Christmas Baskets and Dollywood

Yesterday was a very busy day for us! First on the agenda, Will's mom came over and stayed with the kids while me and Will went to the church to work on the Christmas Baskets and Blessings in a Box. We helped put all those together and then helped deliver them. I know it is always such a blessing to be able to give to people in need. We were glad that we were able to help again this year and were glad that Diana came over to watch the kids for us.

After we got home we got the kids ready to head to Dollywood for the afternoon and evening. It was going to be a fast trip there and a cold one, but we all wanted to see the lights there and see Santa!

Nonnie rode up with us and Kimberly and Benji and their kids rode up in their car. We all got there around 3:00 I think and headed into the park.

Our first stop was the Polar Express 4D ride. Taylor was finally tall enough to ride in the motion seats and she was so excited and felt like such a big girl! Her and Abigail were super cute sporting their 3D glasses. Nonnie took Liam with her to the non-motion seats and I think he behaved pretty good for her!

The ride took forever and we waited for like an hour and a half just to ride. It was worth it though to hear Taylor's little laughs coming from the seat in front of me! She had a blast!

The next stop was to see this guy. My kids have had issues with Santa in the past and I have had to be in the picture with them. But this year, after standing in line for over an hour, they hopped right up in his lap and told them what they wanted. It was really cute. I didn't plan on buying one of their pictures, but then decided that I probably wouldn't get to take the kids to see the Mall Santa this year so I better go ahead and buy it! It turned out really cute!

The next stop was to ride a few rides. Taylor was tall enough to ride the swings, so I rode the swings with her in freezing weather! BRRRR! It was so cold! I had my hood up and completely covering my face the whole time! Taylor loved it!

Then we all rode the Scrambler. That is me and Taylor on it in the picture above. Liam rode with Will and he always has fun on that ride!

Next we rode the carousel and then headed to a good spot to watch the parade of lights. We had excellent seats for the parade, but I will have to admit that I was a little disappointed with it. It was extremely short and kinda not worth the wait. But oh well, I think the kids enjoyed it and that is all that mattered!

We also stood around and waited on the light show by the water. By this time the kids were getting very tired and very hungry. It was 9:00 and they hadn't eat supper yet and I was getting cranky and we all just wanted to go home!

This was Liam on the way out. He normally never stays covered up, but he was so cold that this is how he rode the whole way out to the tram. I thought it was so cute!

We got in the van and headed to Taco Bell. I think the kids ended up eating nachos and 2 tacos. They were so hungry! They both fell asleep on the way home of course. We had a great day at Dollywood and really enjoyed seeing all the lights and Christmas decorations. I hope if we get to go next year that we pick a day that we don't have to be so rushed and a day that isn't so cold!