I promised pictures from our vacation a week ago, so I thought I should get busy posting. We left our house on Sunday afternoon, May 25th. After about 5 minutes in the car, the kids started asking, "How much longer is it going to be before we get there?" Even with a portable DVD player in the car, they asked this question repeatedly for four hours. As we neared the end of the trip, my husband and I realized how glad we were that we flew to Orlando last fall. We would have been insane after 10 hours of "Are we ever going to get there?"

After arriving at our hotel in Pigeon Forge, we picked up some dinner and let the kids enjoy the pool at the hotel. Even though the sun was sinking and it was a little chilly, the kids had a great time. Kids can be tough when they are having fun!

On Monday morning, we headed through Gatlinburg to the Laurel Falls trail head.

We hiked the paved trail that leads to the falls.

During the walk, the kids made a friend from Alabama named Cole. They played with him the entire time. I am always impressed with how quickly kids can become friends. My Best Girl asked about Cole the rest of the week.

As soon as we walked the 1.3 miles and arrived at the falls, guess what my Best Girl said! "I need to go to the bathroom!" Amazingly, she waited during the 1.3 mile trip back to the car and the short drive to the visitor center. I was very proud of her! Of course, if she had been a boy, she could have wandered into the woods with Dad. :)

When we left the visitor's center, it was time for lunch. My Favorite Boy really wanted pancakes, so we tried to go to the Pancake Pantry in Gatlinburg. Because it was 12:15, there wasn't a line, but we couldn't find a parking place! So, we went back to Pigeon Forge and ate at the Log Cabin Pancake House. I enjoyed my pigs in a blanket (sausage links wrapped in pancakes), and the kids split a plate of silver dollar pancakes. Dad got the regular buttermilk version.

Blogger won't let me load more pics, so come back later for the rest of Day One!