Gatlinburg in the Fall

Our first stop on the way into town was in Pigeon Forge at Parrot Mountain. The reviews on Trip Advisor were outstanding.

Our favorite part was holding and feeding the parrots. Only Josh got pooped on.

Jackson and Aaron were afraid to hold them but I did manage to talk Aaron into it.

My highlight of the day was this scene. Addy and I went into the parakeet cage and were swarmed by birds. We had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. I died laughing.

In the evening we went to the WonderWorks magic show. So awesome! The kids said it was the best thing we did. I got half price tickets from groupon. The show even had a Christian message at the end.

Day 2 we woke up early and went into the Great Smokey Mountain National Park. There's a rainbow in this picture!

We hiked to Laurel Falls.

This was our 2nd time hiking this trail and Benny's 1st time.

Crazy beautiful views of the mountains and fall colors.

The only wildlife we saw were turkeys, lots of them. And we did see a baby bear dead on the side of the road...sad.

This is the 1/2 mile hike up to Clingman's Dome, the highest point in Tennessee.

The view on the way back down.

We stopped by the side of the road to let the kids play in the river. The water was freezing but they all still got wet.

Back at the hotel the kids went swimming. We stayed on the strip and walked to dinner at the Mellow Mushroom. Then took a ride on the Skylift.

Day 3 we woke up early again and had our free hotel breakfast. Then headed to the Roaring Fork Motor Trail.

We stopped to enjoy these falls.

And to explore some old homesites near this creek. Love this picture!

We had to make another visit to the Ripley's Believe It or Not museum. Jackson's favorite exhibit was the shrunken human head.

Before heading home we had lunch, chips and salsa on the roof with a mountain view. On our way home we visited the kid's favorite gem shop and they mined.

Everyone slept on the ride home. And I'm so happy to report no puking the entire weekend!