Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Gatlinburg

We recently returned from vacation in Gatlinburg with our good friends the Griggs. We had many adventures and lots of relaxation!

Hiking up to Laurel Falls

A warning along the 'handicapped accesible' path to the falls. Now, if a path is handicap accesible, wouldn't you think it would be child friendly as well?

We reached the falls after a 1.3 mile hike (with a stroller)!


As we were hiking back down the mountain, we heard grumblings about a bear sighting. We approached a group of people on the path and looked up (about 15 feet) to see 2 bear cubs!

And very nearby momma bear made herself known to all of us, which sent Alec screaming like a girl down the mountain. The exact wrong thing to do when you encounter a bear! The rest of us enjoyed watching momma and her babies until she started to move down the mountain closer to us. At that point, we decided it was best to keep moving and meet up with Alec.

Being silly one evening before bed!

Katey, our niece, went along with us as a mommy's helper and boy was she ever!

Part of our rental agreement included passes to the Owner's Clubs which had a pool and game room.

We took a 4 hour drive through Cade's Cove and saw lots of wildlife. This poor turkey found itself in the horse pasture and was running for its life to avoid being stepped on!

This guy stopped traffic for quite a long time!

This is Rocky who visited our cabin every night since the boys (Shane and Mike included) were generous with our leftovers.

The Aquarium was fun for everyone, Molly included!

Molly likes to explore just like her Mom. Here we are playing with a horseshoe crab. Please note that its only the girls who were willing to do this. How ironic since Mike and Alec are such fisherman!

1 comment:

Jill said...

Glad you had such a good time on vacation! Stop stealing my babysitter though, I needed her!! LOL