Smoky Mountain Vacation: Day 1 (Settling In)

For the last five years my parents have hosted a family vacation for our whole family (my sisters, their husbands and all the kids) one time per year. It is usually in a different location each year (Hilton Head, Vegas, Jacksonville, FL, St. George Island, FL) and this year we all made the trip to the Smokey Mountains in Gatlinburg, TN. It was a long drive from State College (about 12 hours including the stops), so we were ready to be there by the time we got there. The long car trip was worth it, though, when we saw the spectacular view from the cabin:

It really didn't take long of any of us to settle into "vacation" mode.

Dan made himself right at home in one of the rockers on the back porch.

We also decided to dole out Father's Day presents on that Saturday night since we were planning a big day fly fishing the next day. Here is the awesome present my sister, Kara, gave my dad.

Momo (my mom) also gave the kids a swimming pool to put out on the porch. Clearly Ellie was feeling the relaxing vibes.

Soon Lily joined her.

Kara and Tessa getting the kitchen organized and all the food put away. Each family plans and cooks 2 dinners for everyone. It's really fun.

The amazing sunset on our first evening. It was pretty cloudy most of the other evenings, so this was a real treat. So gorgeous!

Ellie and Jack's cousin, Kadence, enjoying the sunset.

Ellie loved being in a "big girl" rocking chair (I don't think she really cared about the sunset).