Gatlinburg

Last weekend we took off to the Smokey Mountains for a little R&R. It's only about a 3 1/2 hour drive and the kids did wonderful! They fell asleep after the first hour and by the time we hit the base of the mountain they woke up to this pack(?) of deer. From that point on they were totally engrossed with the landscape -- snow, icicles, tunnels.

We stayed in Gatlinburg, but spent some time shopping in Pigeon Forge. We also took these cute pix of the kids.

We spent most of one day in the indoor water park and most of the next on the playground.

On the way home we took a short "hike." The kids were having fun until McKenzie took a spill in the mud. It wasn't that bad, except maybe from her point of view. "Is that poop?" she asked looking at her hand. I felt bad but had to keep from laughing as we trudged back to the car to clean her up. Alex and Justin pressed forward for a few more photo ops.

Near the base of the mountain we saw a herd of wild turkeys (but they were too fast to get a picture) and, again, a family of deer. Aren't they beautiful? Ah, nature . . .