Hodge Podge: The Great Smokies

A couple of weeks ago, our little family took a much need mini-vacation to the Great Smoky Mountains. My parents were kind enough to invite us on their getaway and we had such a good time. Daughter did swimmingly, adjusting to her new environment, sleeping like a baby and taking in her new surroundings. We stayed in great cabin in Gatlinburg, went shopping at all the fun little shops. It always inspires me to see what these people create with their hands, using the amazing talents God has blessed them with. It kind of makes you think what talents God has blessed you with that you're not putting to good use (but that's a post for a different day). On Thursday, we rode the sky lift up to the top of Gatlinburg and she loved looking around, being way up high. I, on the other hand, was holding on for dear life, envisioning plummeting to my untimely death with Hubby & Daughter following behind me. But, we made it to the top in one piece. At the top, they had a place to visit Black Bears. Oh my, how Daughter loves animals, so this was right up her alley. She darted around, giving each bear some face time, waving to them, talking to them. If allowed, she would have climbed in there to play with them. So innocent, so trusting. After the Black Bear visit, we found the promised playground and let her work out some of that pent up energy and she had a blast. On Friday night, my parents watched Daughter while Hubby and I had a date night. We did a little Christmas shopping and sat still in the lovely traffic of Pigeon Forge, which inspired some nice, child-free conversation. On Saturday, we all went into Pigeon Forge to find some fun stuff for Daughter to do. We found some rides, but she was a little young, so I rode with her, but her favorite ride was, of course, the carousel. We actually found a little spot for her to ride a pony, and let me tell you, it was the highlight of my trip. She looked like such a big girl sitting on that pony, so confident, so content. She's much better than her mother at trying new adventures. She was a little hesitant at first, but Hubby forced the issue, knowing she would love it in the end. And she did. She loved it so that we went back for seconds and there were tears at the end. Tears that she had to leave said precious pony. Don't you wish sometimes that you could see life through the eyes of your children and get inside their mind and see what they were thinking or know how they feel about new things? I do.

All in all, a wonderful time was had by all. That was our last trip until 2009. Now we'll be gearing up for Thanksgiving and my favorite, Christmas. I've been inspired by a friend to start some new traditions this year. And, oh, how I love starting new traditions. I'll leave you with some pictures from our trip.

Chatting it up with the Black Bears