Spring Break 2022- Asheville (Part 2)

We left the Smoky Mountains and headed towards Asheville. We stopped for lunch at Sierra Nevada Brewery. 

The food was delicious!

It was such a gorgeous day that we hung out for the afternoon. The kids played bocce ball and corn hole. It was a great afternoon out in the sunshine!

We left Sierra Nevada to check into our glamping dome. The kids were so excited to check it out!

The sun was starting to set when we got there. 

These two are too funny!

The Dunn's arrived to check out the glamping dome and hang out for the night. 

We had a dance party with the kids that night and it was an absolute blast! 

Then we woke up in our heated blankets to the most gorgeous sunrise. Seriously nothing beats this view!

Michael and I went back to bed after the sunrise for another hour until all the kids woke up. They all slept in which was really nice!

I caught this little one outside reading. 

Then we headed to brunch at Early Girl Eatery. It was delicious. 

After brunch we went out on a great hike to Catawba Falls. 

After the hike we headed to a delicious brewery, Bhramari Brewery, where we snacked on appetizers for dinner. 

Michael tried out the Baby Shark sour beer called "Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo" which the kids thought was hilarious. 

Great start to our Asheville Vacation!

Spring Break 2022- Great Smoky Mountains National Park (Part 1)

For the first weekend of Spring Break we rented a cabin in the Smoky Mountains with the Dunn's. We didn't plan this until a day before we left! There was a lot of snow expected in Nashville early on Saturday morning. We thought it would be a mess to try and drive in the snow with everyone else leaving for spring break, so we quickly packed on Friday morning and headed out after school. We arrived pretty late in Sevierville. The kids were excited to see the cabin. I think they counted 90 bears throughout the whole cabin!

We were pretty snowed in on Saturday so we just played in the house and spent a lot of time in the hot tub. 

 

Conor participated in some kind of ice challenge. It looked like an awful idea to me! 

On Sunday we hiked Laurel Falls with the Dunn's and Brumfield's. The trail was fine for most of the way, but as we got towards the top it became very icy. A lot of people turned around but we attempted it. There were definitely a few falls from the younger ones. It was really crowded at the top and pure ice, so we snapped a very quick picture and tried to make our way back down. Caitie was pretty nervous about the ice and was in no mood to smile. 

We enjoyed a delicious lunch by the fire after a pretty cold hike! After lunch we made it to our usual spot at the Gatlinburg Trail. I love seeing these pictures over the years of my littles! 

We hung out in the hot tub for the rest of the night and then roasted s'mores by the fire. 

The next morning as we were packing up the car we heard a neighbor yell that there was a bear really close. It was just steps away from us! Since we were packing up food, we threw it in the car and ran inside. Unfortunately, I left my phone in the car with the food so I didn't get any great pictures. The bear was right outside on our porch and was a little bit scary! 

Michael took this picture of the bear right as he crossed back over the driveway to the cabin. 

It was such a fun weekend and I am so glad we decided to make it work last minute!