Rewind: Gatlinburg

Back in December...It was our first Christmas not traveling to see family for the holidays. We were really sad to not see family, so we decided that we needed to do some fun stuff close to Lexington. After Noel finished school for the semester, we went to Gatlinburg with Chad and Ashley Jackson. We just love the Jacksons! They are so much fun. We especially like playing games with them and trying out new restaurants. 

We rented a cabin for really cheap since it was the off season. It was nice and spacious! It had 3 bedrooms, a pool table, arcade game, and a nice kitchen. 

We all drove down after church on Sunday, then on Monday we went to this indoor water park. It was really overpriced and a bit underwhelming for the adults, but the kids had fun. It had a lazy river that Greg and Brighton loved walking; they wouldn't float on the tubes. The temperature of the water was great, but the air temperature was freezing. There were all these parents in jackets wading around with their kids. We kept getting the kids out and wrapped them up in towels to try and warm them up. Brighton wouldn't get out and had the blue lips to prove it.

The next day, we went to Obergatlinburg. We started off by riding a aerial tram up the mountain. 

Greg, Brighton, and Hailey on the tram

Brighton wanted to be carried everywhere.

Noel and Greg and Chad and Hailey went on the alpine slide.

I can't figure out how to rotate this picture. :)

The kids went on this little train it seemed like 50 times. They loved it! There were no other kids, so the ride operator just let our kids keep going around. When he slowed the train down, Brighton yelled, "Noooo!" Crazy kid.

Playing in the fountain before we went to lunch at Bubba Gumps.

Greg and Noel at the very top of the mountain. They were just a bit cold.

Riding the carousel.

At night, we played games ("Pandemic" and "Ticket to Ride"), talked, and ate lots of treats. One of the nights, Noel wasn't feeling well so he went to bed early. There were two doors into our room, one was through the bathroom. When I went down to go to bed, both doors were locked. I knocked on the doors. Ashley and I called Noel's cell phone a bunch of times, and he still didn't wake up. It was really funny. I ended up sleeping in my clothes with Greg.

The Jacksons: Hailey, Chad, Lyla, and Ashley