Rocky Top, you'll always be...a great vacation to me! 2014 (Pt. 3)

The next day, we visited one of our favorite TN places: Smoky Mountain Knife Works, or as the boys call it: Smoky Mountain Pocket Knife Store. This store is so much fun to walk around, look at the displays and of course shop for toys!! They have a wide range of toys from stuffed animals and superheroes to wooden knives.

 

 

 They also have a mechanical animal scene that plays music, which is really cute.

 

Next we went to The Christmas Place, which is awesome if you love looking at ornaments, figurines, displays, Christmas trees, garland, wreaths, Santa and all other things Christmas. This is a fun place to look around and get into the Christmas spirit!

 The boys left us in the Christmas Place after about 30 minutes and looked at the outdoor trains, fountains, fudge shoppe, and took lots of adorable selfies.

 Love my Milligan boys!

After a disappointing lunch at Cracker Barrel (terrible service, bad food, etc...), we went to the Titanic Museum. It was really, really cool! (We recently read several books about the Titanic during school, so we had hoped to be able to visit the museum while in TN.)

 Here are the kids next to the Titanic replica: it was really huge and really cool!

 Trent stood next to the anchor replica to show how huge it was.

The Titanic museum was really interesting! We were given head phones with a key pad for listening to information throughout the museum. We were also given  boarding passes with information about an actual Titanic passenger when we entered the museum. The pass told us about the person and whether they were a 1st, 2nd or 3rd class passenger. Then we went thru the museum and saw how the Titanic was made, learned about the crew, read actual written and heard audio accounts from survivors about their experience on the Titanic. We were able to see artifacts, replicas of different rooms, walk up a replica of the grand staircase and stick our hands in the cold water to feel exactly how chilly the ocean was on the night the Titanic sank. Nick, Rachel and I really enjoyed the museum and learned a lot! The boys were a little bored, but hung in there and enjoyed the more interactive parts.

To Be Continued...

Rocky Top, you'll always be...a great vacation to me! 2014 (Pt. 2)

Part 2 entailed shopping, eating and having fun! The kids all had some souvenir money to spend, so after LOTS of contemplation, Bradley decided to get a brand new Falcons hat. Rach and Trent spread their money a little further getting several toys. We also visited Books-a-million so Rach and Brad could pick out new chapter books. They both finished them within just a few days! (Trent didn't want a book.) And, the boys got some much-needed new tennis shoes at the New Balance store.

Nick thinks he might want to take T's cone!

B loves him some chocolate (all over his face!!)!

R is all about the cookies-n-cream!

 The kids all enjoyed some yummy ice cream after all that shopping!

 

Sleeping was not too bad, even with 5 of us in 1 small hotel room!! The kids took turns sleeping on the floor on a pallet of blankets that we brought from home. And, all 3, preferred the floor to sharing a bed! (Go figure!)

Cute little Trenty fell asleep QUICKLY with all his favorite animals and blankets when he slept on the floor.

Sweet Bradley enjoyed reading his new book (Diary of a Wimpy Kid) every night before he went to sleep.

Pretty Rachel had the hardest time settling down each night...she seemed to get silly and giddy when it was time to go to sleep! :)

Sharing 2 beds and 1 bathroom was an adventure, for sure. Everyone had a good attitude and the kids always enjoy new, exciting adventures! I was pleasantly surprised at how well everyone slept and was thankful that no one got sick or anything. The beds weren't bad, but it sure did make me appreciate my own soft, comfy bed at home!!

...To Be Continued

Rocky Top, you'll always be...a great vacation to me!! 2014 (Pt.1)

We just returned from our family vacation to Tennessee and it was a blast!! This year, we had zero barfing episodes and zero flat tires! Can you say, "VICTORY??" :) We left Georgia on a very rainy, ugly Tuesday after Learning Grove. The rain came down in sheets and torrents. Crossing the Smoky Mountain National Parkway with so much rain was really cool seeing the rushing, rapid water on the mountain. The water looked alive! We had never seen true rapids until that drive over the mountain. It was quite impressive and a little bit scary!

my cute man enjoying his coffee

Me

We arrived in our favorite little hotel on Tuesday evening, checked in and went to get some yummy, brick-oven pizza at Big Daddy's for supper. The restaurant had an arcade AND good pizza, and we all enjoyed it! The next morning, we enjoyed our free continental breakfast and then the kids had their picture made with the "lobby bird". This bird lives there and he's certainly fun to look at! This is the look that our 8 year old son thinks is funny to do in pictures. We told him that he looks like a bratty 3 year old, but he says he thinks it's funny to pretend to be mad. (I wonder what he'll think in 15 years when we pull it out and show it to his future family??!!)

First night swim:

One of the kid's favorite things to do is swim! We love that this hotel has a heated, indoor swimming pool! We all swam in it every night!  

Next stop: NASCAR Fun Park

Trent was a racecar beast!

Rach was a cautious driver!

Nick and Trent were brave enough to try the big racecars!

Rach, Brad, Nick and Trent loved this spinning ride

We had fun watching Nick and Brad drive a fast racecar!

Nick took Brad on a fast ride too!

Rach LOVES putt putt!!!

Nick took Trent in a fast racecar too!

Trent and I raced around a track together and he "smoked" me!!

After a full day of putt putt, racing cars, fun amusement rides and tokens at the arcade, we said "goodbye" to NASCAR!!

...To Be Continued