Liller/Cassidy Gatlinburg Trip

So our big trip this year was a 5 day trip to Gatlinburg . . . well, really Pigeon Forge TN, with our best friends from Cincinnati. It was an awesome family trip - and one we had all looked forward to. The only problem was that is was TOO SHORT!!! I can't believe how much there is to do there! We only made it into Gatlinburg once for a timeshare presentation (cuz' it's all about the free gifts - and we got 6 all-day passes to the Nascar Speedpark for attending. At $32 a piece, that was a huge savings, so it was worth sitting through the 90-minute presentation). Anyway, here are a few pics of our trip - we can't wait to go back next year, and we're definitely going for at least a full week next year!!! The cabin we had was perfect and secluded, was only about a 5-10 minute drive to the main parkway in Pigeon Forge, it fit all 10 of us VERY comfortably, and we just had an amazingly good time! The kids all got along great, and even though it rained most of the day on Saturday, we had fun hanging out while the kids played the Wii, and Linda and I even got away for several hours finding all the good deals shopping at the outlets! We spent every night playing euchre and chillin' in the hottub. The weather couldn't have been more perfect. It was in the 70's and 80's on Thursday and Friday, but cooled off quite a bit at night which made the hottub feel awesome! The kids would play in it in the morning, cuz' it wasn't too hot after being chilly all through the night. The only thing I didn't get pictures of was the night we took the kids gem mining. It was really cool and looked like a genuine mining experience - the kids had fun and brought all their "gems in the rough" back home with them. Anyway, I would highly recommend this relatively inexpensive trip if you're looking for a family getaway or a getaway with friends!


Our cabin.
The view off the main deck.
Blake taking in the view off the deck.
The 4 hot tubbers, they had a great time "swimming" in the hot tub.
Shawn and Kevin enjoyed their hot tub time too once all the kids were in bed. Notice the candles lit for ambiance while they smoked their cigars! Too funny!!!
We went to this awesome restaurant called the Apple Barn, they had shops, a candy factory and amazing food! We had all the kids sit in this gazebo by the water stream for a picture.
We noticed this place when we drove in on Wednesday. It looks like it's built upside down - really cool!
The 3 boys standing by the entrance to WonderWorks. Blake wasn't too sure about it. Inside they all played Laser Tag and then Shawn and Evan went inside the "indoor amusement park for the mind".
Evan exploring WonderWorks - here he is trying out the NASA spacesuit. They also got to see what a 7 scale earthquake would feel like, what winds feel like in a hurricane, and Shawn even tried the Bed of Nails.
Grant and Blake got to drive their own Nascars at the Nascar Speedpark. There's a video of them at the bottom of this post.
Alexis, Blake, Taylor and Grant swinging on the Nascar swings.
Evan played games inside the Nascar Arcade and scored a jackpot in tickets. He bought Taylor and Alexis unicorns with his winnings!
All the kids enjoyed the rides, they all loved this Nascar carousel.
The boys got to drive the big Nascar cars at the Speedpark, but that didn't stop them from enjoying some Wii time blowing up tanks!
Not even rain stops Shawn from grillin' out our dinner. Here he looks like the Gordon's Fisherman - we were crackin' up!

I didn't think Blake would be able to drive, but he did really well. Grant is in the first orange car (Home Depot) and Blake is in the 2nd orange car (Cingular).