Spring Break 2012, Gatlinburg

I realize that we have been back from spring break for almost a week now, but I've been busy being a computer lab teacher, 1st grade teacher, and middle school PE coach this week on top of soccer practice, church, and getting all my errands run so I've been neglecting my blog a little bit. (And that, boys and girls, is what we call a run-on sentence.)

Anyway, spring break was last week and the 4 of us met my parents in Gatlinburg, TN for a week-long getaway. We stayed in a 3 bedroom condo that was connected to an indoor water park that was much like Great Wolf Lodge in Dallas. We wore bracelets all week that let us come and go in that water park as often as we wanted. Well, as often as the kids wanted. Which was every day. Which was fine because it was free and it was close.

It's a tough life...

SNAKE!!

This bucket dumped 100's of gallons of water every 10 minutes. It was Austin's favorite thing.

And the wave pool was Aaron's favorite thing.

Austin spent a LOT of time playing with this little contraption.

Right across the street from our condo was scenic helicopter tours. Austin made his little mind up that he was getting on that helicopter and he knew who he needed to talk to to make that happen. My dad. As soon as he mentioned it to him I believe it was a done deal. So we all loaded up and went across the street to the helicopter place. I stayed on the ground with my mom and we sent all the boys up for a 15 minute flight over the smokey mountains.

My dad and Robbie, ready to take off!

My sweet boys :)

They flew right over the condo we were staying in.

They all absolutely loved it and it was an experience that none of them will soon forget.

One day (I say that because all of the days run together on vacation) we spent a few hours at this place called MagiQuest. It's a game where you are given clues and you have a 'magical' wand that is used to unlock the treasures. Another way of saying that is that it is a game where you read the same clue about 10 times before you stop and ask someone that works there which room it is in because it is a timed game and at the end of it you have been speed walking for 90 minutes and you really just want someone to tell you where to go. The boys really enjoyed playing it and they got to keep their wands at the end of it, so I would call that a successful trip.

How can you NOT go in a building that looks like this?

Aaron was getting instructions on what to do next.

Austin was a little crazy with his wand!

After the wand game we went to our favorite out of town eatery, Five Guys Burgers and Fries. Aaron LOVES their hot dogs so he was so happy to see that there was one there. They have the BEST fries, and one order can feed 4 people easily.

Mmmm....

Aaron recommends the bacon cheese dog.

Our original reason for going to Gatlinburg was to snow ski. But because we have all had a warmer than normal winter, the ski mountain had to close down early. But that didn't stop us from going there. There is a place in downtown Gatlinburg where you can get on a tram that takes you up the mountain to Ober Gatlinburg. Our day at Ober included ice skating, riding ski lifts and sliding back down (multiple times because it was just fun), and there was also a playground and rides. We spent a full day up there and had a blast! Although it was kind of odd to be riding a ski lift and having to worry about your flip-flops falling off!

My world...

Aaron is a really good ice skater!

Austin..not so much. But he gave it a good try.

Robbie and Aaron on the ski lift

Austin was more comfortable on the lift than Robbie!

Snack time on the ski lift!

These were the slides we rode on (several times) for the Alpine slide down the mountain.

The view from the top.

This made me feel bad for the people who lived in the houses on the sides of the mountains. These things would let you look right into their houses!

Yes. I made them put their arms around each other.

I also turned 36 while we were up there. My parents kept the boys for the day and let Robbie and I have a date day. So we did have a little time to do some things that WE wanted to do for a while, so thank you so much mama and daddy!!

Wow, sorry about the picture overload on this. Believe it or not there were SO many more that weren't included here!! Just a few more....

The boys were mezmorized by this potter.

A friend of mine told me about this place where you can go feed bears. They were SO cute! This one was my favorite because he would stand straight up and beg! Thanks for the tip on this one, Heather!