Another Fun Gatlinburg Weekend

 

This group showed up for an "Aunt Jodi" hiking weekend in Gatlinburg this past weekend.  We had people from Boston, Nashville, Chattanooga, Cookeville, Knoxville, and Cincinnati under one roof together.  What a great time we had!

I'm linking up with Sarah and Holly for Hello Monday.  These are fun bloggers to keep up with so when you are finished here, head over to their blogs to see what they have been up to.

The "adults" (those paying for the weekend ;) ) arrived around 4 p.m. and had a couple of quiet hours before the other 11 arrived -- all had to work Friday. . .welcome to adulting!!

Love being with my sister!

We enjoyed some time on the porch in front of the fire enjoying the views before putting together some guacamole to go with the queso, chicken, chips, rice, and salsa we made for the "eat when you get here" dinner we put together for the crew: 

Finally, by 9 p.m., all four of our kids and one of my nieces were there bringing 6 friends total with them.  It was so much fun.  

We are a game-playing family:

Look at the sunrise in January in East TN:

Saturday morning we were all late-sleepers (unusual) and didn't hit the first trail until 9:30!

My sister getting a picture of "all the kids". . .I stayed back for the morning hike -- I wanted to get the place picked up, breakfast put away, and lunch ready for them when they got back.

This was the first crew back. . .they had to take two vehicles to the hiking site (but it was close -- 10 minutes maybe?)

There was also a terrific game room at this place:

I just realized I didn't get pictures of the rest. . .there was foosball, a television, arcade games, a great bluetooth speaker. . .it was awesome!

Saturday afternoon several of us went back out for a "short" afternoon hike -- one I joined them on:

Our two oldest went out with us for the second round :)

Look at these good sports posing for two pictures for me -- a little less bundled up bunch at the "overlook" ;). I'm sure there's a lot more to see in other seasons :)

Headed back to watch some basketball, football, and a few naps in this large living room:

And dinner of salad, stuffed shells, and meatballs (remember all the cooking Tom and I did last weekend?)

And these girls twinning for their post-hot tub lounging:

They were good sports this weekend -- because of the guy/girl ratio we ended up short beds and these two took those comfy sofas in the living room area.

Yes, this place had a hot tub AND movie-viewing area (no pictures of either -- I didn't do those things).

Fridge on Friday vs Fridge on Sunday. . .we brought (and ate) A LOT.  

This was Sunday's breakfast -- leftover casserole from the day before and hot ham sandwiches.  Everyone made sandwiches to take on the road and we headed back out into the beautiful morning:

Confession:  a little over a mile in I wanted to turn back (all uphill and I am NOT a hiker) so Tom went back to the vehicles with me:

We took up all four of the parking places at this spot!

I read a few chapters in my book and we just spent some quiet time together.

I also was perusing weather around us and what we were going back to:

(Cosby was were we were) My sister driving into snow and the rest of us heading into clouds and yuck.  We were so lucky to have those blue skies in Gatlinburg!

A last picture with most of us before heading west and north. . .

These four friends who live in Chattanooga, Cookeville, and Knoxville

And these two (of four) University of Tennessee students we had on this trip :)

Lunch in the parking lot and then we were off!

We stopped in Knoxville to have (a second!) lunch with Nana and Grandpa and then back home -- us to unpack a truck full of gear, the kids back to school and work (and one flying home to Boston from Nashville).  

Look what poor Jodi went home to:

Tom and I spent the evening watching football (WHO DEY Bengals!!) and I needed to catch up on a little work and get this blog post up :). We missed our doggie and I always miss my kiddies after getting to be with them all weekend but glad that they are thriving where they are.  

That's it for today friends. . .not much on tap for this week and then a weekend at home.  That is good stuff this time of year in this season of my life!

Love,

Jenni