Smoky Mountains, Tennessee.

We had so much fun on our completely impromptu family trip to Tennessee! You know when you hear people say this trip was so last minute and you think how does that happen?! Well, this trip literally fell into our laps. I saw my cousin Chelsey post that her Airbnb had a super last minute cancelation, asked Sean if he wanted to drive down to Tennessee and stay for the week — and 3 hours later, we were driving. How’s that for spontaneity?

Of course a lot goes into taking a family of six, including a 3 month old, on a 13 hour road trip but that’s a story for another post. Since the trip wasn’t planned, Sean still had to work all week, so I took the kids out and about each morning. We had lunch all together at the house, and then the kids and I had some “quiet time” (she says very jokingly) until he finished work around 3. Then we’d go out again and do some more! We tossed the idea of bedtime out the window, and it helped that it stayed light out until nearly 10PM. Let’s talk about all the things we did in the Great Smoky Mountains!

THE HOUSE: The cabin had enough stuff (and more!) to keep the kids entertained! From a pool table, to a full arcade gaming console, board games, and darts… there was so much fun to be had.

There was also a hot tub and a creek!

GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS NATIONAL PARK: We spent three afternoons in the National Park. Two of the days we spent time in the Cades Cove Loop (where we saw a total of 3 black bears and 1 cub!), and one day we spent time in a cave.

TUCKALEECHEE CAVERNS: When we heard about these caverns that are estimated to be 20 million years old… we were sold. We had to see them. The kids had a blast on the tour which was about an hour and a half — down steep slippery steps. It was extremely tiring especially carrying Walker! But we made it out of the cave safely with only one fall — I’ll let you use your imagination on which child didn’t listen and nearly fell into a stalagmite. 🙂

THE ISLAND: When we first arrived to the Pigeon Forge area (at 5AM Monday morning), we saw a ferris wheel and I really wanted to go on it. Sean had no interest so I took the kids on Tuesday morning. Imagine my surprise when we arrived to the ferris wheel and… it was an entire amusement park! I couldn’t escape it, I had to let the kids ride the rides. I’m not sure if this was a lucky or unlucky coincidence but their ride bands were good for 48 hours, so we actually went back Wednesday morning as well. They went on roller coasters, jumpy things, a ropes course… it was fun to watch them have so much fun.

WONDERWORKS MUSEUM: We had never been to one of these museums and it was really fun! The entire building appears to be upside from the outside. The girls thought everything was going to be upside down once they were inside! But it had a lot of different exhibits that were cool/interesting. Some things were science-related but not all. There was also an indoor ropes course that Javi and Lola did — Sean did, too, and hated it! ha, but the kids had a blast. We only spent two hours there, but I think we could have spent the entire day. Javi scaled the rock wall in 1 minute 4 seconds! He was so proud.

MOUNTAIN COASTERS: One thing is for sure, they love their mountain coasters! We saw so many of these roller coasters that are literally situated in the mountains. The first time we went Sean took each kid individually because there was a height/age requirement. So he had to do it three times, while I waited with the other kids.

MINI GOLF: The second mountain coaster we tried also had a mini golf course (dinosaur themed!) so we gave the kids a choice. Javi and Eva chose mini golf with me and Walker, and Lola chose the coaster with Sean. I swear it was a million degrees at this point in the night (and it was also like 9PM) — I thought I was going to die as I held Walker in the ergo. It wasn’t my finest parenting moment. Although I did get a hole in one… while holding Walker and only using one hand to putt.

SKYLAND RANCH: I had big ambitions for SkyLand Ranch because it was so cute on the website — but it was so hot and I had to carry Walker because to get there, we had to take a chair lift (so no stroller…) — and I was dying. It was definitely a place we could have spent a long time at because there was food, entertainment, a petting zoo, a playground, etc. but not having a stroller with a nearly 20 lb. baby was difficult! There was a shuttle, too but it wasn’t running and also — shuttles are hard with strollers, too! The kids learned how to use a whip, ha!

HALF BIRTHDAY: The other notable thing that happened while we were in the Smoky Mountains is that Lola had a half birthday! We just started celebrating half birthdays and I’m so glad I remembered to bring our little banner and her birthday book. 🙂

OVERALL: It was a fantastic last minute trip. I feel like we did so much with only a few short days. Of course, we had our moments — don’t we all! There were times I fully regretted it and wished for peace and quiet. But isn’t that just parenting… anywhere?! It was a million and one degrees, Walker had a total blowout, parking was impossible to find, an entire lemonade was spilled one night at dinner (and we were at a picnic table so the liquid poured through the cracks all over… me!), Eva face planted into gravel after I said “you need to walk”, Lola hated the road trip, I was asked SIX TIMES by strangers while out with the kids if I had a husband and if all my kids had the same father, Eva missed the cats, the kids wanted to sleep together but Javi wanted total darkness and the girls wanted a nightlight, Sean worked the whole week, they didn’t eat any of the food we bought them, Eva just didn’t listen — at all, Lola and Javi fought.. the entire week. And yet…

And yet, what I hope to remember are the fun, positive times. The kids on the ropes course, learning to play pool, observing black bears, learning about caves, posing for photos, swimming in the hot tub, snuggling on the couch, watching them scream at the top of their lungs on the roller coasters, giggling at bedtime, and waking up sleepy-eyed at nearly 9AM — almost unheard of for this 5AM crew!

I’m glad we were able to give the kids these experiences in a totally new place to all of us. It was a very kid-friendly location and I feel like we held a good balance between very tourist-y outings and nature-based adventures. We also balanced the line between busyness and downtime. Oh, and on the really tough day (Thursday), we got ice cream. 🙂