It has been a full, crazy year with WOCS, and so instead of getting away this summer we made plans to wait until after Michael graduated to go on a mini vacation. We set our sights on Tennessee, booked a cabin, and anxiously awaited October. When the government shut down happened, we questioned whether we should still go, but since the cabin was already reserved and paid for (and we REALLY wanted to get away) we decided to go ahead with our plans.
And boy were we glad we did! We had a wonderful time.
The trip didn't start off on the best note, with Michael getting bit by a neighbor dog when dropping Sammy off at Jaime's, but the wound wasn't too terrible and ended up healing up without any infection. The kids were amazing on the way down and back and that's without sleeping much of the time. We packed the car full of books and games and toys and they did a great job entertaining themselves. It wasn't too long of a drive-about 6 hours.
The first day was spent getting there and then settling into our cabin. We stayed outside of Pigeon Forge in Sieverville. The cabin was adorable! The kids loved it and wanted to live there and make it our new home. There was a hot tub and gas fireplace (which took a little bit to figure out both). It was a two bedroom but the kids ended up in bed with us most of the time. We thought we would use the hot tub more but only ended up using it once--it was difficult getting the kids settled down at the end of the night with them sharing a room. But, the fireplace was on if we were there. It was wonderful starting it up with a flick of a switch!
The first full day there was spent in Gatlinburg at Ober Gatlinburg. I highly recommend it if you have small kids. The highlight was the chairlift to the top of the mountain and then the slide on the way back down. Maddie was pretty scared going up the chairlift the first time, just repeating over and over "I don't want it.". She even tried to climb out at one point so I was pretty stressed out the first ride up, but by the end she was enjoying it and we even went up a couple more times. There was also a human maze, kiddie rides, and pretty neat playground area, mini golf, and a water slide (that Michael talked me into going down with Nate--of course I ended up 3x as soaked as he did!). It was a very full, very fun day.
The next day, the state decided to reopen the Great Smoky National Park and so that's exactly where we went! I was so excited because I thought it was something we were going to miss out on while we were there. Our first little hike was 1.0 mile round trip to a little waterfall. The kids didn't even make it (possibly worn out from yesterday?) but it was fun to walk the trail and look at the beautiful trees. We drove around the park and even saw a couple of bears climbing up a tree! We went to Clingman's Dome and walked up to the tower. This was tough for the little ones because the walk up, although paved, was quite steep. So, even tougher for us because they were either on our shoulders or we were carrying them much of the time. We were pretty high up and since it was an overcast day, we were literally up in the clouds. So we didn't get a great view but still really neat to be in the clouds.
Our last full day in TN we decided to go to a children's museum. It was a rainy day and a perfect way to spend the day indoors. However, when we got there it was closed for construction. We were going to avoid the tourist traps but we found ourselves with nothing to do and not really wanting to hang out in the cabin the WHOLE day so we hit up a store that had a few bears you could see and feed. The kids enjoyed that a lot. And then we went to WonderWorks. It was fun and the kids are still asking to go back to the "upside down" house. It was nice to get back to the cabin at a good time to enjoy our last night there.
I meet with an amazing group of ladies each Thursday for a Bible study. That in itself has been such a blessing. Encouraged by the church and each other to take our studies one step further with service projects, we found our first opportunity at the Love Chapel. 
Nate did a great job helping. Maddie did well, for about 2 minutes at each station, but about as well as to be expected. So it was a lot of running around after her and we left with her screaming (granted it was naptime), but it was completely worth it. Being able to bring them there to help other people and talk with Nate afterwards about it will hopefully develop servant's hearts in our children. I don't think he completely understands at this age why we were doing what we were doing, but my hope is that they will continue to help others and when they are older it will be a part of their life, 
