Gatlinburg Vacation, August 2012

Emmett lets Rachel try on Joel's hat.

 

YEAH!  Time to feed the dinosaur pennies.

Aunt Hannah bought her this adorable monkey!!!! She loves this thing and is always super excited to see it.  It's also an excellent chew toy as well. 

Family photo while we wait for the show at the Comedy Barn to begin.  The kids did a wonderful job sitting through the entire show.  Emmett loved the puppy dogs in it while Audrey took a nap after the intermission.

Aunt Hannah cuddled with Audrey while we were out and about.

We wondered off on our own for a few hours to drive around the Smokey Mountains.  We stopped a few times and let the kiddos get out and play in the water.  It was all fun and games until a little boy actually slipped and fell while trying to jump rocks, getting very wet (but not hurt thankfully!)

We stopped at a little diner while adventuring through the mountains.  It was a fun time and we got to learn a little history about the town as well.  Right next door there ended up being an adorable train history museum that was free.  Emmett loved seeing the trains!!!

Emmett's first putt-putt experience.  He even landed a hole-in-one playing fair-and-square, although when he didn't he would sometimes put it in the hole himself.  He had a wonderful time with the boys!!

Up in the mountains on the second floor balcony of our cabin.  Beautiful morning!!

Family photo before we left out cabin to go to the reunion. 

In August was the long weekend Unzicker family reunion in Gatlinburg, TN.  We decided to go for the whole week and really make a trip out of it.  We asked Popeye's family if they wanted to meet us early to get some extra special time with them.  We were so excited when it worked out they could!!!  We rented a cabin way up in the moutains with a beautiful view and three stories!  What a sight for early morning Bible readings!!  It even came with a stray cat that came and went much to Emmett and Audrey's delight!  We fixed our meals at the cabin and enjoyed some shopping trips at some quaint stores.  We went to the Comedy Barn one evening and had some tasty ice cream.  We spent time walking around both Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg.

Later in the week we met up with the rest of the family at a trio of cabins up in the mountains for the reunion.  The group was going to go up into the mountains later in the day for a drive however Audrey was cranky and needed to take a nap so we headed off early exploring the Smokey Mountains on our own.  We stopped several places along the way to see the buildings and play in the water.  We ate lunch at a cute diner in a small town off the mountain trails and then went to a free train museum nearby... Emmett LOVED the trains.  The guide was extremely knowledgeable about the area and told us much.  As we headed back into the mountains I suggested we take what looked to be a shorter trail to get home.  Turned out to be a ONE HOUR, one lane dirt path up and down the mountains to get back to the main road.  Kind of scary!!!!!!  But we enjoyed the time talking and taking in God's beauty!!

We were sad to leave but we got to take Miss Lydia back with us so it helped ease the pain of leaving.  What fun to have her on the way back home!!!  She got to stay and hang out with us for awhile too!!  Emmett loved waking up and going down to the living room to find her on the couch in the morning.  We met up with Mark, Laura, and Zoie to eat out and got to story time on seperate occasions too.  While Lydia was here we made pajama pants, that turned out being strangely complicated for us, watched a classic Audrey Hepburn movie, went for a walk, and painted furniture.  Of course, it wouldn't be a trip without some shopping as well at our favorite consignment stores!!!  It was soooo sad to see her go.  Emmett didn't understand why she wasn't on the couch anymore for a couple days after she left :)

Playing Night Night at 6 in the morning.

Playing with the ball and bat.  We stopped at Grandparents Bahler on the way home to break up the trip.

Making what turned out to be very complicated pajama pants.  Who would have thought we needed to actually buy a pattern!!!

Going for a walk to the playground :O)

Sliding down wearing the muddy boots

YEAH Aunt Lydia stayed to play with us!!

Big boy climbing up the playground.  A little harder than normal with the muddy boots on but he could do it!

What visit would be complete without refinishing some furniture.  Lydia helped to refinish a nightstand and dresser for our bedroom that we got at Goodwill for $7.99!  What a fun find!!!