Wilderness at the Smokies

For a long weekend getaway, Aaron's side of the family all met up at Wilderness at the Smokies.  We had the best time ever.  Basically, it is a huge hotel that also has an indoor waterpark inside.  There is also a pool with a lazy river outside that our room looked out over.  We had the best time.  The cousins don't get to see each other very often, so they really enjoyed the extra time together.

 The boy's in their "tree house" bunk bed

Connor and me coming down a slide together.  SOOO MUCH FUN!!!

Connor and Aaron starting the walk up ALL THE STAIRS!!!

 See them WAAAYYY up there??

And, here they come...Connor's mouth cracks me up!!!

Connor is like his mom...he loves him some water slides!!!

Three tired kids enjoying a show before bed

Three of the cousins having a blast...underwater!!

Blake trying to catch the water!

One of the big raft rides...with Grandaddy, Susie, Alex,
Alan and Joy...So much fun!!

It was getting pretty chilly, but we all braved the lazy river the last night

The front of the tube had a bottom so Blake wouldn't fall out. Great idea!!

Outside wave pool

Alright, finally our celebrity spotting...

Can you tell who it is?  Carlton from Fresh Prince of Bel Aire!!

Yes, we are FOR SURE it was him.  No question.  My brother-in-law offered my sister-in-law $100 to do the "Carlton Dance" in front of him.  Well, she was never able to get right in front of him until later that night.  Picture this...Large glass separating the "hotel" part to the eating area inside the waterpark area.  My father-in-law finds out there is money involved, he grabs Joy's phone, bangs on the glass where "Carlton" is standing and videos Joy as she does the "Carlton Dance".  Now, granted, he never turned around.  You can only see the side of his face in the video, but she did score $50 for effort!!  At least, Mark had better have paid up for that kind of effort!  

We got there on Thursday night and stayed until Sunday morning. We played from Thursday night until Saturday night.  Boy were we tired when we got home.  It was one of those vacations where you come home just plain worn out!!  But, so worth it.  I had so much fun.  I stayed back with my nephew the last two nights to continue riding rides with him (and Aaron one night and his mom one night) while the others went back to the room.  I HIGHLY recommend everyone going there at least once.  It was so worth it!!!