It was the longest that the Hauschilds and Huntleys had gone without seeing each other, and we just weren't going to stand for it anymore. So when Joie heard from a coworker about a fabulous little place called Gatlinburg, Tennessee, we looked it up on a map and realized it is precisely the half-way point between Baton Rouge and New York City. So we booked a 3 story cabin in the Smoky Mountains, rented a car and drove to meet each other on the last week in June.
Words and pictures could never do justice to this trip. It was simply incredible. We decided to spread the drive out over 2 days and stayed in a Motel 6 on the way there and on the way back. The girls LOVED staying in a motel, especially once they found out it had a swimming pool...so let's start there, shall we? (BTW, get ready...I'm not kidding when I say that I think this post will have in the neighborhood of 80-90 photos).
The cabin was exactly what a cabin in the Smoky Mountains should be. Lots of wood, wrap-around decks, swings, and a hot tub. The girls loved running around together. The adults were surprised by how the girls tended to pair up. Delilah actually fell in love with Bailey, and Avari and Noelle were inseparable. We've decided it has to do with "speeds"...Avari and Noelle have no "middle" speed-they are either full-throttle & bouncing off the walls or inert & watching a movie, while Delilah and Bailey have a "middle"-they like books and board games.
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| Avari's 6th Bday!! |
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| Chris, Kurt, and Joie thought it was sooo cute to feed this baby raccoon every night. Not me. |
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| Chris hugging a bear hugging a post |
The first full day we were there was Avari's 6th bday and we decided to do it up right by taking helicopter rides around the city...so fun!!!
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| I love this picture of the girls soooo much. As Joie said, a "sea of ponytails!" |
That night we went to a minor league baseball game. It was "daddy/daughter" night, complete with princesses who walked around, and a post-game firework show set to Disney music. Perfection.
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| I thought toddlers were supposed to be scared of giant mascots...not Ellie Bug. |
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| Dancing. Always dancing. |
So, Hauschild Family, how do you plan to top all of this for A's 7th bday? :)
We spent two days of our vacation hiking through the mountains and even getting a little fishing in. Delilah showed her city legs, because she NEVER got tired. She's used to walking all day on the streets of New York. All 4 girls loved climbing, and we couldn't keep Red or Avari off the rocks. They were like little goats: at the top of the rocks before you even knew they were gone.
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| Delilah took this picture. She takes the BEST pics of Noelle. |
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| Ready to go! I love her zest for life! |
We also spent a great deal of time at these amusement park/carnival/play-land places that are all over the place there. Pigeon Forge (next to Gatlinburg) is like a family-friendly version of Las Vegas where there's a main drag but instead of crazy lights and casinos everywhere, there are crazy lights and go-kart places and carnivals everywhere. Bailey and Noelle were a smidge young to enjoy everything, but Delilah and Avari were at the perfect age.
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| First roller coaster ride for both! |
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| I love this pic of us |
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| Ready for her first go-kart ride with Mommy |
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| And Red's first go-kart ride with Daddy. Both our girls LOVED the go-karts...we could not go fast enough to satisfy them! |
We also went to an alpine ski resort that they transform for the warmer months. Bobsleds run down the hill, along with some water rides, and there is also a mini-carnival and a putt-putt course.
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| Joie and Avari loving the slide! |
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| So cute! |
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| Delilah does not look sure at all in this pic. :) But she loved it enough that she declared it her favorite ride and had to ride it 4 more times. |
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| First time at putt-putt |
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| Such joy. Always such joy. |
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| Charter members of the gang: Bikers 'R Us. Noelle looks more bad-ass than any 2 year old should...Chris and I are equal parts proud and worried. |
On the final day, we went into the heart of Gatlinburg. Such a quaint little town with ice cream shops, and a town square and a whiskey distillery. Happy campers all around.
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| Listening to live music in the town square |
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| Learning the finer points of whiskey distillation with their dads. |
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| Whiskey tasting |
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| What the kids were doing while we sampled the moonshine. :) |
And there are a million more memories with no pictures. Margaritas at a restaurant where we laughed so hard and talked so loud that the table next to us wanted to join us. Long conversations in the hot tub. Date nights for each couple. All 4 girls singing their hearts out to Katy Perry's "Firework" and Fun.'s "We Are Young". The trip home where Noelle saw her first movie, Monsters University, and talked through the whole darn thing. This conversation on our way through the drive-thru:
Me & Chris (in the car): Hey, girls, we're going to get some ice cream
Delilah: Ummm, it's raining really, really hard. We're going to get soaked.
Me: We're just going to go through the drive-thru.
SILENCE.
Both girls: The what?
Me: The drive-thru. You know, they'll hand us the ice cream through our window.
COMPLETE SILENCE.
Delilah: Mom, are you trying to make a joke?
I'm not sure, but I think that conversation may be the definition of "city kids".
So our Spring was hard, but this trip made everything so much better. Nobody told me how much fun kids are as they get older. For the last several years, having kids has made vacations and trips fun, but so much more work and effort; for the first time, having kids actually made this vacation infinitely better than it would have been without them.
I love my family and I love the Hauschilds so very, very much. Wait, that was a redundant sentence, all I need to say is: I love my family so much.
