Overview in Photos - OCTOBER

For our Fall Break we went to the Great Smokey Mountains - it was awesome! We stayed in a cabin about 20 miles out of Gatlinburg. It was cozy, warm, had a hot tub and an old school video game table. We mainly just ate breakfast and dinner and slept there - otherwise we were at the National Park!

Our Hot Tub

Must Eat location in Gatlinburg:  Pancake Pantry!

One day was quite rainy, so the kids decided that their "indoor" activity for the day would be riding around in the public transportation system of the town - a trolley!  (cheap dates!)

The drive took over an hour from our cabin - but we weathered the dreary weather and visited Cades Cove.  (an old fashioned town that you are free to rome around through) - this is a church.

We saw turkeys!

And we saw deer!

This deer even has antlers! (look closely!)

Beautiful drives!

Because of so much rain, this waterfall is usually more like a trickle...but not today!

This is the creek just outside our cabin.

This was the view from the peak of our cabin valley.

Laurel Falls

The "Cave of Wonders" (not on the map, just named by us!)

Joey, age 9

Morgan, age 7

Jameson, age 5

Jackson, age 3

Eating picnic lunch overlooking the Smokies

Grotto Falls

JJ found a heart shaped rock

Our Cabin

Clingmans' Dome - which was covered in clouds - no view this visit.  And the temp was 30 degrees colder at the top, than at the bottom.

Alum Cave  (a rough 5 mile hike on tricky terrain)

On October 1st - Jameson and quickly, thereafter, Morgan BOTH learned to ride bikes without training wheels!  It was a big day!

The kids and I went to pick apples and got caught in a terrential downpour in the middle of a corn maze!

4th grade Field Trip to Mounds State Park to research leaves

Kindergarten Field trip to Waterman's Farm to pick out a pumpkin

We went to Connor Scary again this year.  We ate kettle corn, watched a magician, slid down the scary slide, watched the hot air balloon fly and enjoyed the puppet show.  It's become a family tradition.

 

 

The kids also shot  monkeys from a catapult.

 

 

Halloween is another family favorite - we carved pumpkins (that quickly got eaten by fat, fearless, squirrels). We trick or treated in the cold, almost snowy weather.  We enjoyed our candy organizing at the end of it all.

This family loves Holidays!

 

 

 

Our school photos came in too - Jameson in Kindergarten, Morgan in 2nd grade and Joey in 4th grade.
My, how time flies.