Gatlinburg Day 4

 DAY 4

 We woke up to a beautiful sight Wednesday Morning. You could actually see the mountains that morning since the snow falling had blocked our view the previous days. Baby A was feeling MUCH better so we decided it was time to hit the Great Smoky Mountain National Park.  Tim got these pictures while he was taking Lucy out to potty and roam around for a bit. 

 

 Also let me add that Lucy was THE BEST traveling dog. I don't have any other traveling dog to compare her too but there could not have been a better dog to take with us. She never had an accident or never chewed anything up, she just hung out in her crate or the cabin liked she owned the place. We had a GREAT experience traveling with a dog.

 We all got ready, loaded up the van and headed for the park. Due to a rock slide and some snow and ice still on the mountain tops a few roads were closed. This meant we couldn't go to Clingmans dome, New Found Gap and we had to get to Cades Cove through Townsend TN instead of through Gatlinburg.

Before Cades Cove we stopped by our favorite creek spot to walk around, take pictures and throw a rock or two into the creek. This was by far the kids favorite part of the day (until dinner that night).

It was cold so we decided to head on to Cades Cove. I must admit the sights on the way to and through Cades Cove were breathtaking!!! I was in awe and thought the kids would think it was cool too but they didn't. In fact Cades Cove was nothing great to the kids but then again all we saw were deer and we see those in our neighborhood all the time. 

Anyways we took LOTS of pictures trying to capture the beauty and even still it doesn't compare to seeing it in person. 

 

We decided to get out at the first stop in Cades Cove. It was an old cabin and apparently by the packed parking lot it was a popular stop. We ended up parking a little further away and walking through a field to get to the cabin. This was the overflow option they had but we were the only ones that did this.

The kids took off down the LONG trail through this huge field and about half way between our van and the cabin it dawned on me that bears are spotted quite often in this park. BOY did I ever get scared then. I have NO idea what we would have done if a bear came out of the woods while we were in this field.  I think that was the reason nobody was parked in the overflow parking. HA! 

 You can't even see the cabin in the picture above. I didn't think the trail was that long but clearly I was wrong!

 We got to the cabin and it was really neat to see how they use to live. The kids wanted to explore the woods around it though. YEAH NOT gonna happen!

 They decided to race back to us. I love this picture.

 We headed back to the van down the long trail through the field again. See you can HARDLY see the TINY speck of white in the picture above. That's our van and that's how far we had to walk. To hurry things along we let the boys run ahead but only until they saw me raise my hands and then they had to stop and wait for us to catch up.

 Once we got back to the van we promised never to do a walk like that again! After all, us adults were out numbered if a wild animal came or even if they all ran out of energy trying to walk back.

 We did stop by a little church and we all liked trying to find the oldest date on the headstones.

 After the stops at the cabin and the church the boys begged that we not stop anymore so we just drove and took pictures.

 Halfway through Cades Cove was the rangers station, gift shop and a mill you could walk through. The boys were hesitant about stopping but they had no choice :)

It was fun looking through the smoke house, the blacksmith shop, the barn, and mill 

 Inside the mill a man was actually grinding corn and making fresh corn meal. We bought some and plan to make some yummy corn bread soon.

 We let the boys climb on the rocks some more before getting back in the van and finishing the other half of Cades Cove.

 The WHOLE trip was a go with the flow kind of trip. I am one who likes to plan things down to the minute and try to plan around lunch and dinner and crowds and so forth. Well thanks to sickness and snow we had to just go with the flow of each and every hour and in a way that made it hard but it also made it fun and adventurous too.
So we finished Cades Cove around 1:30 and the kids were once again STARVING. We could go to lunch someplace in Gatlinburg but we were headed to Dixie Stampede that night and wanted to save our appetite for the HUGE meal there. So we found the campers convenient store in the park and nearly swiped them out of lunchables, beef jerky, drinks and chips.  It was so easy to just let the kids eat their snack lunch in the car on the way back to the cabin.

 Once we got there we lit a fire in the fireplace and made the kids rest. They would be up late that night at Dixie Stampede so we knew a rest would be the best thing for all of us. I enjoyed resting buy the fire with sweet Lucy cuddled up on my lap.

