Sunday, April 10, 2011

Tourists!!

As much as we loved our time spent in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park we still played the part of tourists and had fun in Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, too!

Chris and I took Asher to the Gatlinburg Aquarium one day.  It was awesome!  It was the cold and rainy day so we got their early and enjoyed seeing everything up close before it got too full.  Asher loved all the fish and penguins!

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SHARKS!

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The aquarium had the coolest shark tank/tube that you walked through!  The sharks were enormous!

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PENGUINS!

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JELLYFISH!

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A HIGHLIGHT of our trip was Dolly Parton’s Dixie Stampede.  We were expecting it to be fun, and possibly a little corny.  And though it was a bit hokey, it was definitely even MORE fun that we expected!!  It’s basically a western/country-themed dinner show.  I had to turn my flash off to take pictures so some of these shots are blurry, but hopefully you get the idea!

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Asher woke up the next morning talking about the buffalo!

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Part of the show was a competition between the North and South… Linnea and Karin got REALLY into the competition.  Sadly the South beat ‘us’ by a point!

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Asher had SO MUCH FUN at the Dixie Stampede.  He was cheering and talking and laughing the whole time.

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Dessert!  (After a huge dinner.)

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Checking out a horse after the show.

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Dolly… in all her glory!!

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Another favorite part of our trip was Dollywood!!!  We didn’t know what to expect and Chris who is an amusement park snob even LOVED it!  The park is super clean and so pretty!  The employees are friendly and the rides were really fun.  All in all, it was probably my favorite day of vacation!!  It was our hottest day and we even got sunburned… a little taste of summer!

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Asher loved the steam engine!  It was completely authentic and took us up the mountain.  So fun!

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By the grace of God I fit in the back of this little duck… the things we do for our kids!

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Asher rode the pigs alone and had a blast!  He is still talking about riding the pigs!

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I LOVE his expression here!

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Chris, Adam, and Linnea rode the big coasters!

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The park had lots of kiddie playgrounds and splash parks which were a hit with Asher.

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What is vacation without ice cream?!

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SUCH a fun day!!  We spent ALL day at the park and still didn’t see/do everything. 

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