Vanzant’s go to Gatlingburg- Part 1

Me and Matt love the Smoky Mountains! We have been going together for a long time and I have been almost every year before meeting him. My family always went during the Thanksgiving holiday when I was younger and it was just a place I really, really loved. It turned out Matt went once to two times a year with his family when he was younger too! When we started dating he took me as a surprise trip for my 17th birthday. We started going every year together after that until we had started trying for babies. When we had our babies (and then another) we knew it would be a little while until we could take them up there. We waited until they were all a little older so it wouldn’t be as difficult. We were so excited about going. To take our babies to our place. To let them see this beautiful city and explore all the things to do. Me and Matt would much rather go north than we would south. Don’t get me wrong, we love a beach trip but we really enjoy the Smoky Mountains a little better.

This was our first real family trip. I know you’ve seen us go to the beach several times but that’s because my parents lived there. My mom had everything. Toys, beds, food, sippy cups and more. I never had to bring anything with me. This time? We brought everything. And we don’t have a huge luggage bag (which I really need to invest in) so I packed everyone in a smaller suitcase. This isn’t even everything. We also brought a pac-n-play, bed safety rails for the twins, and a stroller. Plus there’s three more bags up under that huge blanket.

The twins decided not to nap that day so it wasn’t long after we left they decided to fall asleep in the truck. I have also figured out that it is physically impossible to take a picture of all 5 of us. Maybe I could if we had a longer vehicle and a third row but seeing is how our cars are paid off, I am good for now.

We got there really late and went to bed even later. I was worried about them not sleeping but they all did so great. We all woke up rested and ready to take the day on Thursday! We went to Cades Cove after a yummy breakfast! If you’ve never been to Cades Cove before you should go! Its in the National Park of Gatlinburg and its miles and miles of road that you drive along. Sounds boring? Well, you do see lots of deer, horses, and even an occasional bear! We didn’t see a bear this time. I was sad because that’s all I want. I just want to see a freaking bear!! I know I might sounds crazy but they are so cool to me. I would like to see one in the wild (while sitting in my truck/car).The kids were so excepted about seeing the “DEERS and BEARS”!

Everyone goes 5 mph or lower in here and everyone lets their kids sit up front so they can see everything. We decided to let ours sit up front with us and they thought they won the lottery. It was so fun looking for deer, seeing deer, and talking to them. JP and Jocelynn love the song “Something Bad” by Carrie Underwood and Miranda Lambert and it came on while we were riding around and we all sang it. It was so much fun. I really love this age and their memory for things like that. Maddie was just glad to be doing what her older brother and sister were!

Later that evening we went to the cabin and got ready to go to dinner! We wanted to go to the Alamo but it was packed so we chose a seafood buffet and I do not recommend that place at all. It was called Captain Jim’s Seafood Buffet in Pigeon Forge. It wasn’t bad but for the price we paid, it wasn’t worth it. It is getting so hard with all three in a restaurant. Really just because Maddie will not sit in a high chair and screams when we put her in it. I know she just wants to do what JP and Jocelynn are doing but DANG!

How precious are my babies??

You can’t really tell in this picture but me and Jocelynn have matching fringe boots! I love our boots;)

Our cabin was gorgeous!! If you’re looking to stay in Gatlingburg in the future just search on VRBO and you’ll find a great one! Or you can stay at the one we stayed in! Just search for “Happy Ours” in that area. It included 4 bedrooms, a sleeper sofa, and even a movie theatre!! We watched Frozen almost every single night and it was awesome. Making me rethink our playroom;)

Cabins are so beautiful. I loved the antler chandelier and this beautiful log table in the dining room. Makes you feel like you are really in the mountains staying here!

Friday we went to an exotic petting zoo and trough fishing which I will do a different post about because I took a lot of pictures. We ordered pizza on Friday afternoon for dinner so we could all go play afterwards with no epic meltdown at a restaurant. We found some kiddie rides at a little park. I was skeptical about them riding at first. Not because I didn’t want them to but I thought they wouldn’t. Just back in May they screamed when I tried letting them ride stuff at the beach. This time? Completely different! My babies rode rides all.by.their self!! It makes me so proud and want to cry all at the same time. They are growing so fast and they find ways to remind me of that every day.

Matt took this picture of the twins sleeping Saturday morning. They had to sleep in the same bed because there weren’t any twin beds. I didn’t think they would sleep but again they proved me wrong. They slept and they slept good with each other.

We went an ate a delicious breakfast that consisted of M&M pancakes, french toast, sausage, bacon, and loaded house fries at the Atrium Pancake house. This might have been the best breakfast we ate the whole trip. We didn’t get time to go to a Flap Jacks (they were always so packed) or anything but this was pretty darn good! Theres a waterfall right outside this restaurant and the babies went bonkers over it!

After a short ride up the mountain we ended up at Ober Gatlinburg. They were having a festival and had a few rides out, a maze, a bouncy house and more! Guess what mine loved the most? The maze! Me and Matt thought how boring is this? But we loved it since they did and it was actuality a lot of fun. JP kept running from us and he thought it was the funniest thing, although it almost gave me a heart attack. We had to find each letter of the word MAZE. It took us 24 minutes.

After the outdoor fun we went to see the bears! Maddie had somewhat of a traumatic experience.

Yup, Maddie dropped her paci and the bears really enjoyed it. He knew right when it dropped too. It was crazy to watch him find that small item and then play with it. The other bear knew he was playing with something so he came to have a look also. They didn’t eat it thank goodness but Maddie was pretty distraught about the whole situation.

She forgot about it when we went inside to see more animals.

I didn’t get a picture of it but JP actually pet this snake! I didn’t think he would but he walked right up to it and say “hey snake”!

After Ober we spent a little time downtown indulging in cheese steaks and big sausage dogs! We ate our food in a small alley off of downtown because it was so crowded. I can’t believe how many people were there that weekend!!

Vanzant’s go to Gatlingburg- Part 1

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