 That night we got ready and headed to Dixie Stampede! Let me just say that this is a MUST if you go to Gatlinburg. It is a little pricey but I promise it is worth every single penny and more!

We had to do things a little different than they normally have things. Typically you get there an hour before the show and head to a saloon show where they serve peanuts and popcorn. Well due to Rascal's nut allergy we couldn't go to that show. So we showed up about 30 minutes before the show started, did some shopping in the gift shop and then we were treated like ROYALTY! They had a person escort us and another family with nut allergies, a safe way (meaning a way that wasn't through a nut filled room) into the arena and we were the FIRST ones in there and seated. We were able to chat with our server for a bit before everyone came in to find their seats. He even got this picture for us. 

We made sure Rascal was seated between us (since he can't be very close to people who have been eating nuts) and it all went SO SO smoothly. You can't possibly know how wonderful it is to have someone take this much precaution for your child's life threatening allergy.
The show was amazing. I knew Rascal would LOVE LOVE LOVE IT. It had horses, buffalo, cowboys, indians, birds, pigs, ostriches and even a lady standing on two horses and jumping through rings of fire!
Scooter loved the show just as much as Rascal and I was unsure how Baby A would do. It was close to her bedtime and we were on the 2nd row so I was hoping nothing would scare her. I was in tears watching the joy in her eyes though. She sat on her knees with her eyes glued to the arena the entire time. Her hands were clasped together ready to clap at a moments notice and she had a permanent smile stuck on her face. It was worth the money just to see the joy in my kids eyes. The meal was superb. They served EVERYONE a whole (approx 1 pound) chicken, a slice of pork tenderloin, creamy vegetable soup (that was to die for), garlic cheese biscuits, corn on the cob and a half a baked potato. For dessert they served apple turnover but we all 5 passed on them since they were made in the same facility as nuts ( I asked about the food when I purchased the tickets and this was the only thing that was unsafe for Rascal). All this you ate with your HANDS or slurped! That was fun! Rascal and Baby A were so into the show that they didn't eat much at all but we bagged it up and took it home and they scarfed it down at the cabin. It was the best thing we did the entire time we were in Gatlinburg and we will for sure do it again if we go back. After the show we headed to get ice cream but the ice cream maker at the store we picked was broken so the kids settled for rock candy instead. Tim and I had some chocolate fudge after the kids went to bed since it wasn't safe for Rascal.

The next morning we woke up and planned on eating a big breakfast at Cracker Barrel finishing our shopping at Bass Pro and then heading home. Well about the time we started loading the van Scooter said he didn't feel really good. We hoped he was just tired and ready to be home but once we got checked out and on the road he said his stomach hurt really bad. We took that as our sign to grab Chick Fila, eat it in the car and hit the road for our 7 hour car ride home. We made it to Mount Juliet and once again picked up Chick Fila for lunch ate it in the car and kept on going home. Now we have eaten Chick Fila TONS of times and never had any problem with their food affecting Rascal. It's cooked in peanut oil but even our allergist said because it is so refined that he shouldn't have any kind of reaction. Well as we were all eating our lunch in the van Rascal said his face itched a little. I looked back and sure enough he had the red spots around his mouth. We were driving 70 mph  down the interstate and I was trying SO HARD not to show my panic. Believe me I could fly to the back of that van in a heartbeat if I had to but the thought of having to, may me feel sick. He stopped eating his lunch and thankfully the spots went away with out any serious reaction. We have now sworn off Chick fila or any food that is cooked in peanut oil. I am not taking the chance that it wasn't filtered right or enough or whatever. It's too risky.

We made it home without anyone getting sick, unloaded the van and started the great task of unpacking. Man I HATE unpacking. However Good Friday was the next day (the boys went fishing), my birthday was that Saturday and then Easter was Sunday. We had ZERO time to recover so it was a quick unpacking and the laundry got started. Scooter felt fine by the next morning and I was thankful to be home again. Vacation with three kids and NO help (meaning grandparents or aunts and uncles) is not at all vacation. In fact it was HARD work and then throw in the sick kids and man I was so glad to see my  home. Don't get me wrong it was so good for us to take a family trip and I don't regret it at all but I think I may still be recovering from it :)