Family Time

It was the annual Smith Family Gathering this past weekend.  We went to Gatlinburg a night early to have some family time of our own.  We got there around lunch time and went straight to the pool until our room was ready.  After that we headed downtown to walk around and of course get our bucket of Karmelkorn. We ate dinner and then drove to Pigeon Forge to see some Christmas lights.  

 We had a good night's sleep even though I was sandwiched in between the girls.  

 The bear in the hotel lobby was all dressed up for Christmas.  

 We went to some Christmas shops and had to get some pictures made too.  

 Santa was there too.  The kids told them what they wanted.  

Ellie wants a Ursula doll from Little Mermaid.

Charlotte wants an Ariel mirror.

Evan wants a Big Mack (not the sandwich a truck).

 There was a little train they rode.  

 I didn't realize Matthew was a girl elf until I looked at the pictures.  Ha!

 We ate lunch at The Partridge & Pear restaurant and it was yummy!

 One reason we went a day early was so we could go to DollyWood

 We had so much fun and rode so many rides.  It was a perfect day.  

 It did get really cold once it got dark.  We stayed for the night time parade and drank lots of hot chocolate.  

We drove to Maggie Valley after we left to meet up with the rest of the Smith Family.  Poor Charlotte slept most of the way there.  We put them straight to bed and they were out in 2 minutes. 

Saturday morning it was play time.  They got to play with cousins they have never met or do not see very often.  Of course we had to go swim again with cousin Kendall.   

They had an ornament craft time.  

 Playtime with cousin Jackson

 Funny picture time with decorations

Then it was time for dinner.  They had fun with baby Leo and even started a Conga line with him.  

Game time

They had a room all by themselves in our cabin.  

 They wanted to take a bath in the big Jacuzzi before we left. 

 We had to say our good-byes

 They finally got a picture with Terry, Terri and Marley.  

 They missed Zona this trip and was really happy to see him.