Gatlinburg

One of our favorite places to go is Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. Both Keith and I have been going to Gatlinburg since we were babies. We usually try to go a couple of times a year, but usually only in the colder months...anywhere from late October through February/March. Both Makenna and Noah made their first trips to Gatlinburg as infants. They have gotten so they love it and we enjoy getting to spend family time together. These are photos from our most recent weekend trip.

Here are a few of our favorite things about Gatlinburg:

Pancakes at the Pancake Pantry

Rocky Road and Candy Apples from Old Smoky Candy Kitchen

Donuts at the Donut Friar

Supper at Calhoun's

The smells of homemade candy and wood burning fireplaces in the crisp air.

Bundling up in coats and mittens and walking downtown at night.

Shopping

Putt-Putt

Trimming The Tree

So, this year, after much begging, we decided to let Makenna have her own Christmas tree in her room. We went to Wal-Mart, picked out the tree she wanted and brought it home and got it set up. Makenna and I then headed to Garden Ridge for decorations. Her room is decorated with butterflies, so that is how she decided to decorate her tree. Everything has to be matchy-matchy. I do have to confess that she gets it honest because I'm the same way. Anyway, a few days later I went to put away a few things in her room and noticed something quite puzzling about her tree. It looked like it had shed all over her room. Now, this is, of course, a fake tree. I know they can shed a bit, but never would I have thought something like this. Makenna just happened to be spending the night at Nana's house that night, so she wasn't home for me to ask her what happened. While vacuuming for what seemed like an eternity, it finally hit me...Makenna has been practicing with the scissors in her kindergarten class. Her teacher even sent a pair of safety scissors home with her one day so that we could practice at home. This is when I realized that she had gotten a hold of her scissors and proceeded to trim the tree...literally! The next day I asked her about it and of course, she did not want me to know what she had done. Finally, Nana advised that Makenna had told her that she needed to fix her tree because it was too fluffy/fuzzy!! Ah, the mind of a six year old!!