This year we did a repeat location. In 2006 we stayed and played in Gatlinburg, TN and we loved it so much that we decided to go back this year. One of the big draws are the huge family-sized cabins you can rent. The first year we got an 8-bedroom one for everyone + 2 sets of grandparents, but since we've expanded significantly in the past 5 years (2 new spouses and 8 new grandkids) we needed to stretch out a bit. So we got a 4-bedroom cabin for my siblings and their spouses who have kids, and then a littler 3-bedroom one 20 yards away for the no-kids group. We now officially total 14 adults and 14 grandkids. CRAZY! I love this picture- the women cooking and eating in the kitchen, the men in the back corner...
...playing board games. (Jessica gets counted as one of the men since she kicked their trash in nearly every game.)
Where are the kids? They're in the basement!!! Okay so you can't blame them for spending almost every waking moment that we were there, in the basement. This basement rocked! A full surround-sound theatre room, an air hockey table, a pool table, another TV with cable, 2 full-sized arcade games and lots of room for toys. It was so nice to hear loud yells of joy coming from the basement but not really hear from them much other than that.
Baby Jillian was the exception. She didn't venture into the basement but instead just sacked out anywhere she could find a floor. I need a child like this- so cute, female, and sleeps, sleeps, sleeps.
There were a few problems with these cabins. The first was the garbage. You were supposed to leave it outside every morning and it would be picked up. Unfortunately the local black bears were aware of this arrangement and came by every morning (and sometimes in the afternoons) to sample our leftovers. We even loaded up an SUV with all the guys and their loads of trash and sent them off to find a trash bin. No luck! So it all came back and the bears got their feast.
It probably didn't help that we used the picnic table in the gazebos to feed the kids and they tend to drop a few things. The last problem with the cabins were these crazy huge, the size of my index finger long hornets. Apparently they grow that big on years when there are cicadas. And the cicadas were in full force and so were these hornets. Bizarre to see them carry full cicadas back to their nests to eat them.
We all arrived at various times on Saturday and then Sunday morning went to the local ward together. Unfortunately the internet hadn't been updated and we ended up in a spanish branch- really fun for me and a few others, Ethan included, but not so much the rest.
We played games and settled in the rest of the day and when the kids were finally going stir-crazy, the men took them on a walk way-way-way down the mountain and then back up.
The littlest kids slept in the parent's rooms and then the rest slept in basements. Ethan and Isaac were in heaven getting to talk and giggle and play with their cousins until we finally made them go to sleep. The adults enjoyed random movies, games, and some good family history books.
So nice to find a place big enough that we could stretch out and be comfortable but also all be together for meals and hanging out time.
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