Fun in Pigeon Forge

It's Spring Break time, and that means our house is getting lots of visitors! Brent, Laura, and Jack stayed with us last Saturday on their way down to Pigeon Forge. They took off on Sunday to stay in a cabin in the mountains, and Grace and I got to spend the day with them on Wednesday. We drove down to Pigeon Forge to "the strip" and met up with the Townsends at a complex that has race cars and all kinds of rides for the kids. Grace and Jack ate it up and hopped from one ride to the next. Jack was very patient with Grace and pretty much let her navigate the way. Grace wasn't intimidated at all by the rides. In fact, she was quite bored on the carousel and the train. She perked up after we found the swings and ferris wheel......where Laura and I have never laughed so hard in our entire lives. I wish my pictures of her swinging did the situation justice, but they just don't. Once the swings started, she wouldn't move a muscle (but had a smile on her face) and I mean to tell you it was absolutely HYSTERICAL!! After an hour or two, we went to Calhoun's for lunch and back to the cabin for Grace's nap. A mere hour-long nap later, and we were back at it and riding away!

That evening we had our first Dixie Stampede experience! I knew Grace would like it because of the live horses, but I didn't know if she would hold up for the full hour and a half show and the food situation. For those of you who don't know, you are served food (a chicken, half of a baked potato, soup, etc.) and NO utensils. I knew in advance what food we would be served so I went ahead and packed a whole slew of food options for Grace. All I can say is that she absolutely LOVED it!!! She clapped, cheered, and yelled the entire time!! Laura and I were busting a gut watching her. During the last 5 minutes or so, she acted like she wanted to walk around. But Laura held her for the finale and all was well! We even got to pet the horses after the show!

Our biggest obstacle was getting Grace out of the gift shop on the way out!

We had such a fun day! The weather was perfect. The kids got to play all day. We had our first Dixie Stampede experience.....all with great company! Come back and visit anytime! Here are some pictures........

Nana and Papa also spent the night with us on their way home from Florida. We didn't get to spend much time with them, but we did manage to squeeze in some block building, a makeup session with Nana, a great cookout, some house hunting, and a win for the "Dawgs!" When we sat down to get some pictures, Grace wanted nothing to do with the camera. So, unfortunately, we don't have any pictures of Nana and Pap.

This weekend we're excited that Grandma is staying with us for a long weekend and will be spending Easter with us! I can't wait to see what Grace thinks of her Easter egg hunt this year!!