Keepin' up with the Kranzes: Smoky Mountain Vacay

Last week we took a little vacation to the Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge area in the Smoky Mountains. We had good company, not so great weather, not a lot of sleep (ahem, BEN!), but loads of fun. You know, the funny thing about vacationing in Pigeon Forge is that it is a really familiar area. We used to go there all the time as a family when we were kids, and have continued to go back as adults. As wide-eyed youth, everything is big and wonderful and exciting! By the time we were heading there in college, you could really gain a good laugh at how "touristy" some of the things are. I'm a sucker for a tourist trap...Mystery Hole, anybody? But now, as a parent, I have a renewed sense of awe at the splendor of giant man made waterfalls towering over elaborate putt-putt courses, carnival carousels on the main strip, pancake houses aplenty, and just about any other oddity that a young mind might find fascinating. Thank goodness for children.

Case in point: Goats on the Roof

What it is: a crap store, selling crap souvenirs

Their gimmick: the have live goats living on their roof. You buy some feed, pedal it up to the goats. A bell rings when the food reaches the top, and goats come running.

Unbelievable.

Natalie and Pa were Goat Rangers!

Nat's legs couldn't reach both pedals at the same time.

Teamwork got those hungry goats their food.

wow.

she could manage the hand crank a little better

Then we did some exploring of old cabins tucked neatly in the mountains and woods.

We opted out of the usually crowded Cades Cove drive this time, for this gem of a drive that Mimi, Pa & Aunt Beth discovered on their last visit. Much less traffic.

There was minimal traffic on the drive. The top speed was about 15mph. And the road was one way. Combine all that with frequent stops, and the kids got some freedom from their car seats.

Beth suggested we go in on this one with them. Kind of like a duplex.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park

One bonus to vacationing with all the kids is that sometimes they just

behave a little better for someone else.

Jack and I hiked back to check out that little creek above at one of the stops. He wasn't buying it.

on our last full day, we went to Dollywood!

I am in LOVE with Dollywood. It is just the cutest place. It is clean, clean, clean! The staff were all so friendly, and they had lots to do. Way more than we could have hoped to have done in a day. Because we had the kids, we stuck to the rides they could do. But there is plenty of big roller coasters to have kept just the adults occupied, plus shopping, shows, you name it. Plus, it's adorable!

there's the gang just inside the park

Of course the kids were sold as soon as they saw the Dollywood Express

a real steam engine that chugged 5 miles through the mountains

Nat passed out not 4 minutes into the ride

but she recovered when she saw the carousel!

Ben elected not to sleep at night, so he missed most of the early part of the park

because he was napping.

partners in crime

you can't tell from Jack's face here, but if it were up to him, he'd probably still be riding that duck ride. It was the worst moment of his life when that ride ended and Beth dragged him off of it.