Weekend before last, we went to Gatlinburg for a weekend getaway with a bunch of our friends. It was actually a supposed to be a reunion for some of the people that grew up going to church together at Gooch Lane (plus their spouses and kids). Nate originally had the idea, and I volunteered to help get it organized since I enjoy planning things (Big surprise, right?). It was definitely an adventure to plan with as many people as we had interested in going. Just deciding on a location and weekend to go was complicated, but once those two things were nailed down, the rest was pretty simple. We ended up with 17 adults and 3 kids, which was perfect for the 8 bedroom cabin we rented.
The only group picture we took! This was after lunch at Apple Barn on Sunday :)
L to R: Becky, Nate, Brooklyn, me, Travis, Tyler, Alisha, Brittany C., Brittany M., Ashley, Caitlyn, Nathan, Jon H. , Aaron, Emily, Andrew, Stephanie, Jon D., Graham, and Katie
We stayed at Big Buck Lodge, and it turned out to be a great cabin for our group. It had 3 floors, and the view from the top deck was amazing! The kitchen had 2 of everything (dishwashers, ovens, fridges, etc.), which was really nice. And, the cabin was really convenient to downtown Gatlinburg and not too far from Pigeon Forge either. We loved it!
Brooklyn did great on the way up there. We ended up riding with Tyler and Alisha, and I’m still not sure how ALL our stuff fit in their car. Somehow it did though! Brooklyn was a champ on the way there, although her naps weren’t very long. I think she thought it was strange that we were in the backseat sitting next to her, and she didn’t want to miss something…haha :)
Quick nap on the way there!
Friday night was pretty low key. Our car was the first to arrive, and then everyone else started getting there a little later. A few of us girls made a trip to the grocery store to get some things we’d need. $200 seems like a lot for groceries, but not when you split it 17 ways! After most everyone had arrived, we ate supper and then played Balderdash. It was a lot of fun!
Saturday, most everyone hung around at the cabin for the morning. It was nice to not have to rush to be anywhere at a certain time. We had our big mishap of the trip that morning also. I was helping make breakfast in the kitchen, and Travis was busy doing something upstairs also. Brooklyn was walking around exploring like she loves to do these days. There was no baby gate for the stairs (and the one that Caitlyn brought didn’t fit), so the guys had blocked the stairs with some pretty tall coolers. Well, the next thing we knew, we heard a crash and Brooklyn was crying at the bottom of the stairs. She had CRAWLED OVER the coolers and fallen down the stairs (Nothing stops that little adventurer!). Travis and I both felt terrible. We don’t think she fell down the whole flight of stairs based on the noise we heard, but who knows. She had a little knot on her forehead for a couple of days, but other than that she was fine. After a few minutes of screaming, she was back to her normal rambunctious self. I felt bad the rest of the day though! :( Luckily, none of the other babies got injured while we were there :)
Speaking of the other babies…
Here are Brooklyn and Nathan “sharing” a book…haha
And, here is Brooklyn wondering why Graham is lying on that blanket. He should be up exploring the house!!
Brooklyn really wanted a sip of Daddy’s coffee!
Graham is a cutie!
Tyler is getting his practice in before November comes :)
Alisha, Nate, Emily, and Aaron
Apparently, something was funny! :)
Family picture (Brooklyn had recovered by this point) :)
After lunch, several people decided to go to the aquarium, and some of us went to go play putt putt golf. The weather on Saturday was really weird. It was sunny off and on, but mostly cloudy and really windy. It didn’t feel like May, that’s for sure! We still had fun though. We played girls against guys, and the losers had to do the dishes that night after supper…haha
Brooklyn carried around her own golf ball for part of the time!
Brooklyn had fun for about the first 9 holes just walking around the checking things out. On the back nine, she started to lose interest…
It’s always fun to ride on Daddy’s shoulders though!
The girls ended up losing (boo!), so we had dish duty that night. Luckily, we outsmarted the guys and mostly used disposable plates, cups, and silverware so that there wasn’t much to clean up :)
Nate and Travis played a quick game in the arcade before we left…
That night, we grilled burgers and hotdogs for supper, and then we played Quelf. It was only the second time I’d ever played, but it was hilarious. It’s so strange that it’s funny. We need to add it to our game collection, for sure!
Sunday after church, we all ate at Apple Barn. Brooklyn loved it! She ate a ton of food. She tried apple fritters for the first time, and they were delicious. She also ate all sorts of other food off of our plates. It was a huge meal, but really, really good.
Sunday afternoon, a few of us girls went to the outlet mall while the guys stayed at the cabin “babysitting” and watching the NBA playoff game. It was fun to have some girl time for a little while! I bought a cardigan that was 70% off at Gap (it was only $12), and another long sleeve shirt for under $1.50. I’m a big spender, I know :) That night after we got back from shopping, we ate leftovers for supper and then sang some hymns for about an hour. It was a great way to spend our last evening together.
Monday morning, we all got packed up and ready to leave. We tried to get a few pictures of the 3 babies together, but they weren’t exactly as excited about it as we were…
Nathan did NOT want to be in that chair…haha
“Get me out of here!”
The best I got of Graham and Brooklyn
Graham is always smiling. So sweet!
Two little thumbie-suckers :)
Saying bye to Emily!
Our car ride home on Monday was not quite as pleasant as the one on Friday. Brooklyn fussed for probably half of the way home. Sorry, Tyler and Alisha! She just didn’t want to be in her seat. As soon as we got home and she could run around, she was perfectly fine.
Maybe she was just sad to leave all of her friends!?
We had a really fun time with everyone! I’m so glad that everything came together and worked out so that a lot of people could come. I think everyone else really enjoyed it too. Travis was really blessed to grow up with such a great group of Christian friends, and I’m glad to be able to call them my friends now too. We don’t get to see a lot of them very often anymore, so having a whole weekend together was really special. We’d love to do this again every few years! It will be interesting to see how the group grows and changes by the time we have our second “reunion”. I’m already looking forward to it! :)
