Family Reunion in Gatlinburg, TN

We had an amazing time during our Gatlingburg, TN vacation! It was a family reunion for my Mom's family, and the first time we had seen many members of my extended family in about 3 years, which made it extra special. It took me a while to go through the 300+ pictures that I took (although I'm sure some of my cousins and others who were in attendance took more--and I can't wait to see them!!) but I'm finally sharing a little bit of that wonderful week.

We got things started with a Talent-less Show, where we were given the opportunity to showcase talents, or just idiosyncrasies. Not that we are void of talent, but what fun is real talent, when you're with family and you can just be weird? I wish I had a picture of the most unique performance of the evening, which was my 12-year-old cousin Carson playing the recorder using his nostril. Truly inspiring.

Cat chose to share her talent of "reading" nursery rhymes, which was great because she got through the first 3 just fine, then realized how much attention she was getting, and decided to make up words and giggle throughout the last two.

Jack was quite entertaining too. He loved that everyone would clap and laugh periodically, and about three seconds after the clapping or laughing ended, he would start clapping or laughing. He had a grand time!

We spent one morning geocaching, which I'd heard about but never done. The kids enjoyed it, and we had a lot of fun too. (Click here if you want to find out more.) Maybe we've found a new family hobby? There are lots of caches near where we live, so I could see us getting into it.

Cat found the first cache, so she got to choose the first prize. She wore that red necklace with pride!

The geocaching ended up going into lunch time, but we weren't willing to stop and eat lunch, so in the spirit of vacation, all the little guys got to have an ice cream. These are some of my cousins' children (2nd cousins twice removed??), a niece, nephews, and Cat. So let's see, from left to right we have Wes (2), Drew (2), Colin (5), Xavier (5), Will (8), Quinn (3), and Cat (4).

We did the "touristy" thing one night and took the skylift up a mountain. It was beautiful weather, and really fun to see the city of Gatlinburg lit up at night. Cat was a little scared, but handled it well. Jack was a sport and stayed in the Baby Bjorn the whole time. Thanks for not jumping off the chair, Jack!

At the observation point/gift shop at the top of the mountain from the skylift, me with my siblings. Megan, Susannah, and Andy. (I really can't explain the ridiculous look on Andy's face. But I think the whole week we were together in TN, he didn't take a single picture like a normal person. Let's just say, we love him anyway. But if you want to delve deeper into my brother's uniqueness, check out his blog. You won't be disappointed!)

We all spent Tuesday at "The Rock," a point in the Little Tennessee River, and part of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The water was freezing, and Jack was pretty smart not to let Megan put his feet in the river.

He eventually was willing to play on the edge of the river, mostly with the big rocks and gravel.

He also got brave enough to try to take my cousin, Brooke's (2) rocks. She didn't stand for that, though!

My grandparents, Oma and Opa, who refused to be remembered as not going in the freezing water, decided it was okay to dip their toes in, literally.

Ben and I both braved the frigid water temperatures and jumped off the rock into the river. I only needed to do it once, but Ben actually spent a lot of time jumping and playing in the river with the other polar bears. It was a fun day for the entire family!