Gatlinburg with Grandma and Grandpa (long post!)

The last weekend in March, Dad R. and Trish came to visit for a few days! We booked a cabin in Gatlinburg for 3 nights and tried to pack in as much as we could while they were here! It was so so fun to be able to spend some good quality time with just our little family and them! Ivy and Marshall loved having grandpa and grandma here to play! And Gatlinburg didn't dissapoint on having fun things to do! We've been there a few times and every time we go, we always find new things to try out! I think the highlight of this trip was the Aquarium of the Smoky's in Gatlinburg, and the Old Mill Restaurant in Pigeon Forge. It was so delicious, we went twice! The location is pretty cool too. Anyways, here are LOTS of photos from our trip! 

First stop to Old Mill:

Cabin fun:

 

 

Aquarium of the Smoky's! This was by far, Ivy's favorite event of the entire visit. She still asks to go back! It's the best and biggest one I've ever been to! Really amazing things to see!

The Shark walk.. A conveyor belt moves you slowly through these tunnels under the water and you look up and see all the sharks swimming around. Ivy wasn't too sure about this part, haha:

 

Driving through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park:

This was from one evening walking around downtown Gatlinburg:

Our drive down to the North Carolina border and Clingman's Dome (tallest peak in the Smoky's):

More cabin fun:

The Pancake Pantry for breakfast! This place is a MUST! Always saw people lined up outside so we tried to get there early in the morning. Amazing! Still dreaming about my crepes (yes I got crepes at a pancake house, lol):

Pigeon Forge go-carts! BIG hit with Ivy. Marshall was so jealous that she got to go on every single ride! lol:

Little Tennessee boy, hehe:

Last stop, Old Mill again! Such a beautiful, unique place! Love it! A gigantic thank you to Dad and Trish for coming out to visit and for one unforgettable trip!! We really loved being able to spend time with you guys!! Much love! 

Hike with friends (first of the season!)

Still catching up on March.. We finally had a warm enough day to get out of the house! Decided to go on a fairly easy hike with some friends in the Cumberland Gap area. Hiked to the waterfall, then down the trail to town and back up the road to the trail entrance... After a long few weeks of cold, it felt so good to be out in the sun!! 

Finally stopped in this adorable little building in town that says "Bike Museum" on the front. It ended up just being one little room filled with these antique bikes! So random but super cute. 

Cinderella

Ivy first saw the previews to the new Cinderella movie MONTHS ago and would ask to see it all the time afterwards. She was just a tad excited for it to come out. So we decided to make a date out of it and go to an evening showing! We went with a good friend of mine, Rachel, and asked Sarah (our babysitter and good friend) if she wanted to come with us. It was such a fun evening! Ivy was seriously so cute about the whole thing and wanted to wear a pretty dress and wanted everyone else to wear a dress too! even did our hair fancy and wore some jewelry too! She was in heaven. The movie was just a tad too long for her liking and she only whined for a few minutes towards the end. I'm calling it a success! Her favorite part of the movie was when Cinderella was getting ready for the ball and then the ball scenes, of course. ;-) Love my little princess! She's so tired in that picture with Sarah (right), lol:

St. Baldricks fundraiser

While I was antique-ing my heart out in Gatlinburg, Sam was doing an amazing job holding down the fort! He took the kids to a friend's 3rd birthday party and then went to this fundraiser that he had signed up to participate in a couple months before. I was kinda bummed I missed it but they took some great pictures of it! Seemed like the kids had fun and the house was even clean when I got home! Best husband ever! Seriously. I love that guy. 

 

Girl's weekend

One weekend in March, two of my really good friends and I took a couple days to ourselves and went antique-ing and flea-market shopping in Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg! I really was SO surprised that amazingly  all three of us were free AND all our husbands were actually on board with us taking off for a night away! We left early in the morning, shopped all day, went out for dinner, walked around Gatlinburg, stayed up waay too late, attempted to sleep in, did some more shopping, then stopped for lunch one last time before heading home. It was seriously such a fun weekend! I haven't laughed that much in a LONG time. Love these girls so much! 

Glasses

Back in March, I finally got around to buying a new pair of glasses! Felt like it was something worth documenting because it has been nearly 8 years since I've bought a new pair! Eek! I've gone to the optometrist a number of times but only ever ordered contacts afterwards. So heres to new specs!