A Gatlinburg Thanksgiving

Our Thanksgiving looked a little different this year. Instead of doing the norm we decided to rent a cabin and have Thanksgiving in Gatlinburg. There, of course, had to be a little excitement before we left!

The week before we were supposed to leave Ella came home from school with a fever and Paige developed a very runny nose. By Saturday, they were both feeling pretty crummy so we made a trip to the doctor. Ella ended up on an antibiotic since she had a fever for multiple days. Paige seemed to be on the mend so the doctor told me just to keep an eye on her. 

The morning before we were scheduled to leave Paige woke up around 2am complaining that her ear was hurting. Instead of leaving bright and early like I wanted to we were at urgent care for an ear check. After it was confirmed that she did have an ear infection, and we were sent on our way with an antibiotic. 

We made a stop in Nashville the night before to stay at the Gaylord and do all the Christmas activities they have to offer. We were dead tired by the time we got there. Adam and Ella never left the room, but Paige and I prevailed! We went to the ICE exhibit and did build a bear. We didn't make it to anything else, but at least we did that. 

"A Christmas Story" is my favorite Christmas movie so I especially loved the theme this year. 

We were in bed by 6pm that night. We all needed to recover from the past week of illness. 

We arrived in Gatlinburg just in time for our cabin to be ready. We were so surprised to walk in and see a Christmas tree and decorations. Our cabin was so nice with three stories. We each had our own floor. It was the perfect set up. 

The first night we were there we ordered pizza and relaxed. It was so fun to all be together in the same place. 

These two set up shop upstairs. It was the perfect little space for them. 

On Thanksgiving, my parents were up bright and early to get things going. We had our traditional Thanksgiving meal which was so good. We were all thankful to be there. 

That afternoon we headed to downtown Gatlinburg for a little shopping, and it was packed. 

I loved all the holiday decorations!

Adam and I went out to eat that night and then headed downtown to see the lights at night. 

It was so pretty at night. I love Christmas lights so I was in heaven. 

We had to go check out the new suspension bridge so we rode the chair lift up. I love these chair lift pictures. I have one of myself when I was about five or six years old and here I am thirty years later still visiting Gatlinburg and riding the chair lift. 

The sky bridge ended up being terrifying. We were able to get about a quarter of the way, and I was done. I couldn't handle the shaking plus all the people. There was still a pretty view up there though so it wasn't a total waste. 

We had tickets to the Dixie Stampede Christmas show that night. We had been once before and loved it so I knew it would be a good time.

Paige got a little princess makeover while we waited for the show to start. 

The show and food were great! I loved the Christmas themed show, and we all had a great time. 

On our last day, Adam and I took the older girl's snow tubing at Ober Gatlinburg. I had not been to Ober Gatlinburg since I was a kid, and I don't think anything had changed. 

I ended up just watching and taking pictures. I'm definitely not a daredevil, but they seemed to have fun. I tried to get on the snow and take pictures and ended up getting kicked off. Lol! 

The girls also did the mountain coaster. It is still weird to me that they are old enough to do these things on their own now. 

This stream is right by the hotel we used to stay at when I was a kid. Talk about a blast from the past when we walked by it. I have so many good memories of trips to Gatlinburg when I was young. 

It was such a wonderful Thanksgiving and trip to Gatlinburg. You know it was a good trip when you look back and your pictures and get sad that it's over. We looked forward to this trip for so long, and it went by in a flash. I'm so thankful for the time we spend together and the memories we made.