Fall Break 2016: A Tale of Gatlinburg, Chattanooga, and Lost Teeth

Fall Break was a few weeks ago. I wrote this out right after it was over, but I just finished compiling the pics. So here it is, my Fall Break recap on a super fun family week (just a couple of weeks late)!

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I've been trying to figure out when Fall Break became such a "thing." I honestly don't remember it growing up. Maybe we got a random long weekend when teachers had an in-service, but I really don't think there was this big weeklong break when I was in school. My theory is that it's because school starts sooooo early now (Lissie started August 10, but many of her friends started August 1!), so a long break is a necessity for teachers and students' sanities! (My personal vote would've been to start school later.....just saying.)

Anyway, as much of a "beach gal" that I am, I guess you could say that I'm more of a summer beach person than any other time of year. I know lots of folks who are spending their breaks at 30A or somewhere equally beachy. To me, as fun as that sounds in the summer, when it's fall, I'm ready for something else. And what better way to celebrate Fall but to head to the Smokies to watch the beautiful leaves start to turn amidst the backdrop of the gorgeous smoke-hazed mountains?

Actually, I originally wasn't planning on doing much during Fall Break. I figured Justin would probably be working, so I thought that we would maybe just take a day trip to Chattanooga or take advantage of some of the local fun stuff that we haven't done since starting school.

But when we went to Michigan over Labor Day, I got to talking to my cousin-through-marriage Penny who graciously told me that we were more than welcome to stay at her Gatlinburg chalet some time. I filed that in the back of my head, thinking that it might come in handy some far off day. Then Justin got his work schedule for the week that included Fall Break, and he just happened to have a few random days mid-week available. On a whim, I contacted my cousin who just so happened to have availability when we wanted to go, and so Fall Break 2016 started to become more exciting than I had originally anticipated!

Before we even left for our trip, the fun started the weekend before with a fun park outing with some of our favorite friends. Then, since I felt like lighting up the fire pit and enjoying the fall weather, we decided to have some friends over for a last minute pizza and s'mores night. The next day, Lissie finished her cross country season with a huge bang: she got a personal record AND placed 25th out of the kindergarten girls!

Impromptu Pizza and S'mores night with friends!

What a great way to wrap up her first CC season!

On Tuesday, we loaded up the car after breakfast and drove the 4-ish hours straight to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, where we hiked to Grotto Falls - the only waterfall in the Smokies that you can walk behind. The kids did awesome hiking the 2.6 miles roundtrip! We were hoping to spot a black bear, but alas, not this time. Afterwards, we drove to Penny's absolutely charming chalet to have dinner and get settled for the next few nights.

And yet again, we manage to fill the car to the brim
for just a quick little getaway.

The next day, after taking our time waking up (and I even managed to enjoy some beautiful alone time on the deck reading, praying, and reflecting!) and having a yummy pancake and sausage breakfast, we decided to take the trolley into downtown Gatlinburg to explore. Of course, the kids loved the trolley just as much as they loved peeking into the many candy stores to watch the saltwater taffy be made and look for fudge samples! Afterwards, we went back to the chalet to recharge and have lunch before heading to Dollywood at 3pm to take advantage of their Arrive after 3 and get the Next Day Free special! Since the park was only open until 6, we spent most of our time at the County Fair section of the park since it had rides that both kids could ride. And ride they did! They had so much fun and were so excited that they could come back the next day to stay the whole day! We had planned on grilling steak for dinner this night, but we opted to take it easy after such a busy day and picked up some Big Daddy's pizza on the way home. We even managed to play a few games before we crashed for the evening.

Big Breakfast!

Lounging on the back deck

Thursday was our last day in the Smokies. We ate another hearty breakfast to sustain us for a full day in Dollywood and loaded up the car for our return trip home. We had a wonderful time at the chalet, and I'm so grateful that it worked out that we could've stayed there. It really was the perfect place to enjoy some time with the family to relax, make memories, and enjoy the beautiful backdrop of the mountains.

Dollywood was also so much fun. Even for my 4 and 5 year old, there was so much to do! Lissie, especially, had a blast riding all of the roller coasters with Daddy - taking full advantage of the shorter lines and riding her favorites multiple times in a row! Xavier, too, had a great time playing in all of the play areas and splashpads, riding some of the miniature coasters himself, and taking a power nap on the Dollywood Express.

These two were daredevil - they rode on all the rides!

Meanwhile, this guy loved riding the mini coasters all by himself!

And making me ride on the dizzy cups!

This water ride was a family favorite!
It reminded me of the Grizzly River Rampage at Opryland.

Probably the greatest memory we'll have of our time in Dollywood is that this is the place where Lissie lost her first tooth! (She had been so scared when she discovered her first two loose teeth over two weeks ago and refused to wiggle them or eat with them for fear of them falling out. Well, she was playing around in line at the bumper cars, hit her chin, and ended up with two more loose teeth! Finally, one of them popped right out during lunch, and she was thrilled because 1) it didn't hurt after all, and 2) it happened at Dollywood, making it an extra memorable experience!)

Look at that little gap!
(Note: just a few weeks later, she's lost two more!)

We ended up staying until the park closed again, partly because we wanted to get our money's worth, but mostly because we didn't want to head home just yet. We were all having a great time and didn't want the fun to end. The kids crashed almost as soon as we got back in the car, waking up to eat a quick fast food dinner, and then falling back asleep for the rest of the drive. They barely woke up when we got home - just enough to make sure we put Lissie's tooth somewhere safe for the Tooth Fairy to find!

Friday, again on somewhat of a whim since I didn't decide to do this until a few days prior, the kids and I set out in the car again for yet another road trip! This time a little day trip to Chattanooga. I wanted to do this for two reasons: 1) we have a membership to the Aquarium that I wanted to make sure we utilize as often as we can, and 2) my college roommate was going to be there to do a 10-mile swim, and I wanted to be sure to see her to show my support. It was my first solo (Justin had to work) road trip with the kids, but by now the kids are road trip experts that this two-hour journey was pretty easy-peasy. We left after breakfast. We made sure to see the stingrays, butterflies, and penguins before meeting Ashley for coffee and snacks and to catch up. Afterwards, the kids decided they wanted to play in the water instead of go back to the aquarium, so we spent the rest of the afternoon splashing in the play areas outside of the aquarium and also at Ross's Landing. We left around 4:30, and the kids snoozed most of the way home. It was a great semi-last-minute adventure. The kids did awesome, and I was so glad to see Ashley, even if it was just for a brief moment!