Tennessee // 2016

This June we planned a girls (plus my brother-in-law Erik) trip to the Smokey Mountains with our kids (minus Holden).  I was so excited not only to see my family, and get the kids together, but to go back and visit a place that holds a special piece of my heart.  We rented a beautiful cabin in the mountains, and did all the things that you do when you visit Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.  We went go-karting, visited Dollywood, walked downtown Gatlinburg, took an Old-Tyme photo, ate a lot and since we didn't have enough time to hike them, we drove through the mountains.

It was so much fun to watch my kids make memories the same way I remember doing with my cousins in the exact same place.

This was a recreation of a photo that was taken about 25 years ago.  As soon as I get the original I'll update the post to include that.  

Isla's not having a ton of fun as she NEVER figured out how to drive that boat.  I was concerned she wasn't going to be able to drive it back when they told her time was up!  

At this point (the last morning), Isla and Gabe were a little over each other.  The picture to the left shows them looking (seemingly sweetly) at the information on the overlook.  However, the photo on the right shows the true story...

We were very thankful to Erik who became our requisite photographer on this trip. 

Unfortunately, unbeknownst to me during the planning phase of this trip, we were going to miss Fathers Day weekend.  In an attempt to make it up to Jordan (who I totally appreciate holding down the fort with Holden alone that weekend), I brought Krispy Kreme donuts in my carry-on on the flight home.  

My families been taking this photo ever since I was a tiny kid.  One day I'll go and find all of the pictures and do a post with each one over the years.  Unfortunately, we took this photo at the absolute worst time of the day, but the technical aspects of the picture aren't what I will remember in the long-run.  

Many more videos will come at the end of Summer in my Summer Video post, but heres a snippet of our day at Dollywood.  You can see how excited the kids are to have their Mimi ride this waterslide with them!  I

love

this video.