Our 1st family vacation!!

(September 14-18th)

So on my birthday Tommy surprised me with a packet of information for The Great Smokie Mountain Lodge. It had our check in and out times already booked! I was pretty surprised to say the least! :) I wasn't so sure about it at first because I knew Brie would be starting school at the end of August and she was going to have to miss a day or two of school. Well, she ended up being on the Tuesday, Thursday schedule (per my request) so she only missed one day. Whew! I was nervous :/ So anyway, it was the most amazing time EVER!! I couldn't be happier with the way things turned out! 

We left on Saturday right after Brie's dance class so that was about 11 and we got there right around 4. We checked in and went to our room and then straight out to to pool! They have a pool and slides outside and also inside. We decided on going outside because it was so nice outside :) Their wasn't a cloud in the sky and it was around 80 degrees!! They have a wave pool and it has a lazy river going through it. Brie was in absolute heaven, swimming with her Daddy, she had waited all summer to go on water slides and in a pool with him. He works a lot and we didn't get to hit the water parks around here like we had planned this summer :( We did, however, get to go to Kings Island quite a few times with him and they got to ride roller coasters together :) Of course Mommy couldn't, I am baking another baby in oven! Noah is a little more timid when it comes to trying new things. He was more content on staying with Mommy in the 1 foot deep water! haha...he's so dangerous! So Daddy kind of stuck with Brie and I with Noah. Him and I just hung around the baby area and he played with his monster trucks. When we finished playing outside we headed up to our room to get ready for the night. The kids fell in love with our huge bath tub!! Tommy and I loved it too! We let them take bubble baths every night after the that :)

On day two we went back to the pool outside again because it was just so nice out. This time we tried to get Noah to get in a float and go on the lazy river with us. He screamed a little (a lot) at first but then warmed up to it. Mommy was tired of walking along the side walk watching Brie and Daddy float, it was kind of a long walk! haha...We switched and Daddy took him and had him laughing in no time. After that Daddy got to go to the "big boy" slide, at least that's what we called it! It was so high up there! You stand and the bottom of the floor drops underneath you, say what?! I could tell he was a little nervous when he was waiting at the top but he didn't let the kids see that :) I tried to snap a picture of him as he dropped but I was too slow, darn camera! The kids thought he was just so brave!  I love my little family so much. My heart just hurts sometimes watching Daddy with them :) It's the best thing ever to watch and see the love that goes on between the kids and my hubby! :) So, after a few hours of playing outside we decided to go check out the inside of the place. WOW! It was so cool! They have a smaller pool with basketball hoops, a wave pool, a surfer thingy (not sure what you call it),I think like 4 slides, and a kids play area with slides with a jungle gym thing. On top of all that they had a couple different places to eat and a huge arcade! It was amazing :) Noah, again, stuck with Mommy and we stayed more towards the baby area and Daddy took Brie on the slides. We all met up in the wave pool and had a blast!!

After going back to our room to shower we headed out to eat and to get the kids pictures taken at an Old Time Photo place. They did so good! Noah refused to give us a mean face but his smile looked a little sinister in some. Brie was a pretty as a princess and did perfect in every shot! We started off in the bar area, then moved to the piano room, and finally ended up in the hillbilly room. We ended up picking our favorite, in the piano room, which was hard! I love it!! I was getting a little nervous because I knew Noah was wearing down and didn't know how much longer her would last. He was done by the time we were paying! haha....such a great experience. Next time we will have our baby girl with us and maybe Mommy and Daddy will get in the picture too :)

On day three we pretty much stayed in the indoor water park. The outside was closed through the week :( Really though, it wasn't bad. The inside was so awesome that it didn't matter! We finally got Noah warmed up to the water enough that he went out with Daddy to ride the waves! He was giggling and having the best time ever! Brie is my little dare devil and was charging the waves, not scared one bit! She is so proud of herself because she has become quite the swimmer. The deepest part of the indoor wave pool was only like 4ft so she did awesome and could go out pretty far. Big deal to a 5 year old! Her and I went out together and I tried to get us a good spot so we could ride the waves together but every time a stinking wave would hit me my bathing suit would drop on the bottom and raise on the top! haha...I'm sure it was a sight to see! I was pushing it a little in my swim suit because I refused to go buy another suit for our 4 day vacation! Oh my, it worked but barely :/ haha...oh well, I won't be seeing any of those people again, or at least that's what I'm telling myself! ha. We went up to our room and got ready for dinner and then after that we headed over to Polka Dot Pottery. The kids picked out a magnet and my Courtney gave me a coupon for a free piece to paint when you bought one. Daddy, of course, got the extra piece of pottery and I took pictures :) Brie painted a flower and Noah picked a lizard. They started off so cute but the kids got a little paint happy and well, they still turned out cute! haha....Noah's lizard just turned out really blue and Brie's flower ended up with some weird polka dots but hey, it worked! I'm just happy they liked it. Daddy did a little piece sign thingy with all THREE kids names on it. Brie insisted that Bailey liked the color purple! So, Brie was pink and Noah was blue and baby Bailey was purple :) I'm going to use it as an ornament for the Christmas tree!!

On our last day we did the same again and had a blast the entire time. We decided to leave tonight instead of the morning because that way we didn't have to wake up extra early and drive we could just do it at night, while the kids slept. On our drive into town we had noticed two monster trucks sitting outside this building, Noah is obsessed with monster trucks! Well, we decided to let him get out of the car to see them up close and noticed a sign saying they gave rides. Say what?? I jumped on my phone and googled it and it only cost $11!! Daddy and Noah walked in to check it out and Brie and I stayed in the car. BUST!! The guy tells Tommy that they are closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays but if he bought a ticket today he would give it to him for half price! Yay! NOT! It was Tuesday and we were leaving that night :( Noah was pretty bummed but Daddy bought him a new monster truck and he was over it pretty quickly! haha...Mommy and Daddy, not so much! We were so upset, if only we had stopped yesterday when we first noticed them!! Well, we know for next time at least now, I guess. Trying to go for the positive outlook here! 

So that was our wonderful, amazing, never going to forget family vacation!! :) I honestly don't have anything negative to say about it. Maybe our first night when I ate some nasty buffet food but that was just a small hiccup in the grand scheme of things :) I am truly blessed with a wonderful little family and couldn't be happier! Bailey is going to be here before we know it and it's only going to make things that much better!! I can't wait to hold her in my arms and kiss her little face off! Next year she'll be a chunky little baby going with us on vacation :) God has truly blessed us with more than I could have ever dreamed of!