less entertaining from us! Vacations are such a nice treat!

9. Celebrating!

Who doesn't love to celebrate, right? Our family is no different. We enjoyed a big "Happy Everything" cake for all the June & July birthdays and anniversaries (7 BDs and 3 Anns) and we also enjoyed 4th of July cupcakes too! Unfortunately we weren't able to shoot any fireworks ourselves, but we did have a great view of the fireworks downtown from our cabin in the mountains!

8. Mexican Train

This is our new favorite game - mostly because we just bought it and it's simple enough that the kids can play. We played many games around the dinning room table with kids and adults. Good simple fun!

7. Gondola ride

One of the fun attractions in Gatlinburg is their gondola ride to the top of the mountain. There was a whole world of fun games once up there, but since we hadn't planned to stay gone long, we only saw a little bit of what they had to offer. But all the kids LOVED riding in the Gondola and stayed glued to the glass the whole way up and down! It was a fun first for them.

6. Waterfall Hike

One of the exciting (and exhausting) outings we went on was a hike up to Laurel Waterfall in the National Forest. According to the hiking guide pamphlet we had, it was one of the milder hikes - only 1.2 miles. Obviously this "guide" did not have in mind hiking with 7 kids (ages 7 and under) and two pregnant women. While it was a wonderful hike and a once in a lifetime opportunity, we had NO idea how difficult it would be. For the guys in the group who are in shape, this hike was a breeze. For everyone else it was a challenge to say the least! In the end we had some wonderful pictures, memories, and sore muscles. And everyone took a nap when we got back to the cabin!

5. Surprises

Our family gave us (and baby 'S') a nice treat by throwing us a surprise shower for him. They went all out with decorations, cake, diaper cake and plenty of presents. He's already being spoiled!

4. New additions to the family

Besides our little guy, my sister and brother-in-law will also be adding a new member to our family. He or she will arrive at the end of January. We are so excited for Hayley and Jonathan as they start on this fun adventure of parenthood!

3. Cousin time

All 7 of them eating ice cream on the deck.

Playing in the ball pit at the playground. If you look carefully you'll see R is buried on the right side!


B and cousin EC at the pool.

R and cousin JI at the pool.

The three oldest girls waiting for the gondola ride.

The two youngest girls. N and cousin EC are only about 5 months apart so they speak each other's language.

2. God's Beautiful Country

Umm, we were in the Smoky Mountains - need I say more? Everything was beautiful!

Laurel Waterfall

Sunrise

1. Family!

The greatest blessing of all! We had 4 generations of my dad's side of the family together and we enjoyed every minute of it. No matter what we did, we soaked in the quality time together!

N and Uncle Jeremy playing peek-a-boo with a box.

My brother, sister-in-law-, and their two youngest.

R and Aunt Hayley.

"Pop" with 5 of the grandkids on the hike.

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Honestly, as I look back at the pictures (that took me two days to edit, sort through, and upload) I think they don't even begin to capture the whole vacation. I could have put a hundred more pictures in this post (if I had the patience) and it still wouldn't do the trip justice. Overall it was just a great vacation!