Vacation in the Smokey Mountains

I decided instead of another trip to the beach this summer we would venture off somewhere that might be cooler. The Smokey Mountains was our destination for the next few days with our good friends the Surholt’s. Cooler it was! Our first day in Gatlinburg we went to Dollywood theme park and the temperature was about 85 perfect degrees. We entered the park and jumped on the first roller coaster we saw…I should say a few got on the roller coaster. Brent was the first one in line pulling Mary-Grace by the hand, then Heather, Anna Katherine and me. I decided to bail out when I realized I would be sitting by myself ( I’m not that brave). I remember telling them as we are in line “I think we should work up to this ride…it might be too much to start the day with!” Ohhh, was I right! It was an old wooden roller coaster that literally would jerk your neck off at it's 55 mile an hour downhill speed! After the crew got off Mary-Grace was in tears and A.K. was rubbing her neck from Heathers grip. Needless to say, not the way to start the day, the girls were very skeptical about the other rides the rest of the day!

Hands down the most favorite ride with everyone was the Raging River. It is a lazy river of sorts that has water falls and rough rapids all while you are in an inner tube spinning your way down the river with no idea who might be the one to get soaked! The little kids thought it was the funniest thing ever and somehow they managed to stay dry while Brent and Shannon took the brunt of the h2o for us…..we love you guys for that!

We also went to the aquarium and shopping on the strip in Gatlinburg. The girls wanted to have an old-time photo made, it was hilarious watching them play in the dress up! They were kind enough to include the boys...how could you resist those handsome desperadoes.

Shae