It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

     My mom has always wanted to visit The Great Smoky Mountains at Christmas time...so we added the idea to our bucket list this summer, and made it happen last weekend.  We headed out early Thursday afternoon and made it to Tennessee around 7:00.  We checked in, had dinner, and settled in for an evening of cuddles and Christmas movies.  The next morning, we got up early, and headed to the mountains for a hike to Laurel Falls.  Both kids enjoyed the journey, and Makayla especially enjoyed leading us in a LONG game of "I Spy."

I love this picture of our shadows!

     You could hear the waterfall long before we reached our final destination.  The kids were SO excited.  They enjoyed watching the water...and posing for a few pictures.

Such a sweet girl!

     We began our descent...which looked a lot like this.  Seemed both children had enough energy to get themselves up the mountain, but neither had enough to get back down.  Needless to say, I got a great workout!

  After having lunch in Gatlinburg, we headed back to the resort for an afternoon at the indoor waterpark.

     And an afternoon nap!

     We all "oohed" and "ahhed" as we soaked in all of the lights at Dollywood that evening.  It was so cold, but we had a wonderful time walking around to look at the lights and to ride a few rides.

Aren't they the cutest?!

The blue tree was my favorite.  It had these lights that made it look like it had dripping ice on it.

The sights heading back to our resort (please overlook the car antenna!)

     The next day, we started our morning with Krispy Kreme donuts and some Christmas shopping...and headed back to Dollywood for a full day of adventures.  We had temperature in the 60s, which was amazing.  Throughout the day we were able to catch several shows and performances, and just had an absolutely perfect day!  I wouldn't trade this time with my mom and kids for anything!
 

Yum!

Liam visiting with Mr. and Mrs. Claus.

This picture makes me laugh because it looks like Santa is grabbing Liam by the neck! :)

I love butterflies!

   Another one of my favorite things was a music and light show put on at this lake.  The lights kept time with the music, and it was just beautiful!

     I am thankful for an amazing trip.  I think we should make it an annual tradition!  I am also thankful to have written about it on the blog...I've been lacking the the blog department lately.  I do have a goal to catch up on the things I've missed...Makayla's 4th birthday, princess tea, pumpkin patches, and Halloween...I think I can!

Home sweet home, and looking forward to THANKSGIVING!