I'm Ba-ack!

Me, Matt, and Olivia on a big chair outside the brewery we ate and drank at.
Olivia sitting on a big hand chair outside a store in Gatlinburg
Jake (in the back), Olivia, and Luke playing together
I love these two pictures because of Olivia's reaction when she saw the puppies in the window. She asked me "Can we go in there"...not in so many words, but that is what she said!

We made it home safely from Gatlinburg a little over an hour ago. It was a good, fun trip, but I am glad to be home! We left Sunday morning around 10:30 am and we drove for 3 hours and stopped at Sonic (YUCK!) to eat. I was really disappointed in Sonic, because all the commercials make it look like the best thing EVER...yeah, no...I didn't like neither did Matt. So, after we ate our disappointing lunch we drove the rest of the way, which was around 1 hour 15 minutes. Olivia did GREAT going down and coming home. I am very happy that she did so well sitting for so long.

We arrived at our hotel around 4 pm, got settled and walked to town. Our hotel was in the middle of Gatlinburg, but off on a side road so we had about 1/2 mile to walk before we made it to downtown Gatlinburg. Our friends Jason and Brooke arrived about an hour after us, but stayed in a resort. They have a timeshare in Vegas and are able to switch and move things around and go different places. Otherwise we would have gotten a cabin like years past. Matt, Olivia, and I got on a trolley and took it to there resort. We hung out with them for a couple hours before heading back to our hotel. Our hotel wasn't the nicest thing I have been in, but we weren't there that much. We literally were there to sleep, shower, and let Olivia take a nap. We were on the go almost constantly.

We walked a ton and ate a TON! We had so much good food I am going to be disappointed in eating at home now!!! We found a couple new places that we have not been before and we now know to keep it in mind for future trips. We found a really cute hole in the wall place for drinks. Its called Howard's. I am not much of a drinker, but the atomsphere was nice. We all sat outside alongside a creek and the kids enjoyed looking at the water. Jason and Brooke have twin boys who are 2 months younger than Olivia. Oh and lastnight while we were at Howard's, Brooke and Jason ordered fried mushrooms. Olivia looked at them and ate one! I was so surprised! The girl hardly eats anything and when she ate an entire mushroom I was shocked!

We swam a couple of times, but Olivia still hates the water, so it makes it hard on me. Matt and I went shopping at the Tanger Outlets. I bought 1 top for myself and two tops for Olivia and spent $20!! It was great! Olivia and I also got Old Time Photos done! She looked too cute in her little old fashioned dress!

The twins go to bed super early, so Brooke and Jason would head back to their resort around 7 pm. The past two nights Matt, Olivia, and I walked around downtown Gatlinburg until 9 pm. And lastnight we were walking around and I ran into my friend's mother in law! How weird is that!!! When I saw her I didn't think it was really her, but then she recognized Olivia and she said to me "I thought that was you" How funny!!!

So, I have a ton of pictures to show....so here are a few to start!