What a terrific trip! First of all, I apologize for the enormous amount of photos in this post - I'm too lazy to organize them into separate posts, haha!
For those of you who don't already know, Mike, Joshua and I spent a week in the Smoky Mountains in Tennessee with Mike's parents.
On the way down, we stopped to view the Cumberland Falls - so beautiful!
When we arrived at our destination, we took a tour of the resort.
The first day, we hiked up to Laurel Falls. This was a relatively easy hike as it is paved and we were able to take Joshua up in the stroller.
Joshy LOVED hiking!
Laurel Falls
Proud Grandma and Grandpa holding their happy hiker!
On the way back down, Josh took a nap - what a life! ;-)
This little chair proved quite useful on our trip. We toted it on picnics and into restaurants - JJ loves to sit at the table with the adults!
On Sunday, we visited Ripley's Aquarium, which is known as America's Best Aquarium!
Joshua thought the fish were so neat - he couldn't stop watching them!
After our busy day, we had a barbecue and enjoyed some time outdoors.
While in TN, Joshy tasted sweet potatoes for the first time, which, of course, he LOVES! Is there a food this kid WON'T eat?????
We frequently took advantage of the swimming pool at the resort.
One of our picnic areas had a creek running through it and Joshua had so much fun dipping his toes in the water!
I LOVE mountains...there is just something so breathtaking about them!
Tuesday, Mike decided he wanted us all to hike a trail that no one in the family had ever heard of before. It was only a one-mile hike each way, so we decided to give it a try!
And boy, was it worth it! This is the beautiful falls we found at the end of the trail - Spruce Flats Falls.
Mike was brave and hiked the 2-mile trip while toting our 20-lb. child! He'll tell you it wasn't that bad, but lugging 20 extra pounds up and down a mountain is no easy feat!
Resting before we made the trip back down.
Since our trunk space was so limited on this trip (a certain someone, ahem, JOSHUA, requires a lot of stuff!), we opted not to bring Josh's baby bath tub. Thus, he took his baths in the kitchen sink, and he had a blast! He discovered it was much easier to splash Mommy and Daddy this way!
After our 2-mile hike, we decided we could definitely handle the .2-mile, completely FLAT hike to Cataract Falls.
Joshy met some pretty little girls to flirt with!
Any spare time we had was spent playing cards...Josh kept trying to see how many of them he could stuff into his mouth!
Thursday, our last day in Gatlinburg, we went mini-golfing. The course was great because there weren't too many steps, so we could push Josh around in the stroller. Dad and Mike tied for first, Mom came in third, and we won't mention who came in last, nor by how much! ;-)
On our way home we stopped at a pretty little rest area and had a picnic lunch. Joshua was thrilled to have an opportunity to get out of the car and stretch his legs - I think we all were!
And now we are just resting at home and attempting to get the house back into some semblance of order! Thank you, Mom and Dad, for a wonderful trip full of so many great memories!
And I can't forget to mention, HAPPY FATHER'S DAY to my amazing husband and Joshy's amazing Daddy! We love you so much!
And a Happy Father's Day to our fathers, grandfathers, uncles and friends who are fathers! We love you all!
Well, this post has taken a LONG time to complete, as our internet is acting up, so I am going to sign off. Love and blessings!
Mike, Krys and Joshua
