Our Smoky Mountain Christmas Vacation

We had a wonderful little trip to the Smokies. Jason and I picked Matthew up from school on Friday and went up to Mamaw's, where we met Jeromy, Christie, Ashlee and Michael; and then Mom, Dad and Jacob. (They had picked him up from school.) We headed off to the mountains and made it down there around 8:00 our time. We went to the cabin, Pirate's Cove, and it was very nice! It was a five bedroom, four bath, and had a large living room and then a game room in the basement. We got the master suite that was upstairs because it had a king sized bed, and with both boys in the bed with us, we needed it! Jacob loved that there was a jacuzzi IN the bedroom. Matthew just liked the bed :)

On Saturday morning, we were up and off to the Smoky Mountain Pancake House for breakfast. We had reservations for the 1:00 Dixie Stampede, so we did a little shopping there in Pigeon Forge while we waited. We went to the Christmas Place and OH MY GOSH....it was absolutely PACKED!!! There was NO way we would have gotten a personalized ornament...good thing we had all been over the summer and already had ornaments! I did pick up a few gingerbread ones to add to my collection for my kitchen tree. (I would have loved to have took their whole tree home with me!) A few weeks back, Mom bought an R.J. McDonald Christmas print that was out of this world gorgeous! If no one knows him, he is an artist from Gallatin that makes some of the BEST prints of Santa Claus EVER! Just so happened that Mr. McDonald was there at the Christmas Place selling his prints and personalizing them. Mom and Dad got another one for themselves, and then had Jeromy and I pick out one for our homes. (We both hated to do it, so Jacob and Ashlee picked them out.) The one Jacob chose was called, The List. It is Santa checking over his list, that just so happened to have Jacob's name on it...the reason he wanted that one! When I took it to Mr. McDonald, he said he could add names to the list and added Matthew's on there for me! He also drew a pencil sketch of a Santa face on the bottom and signed it. Now we just have to get them framed and we will have a very special keepsake for Christmases to come! (I just don't know if I'll be able to put it up after Christmas!) We went straight to the Dixie Stampede and we all loved the show...with the exception of Matthew. He giggled when it first started, but then he buried his head in Jason's shoulder for most of the time we were there. (I think he might have realized the menu hadn't changed any since the last time we visited :) He did manage to eat three ears of corn! It was the first time I've ever seen the Christmas performance and I was impressed! I was just really glad to see that a production as big as that, was still keeping the true meaning of the season. The nativity part was really great! Of course Skeeter is still a family favorite of ours...Jacob thinks he's the best! After a little rejuvenation at the cabin, we headed out to Gatlinburg. We parked at the aquarium and walked around. It was COLD! We went into some shops, saw the village idiots that I didn't even know existed, took some pics, bought some candy and headed back to the vehicles to thaw out! We went back through Pigeon Forge to see some lights and decided to drive all the way back out to the other end of Sevierville to just see if something we saw on the way in was what we thought it was. IT WAS! At a visitors center there, they have a Christmas light show that you drive through and the lights are all set to music. You do have to pay, but we all enjoyed it so much! It was worth the drive and the money! We headed back to the cabin and Jacob enjoyed taking a jacuzzi :)

Yesterday morning, Jeromy got up early and headed out to Krispy Creme and picked up some yummy fresh donuts that we ate while we went out to Cades Cove. It was raining and dreary, but on a bright side, there was no one else on the loop. Seriously, I think we saw about 6 other cars! We saw LOTS of deer and turkeys, but no bears this time :( Jacob slept the entire ride! We came back to the Tanger Outlet Mall and holy moley! I've never seen so many people in all my born days!!! AND, you don't think too much about parking and walking from store-to-store until you are all the way in the back and have to trudge all the way to the front where you're parked, WHILE carrying your purchases!!! Oh well, we recovered by having lunch at the Apple Barn!! Oh YUM! That's all I've got to say 'bout that! We looked around at the shops there and then we were back on the road to my old Kentucky home! :) I love going on trips, but I'm always so glad to see home! Poor little Jacob didn't fair so well...about 15 minutes from home, he lost his lunch...and a RED drink he had on the way home...all over himself, the car and everything in it! I looked real cute, I'm sure, wearing Jason's fishing cap with the light attached to the bill while I was trying to scrub the car down with bleach water. I had to make a trip to the car wash this morning to finish the job. Thank goodness for the little car freshener I bought at the Apple Barn Store! I'm thinking it was a combo of the drainage he has, eating, and riding that got to him...he slept well and was able to go to school this morning. I took pics and plan to post some later on today!