Gatlinburg!

We had such a fun time in Gat*linburg! There was a total of 7 moms, 10 China sweeties, 3 big brothers, and me able to make it. Lucy and her mom flew in to our city and drove the 4 hour drive with us, which made for a very fun ride! AnnaClaire and Lucy had a blast together in the back... when they weren't sleeping, they were telling stories and playing "fairy" and "house!" We had rented a big mountain house that we all stayed in and we got there around dinner time on Thursday (10/8) and all but 2 families were there. The girls all hit it off really quickly, like they see eachother every week and not just once or twice a year! They had a blast doing play-doh, although getting all of the play-doh out of the burgandy carpet wasn't very fun! Dawn had made ziti for dinner and we all enjoyed that before digging in to the numerous sweets everyone brought! As we waited for Caroline and her mom and brother and Shaoey and Grace and their mom and brothers, everyone played... most of the girls ended up falling asleep, as they didn't get in until pretty late.

We were up fairly early the next morning for a full day at Dolly*wood! Everyone had SO much fun! The girls were adorable in their matching T-shirts. They loved all the rides and just walking around, holing hands with eachother. It was such a fun day and we all loved Dolly*wood! At the end of the day, we all went to a cute ice cream parlor and enjoyed ice cream and chatting. Then we went on a few more rides before heading out. We picked up some BBQ and ate at the house... it was delicious! It was a very long and very fun day, and all the girlies slept GREAT!

On Saturday, we took the trolley into downtown Gat*linburg to eat at a pancake house there. No one wanted to brave the 1.5 hour wait with 10 little girls between the ages of 2-4, so we opted for Shon*eys, which was good enough! We walked around a bit, watching taffy be made, buying some candy, and just enjoying the day with sweet friends! After a fun morning, we headed back to the trolley and all the girlies played Sim*on says, a new favorite game of our girlies, until the trolley came. Once back at the cars, we headed out to a big Christmas shop with Lucy and her mommy, Claire and her mommy, and Emily and her mommy. We had such a fun time! The girls even got to see Sa*nta! AC asked for a jump rope :) Kate was scared, again... We also found AC's birthday present at a little toy shop there. We went to a little cafe nearby and got some lunch and enjoyed eating outside while the girls fed the birds and watched a little train go by. It was such a fun afternoon. We headed back to the house, and all the girlies did some crafts. Before long, we had to say bye to Miss Nichole and Emily, who had an early flight out on Sunday at an airport 2.5 hours away, so they had to stay at a hotel in Knox*ville. Everyone was so sad to say bye to sweet Emily! Meanwhile, Charlene was cooking some delicious gumbo for dinner! It was soooo good! We even saw a racoon right out on the porch as we were eating! All the girls thought that was pretty cool! After dinner, we filled ourselves with more desert, the girls played somemore, and then it was bed time for all the littles, as everyone else talked somemore. We were visited again by "Ricky the Racoon" and found out the next day, that we had some bears on our driveway! Too bad we missed that...

Sunday morning, we all packed up and the girlies played together one last time. They had so much fun playing Si*mon says and "doggie" before we left! All the girls were oh-so-sweet together. It was so sad to say goodbye! Atleast we still had another 4 hours with Lucy and her mom! The girlies told stories and played the entire way home. We even stopped at Mc*Donalds for lunch. We got Lucy and Miss Laura to the airport with plenty of time and gave some more hugs...

We had SUCH a fun weeked and cannot wait to do it again! We love you all...