Gatlinburg

After sleeping in on Tuesday morning we decided to visit Gatlinburg.  If you have been to Gatlinburg you know how crowded the little strip can be and it was hopping!  We made our first stop the candy store.  I couldn't wait to get some salt water taffy!!!  I ate an entire box almost completely by myself.  (I sort of wish I had bought more!)  Grant and Erin talked Mimi into a treat for them as well.  Grant chose a train which had a few pieces of taffy attached.  (He found the only train among a bunch of cars)  Erin chose a lollipop!  

We strolled down the street stopping in a few stores.  Gatlinburg is made up of many pancake houses, airbrush t-shirt shops, tattoo parlors, mini-golf/go cart race tracks and haunted houses.  Needless to say none of those places interest us.  Dad did, however, find a store that sold garden gnomes and found a Mrs. Auburn University garden gnome to match his current gnome.  I wish I had taken a picture of her.  I will be sure to take a snapshot of the pair next time we are over at their house swimming.

After about an hour or so Erin had fallen asleep mid-lick on her lollipop.  She must have been one tired girl!  Once we had seen all there was to see went back to Pigeon Forge.  Dad and Stephen went to a muscle car museum while mom, the kids and I tried to do some shopping at the outlet mall.  Our shopping trip was not successful.  We had to return later in the week without the children to try to attempt any serious shopping.  The stores were already filled with fall/winter clothing and with that kind of weather not hitting us here in Florida until December I wasn't in the mood to buy anything.  I did find out that Grant now has an opinion on what type of shoes he wants to wear.  I purchased him a pair of new shoes that I ended up having to return because he did not like them.  He only wants light up shoes....loud, tacky light up shoes.  I don't mind them for playtime, but he seriously needs some more, shall we say, neutral shoes for nicer occasions.   We are still trying to find him some tennis shoes that we both like : )