A Cabin in the Smokies

We arrived Friday afternoon in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. Six days and nights in the Smoky Mountains with Rollie's parents and his sister Stacy, her husband Joel, and their four kids. We had rented a 3,000 square foot cabin for the week and it was beautiful. There were 3 levels, each with a balcony, and a hot tub on one of them. Three king bedrooms, each with it's own bath, and the upper floor was a game room/living room/loft bedroom with bunks and sofa sleepers for the older kids.

 the view from one of our decks

 Lydia and Ben waiting on the deck for their cousins to arrive!

 all the kids enjoying the pool table... even the big kids :)

Rollie's parents flew in from Minneapolis where they were ready for a week's vacation after spending a week at Stacy and Joel's after the birth of their 4th child, Evelyn Ruth (now 6 weeks old) and a week watching our kids while we were in the UK. Stacy and Joel and their 4 kids drove from Bowling Green, KY, just 4 hours away. The cousins were so excited to play together and it's really fun that they are so close in age. Edith is 4, Lydia and Clay are 3 (just 4 weeks apart), Ben and Adelle are 1 1/2 (3 weeks apart), and sweet little Evelyn was just 6 weeks old (I had told Stacy that I wasn't getting pregnant at the same time as her that time around :) Evelyn was hands-down the quietest, easiest kid last week. Rollie and I are wondering how we can get a newborn like that the next time around. (No, that's NOT an announcement!)

Here are some family/cabin pictures:

  Adelle, Rollie and Ben

hanging out!

 The loft bedroom/gameroom on the top floor

Ben giving us his cheesy smile from the huge wood staircase

Lydia was so excited to hold baby Evelyn!

 Stacy and Adelle

Ben "helping" Grandma zip her hoodie

sweet Adelle

Edith, Lydia and Ben helping Grandma and Grandpa make pancakes for breakfast

Rollie's dad is the breakfast guy. He made great breakfasts every day and then Ruth, Stacy and I made the rest of the meals. The guys took the kids to the park one afternoon. We all went to a community center one morning to go swimming and play basketball. Another day our family and Stacy's family drove up to the highest point in the Smoky Mountains, had a picnic, and hiked the last 1/2 mile to the top. The kids watched movies and ate popcorn and helped me to make chocolate chip cookies. Stacy, Ruth, Edie and I went to the nearby outlet mall during the kids' naptime one day. We just had a LOT of good, laidback, quality family time. It was wonderful!