Hey friends! It’s been a while. We came home Friday from the mountains and have been doing laundry ever since🤣…not really but it sure feels like it!

We woke up on Easter and went to Sunrise service and then Sunday School. We were packed and just had to grab bags and get out the door after church. Ideally, we would not travel on Easter but our schools Spring Break hit different this year and it was the only way we could make it happen. So be ready for picture overload😉

We arrived Sunday evening and this was our view. We had a quick dinner and hit the indoor pool. Last year, it was warm the whole time and we swam in heated outdoor pools. This year though was mild most days and super cold and windy one day. No rain though so we still did all the things.

We woke up on Monday morning and headed for our favorite breakfast spot in Pigeon Forge. Followed by a mountain coaster ride. This was my ride buddy.

In her words, we didn’t go snail speed but we also didn’t go freak out fast like our other family members😉 We aren’t thrill seekers like they are. The view was amazing and the girls loved it. If you have littles they ride in front of you on the coaster and you control your speed. There are many mountain coasters in this area and we chose the one at Goats on the Roof because the girls wanted to go there and see the goats.

After that we headed to The Island to shop and see a fountain show.

We left there after lunch and headed to Anakeesta.

Anakeesta is a new lookout place and village at the top of the mountain in Gatlinburg. You ride a chair lift or gondala up and down and it has great views! They have a fairy garden type playground and also treetop canopy walk, zip lining, a memorial walk about the fires a few years ago, and I believe they are adding a restaurant soon too. It was fun.

We had dinner and called it a night. The next morning, we were up and at it early to head back to Anakeesta. If you buy your tickets after 3 you can go back the next day at no extra charge. So we headed back and made sure to get a family picture before kids got dirty😂

The views were some of the best in Gatlinburg and it was a gorgeous day! After lunch we came back down the mountain and walked the parkway for awhile. Then that evening we had tickets to The Comedy Barn. I mentioned to Brandon what row we were in and he said, perfect just far enough up that they will pick one of us for the show😬 and they did.

#allthelaughs

#thankgoodnessitwashimandnotme

The kids had got feathers in their hair that afternoon. They loved the comedy barn and I think it’s partially because their dad got picked on🤣

After that we headed to dinner and then for some rooftop mini golf at Crave. It was basically Candy Crush in real life and was lots of fun.

By then it was way past our bedtimes.

I will be back tomorrow with another recap of days 3 and4.