Going up in smoke

Last week we "escaped" to the Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee at the invitation of our friends Jon & Karen and we had a great time!  Last year just us two couples went, but since then they have had their first baby and so this year we made it a family affair.  Noah was definitely one of the big attractions of the trip. :)

 

We enjoyed lots of games and some pool time -- there is an indoor/outdoor heated pool which was lots of fun, and they guys enjoyed lots of ball playing.  I myself preferred the hot tubs!

One night we made a quick trip into downtown Gatlinburg to pick up food from the best Chinese restaurant we've found yet.  While we were there, we took the kids to an old-fashioned candy shop and let them each get some cotton candy (and no, David's did not have rum in it...he was just blinking in this picture!).

We also showed them the 5 ton granite ball suspended on water.  They were duly impressed and had fun pushing it around.

I forgot to take pictures of us with our fabulous Chinese dinner or the grown-ups' Mahjong tournament that followed...but here is the whole clan before the kids went to bed.

On the morning we were leaving, we woke up to an inch or so of snow!  It was just enough to lend some magic to the landscape without stranding us there due to messy roads.  This is the chalet we stayed at while we were there.

 Here's the view from our balcony (see the mountain peak hiding behind the "smoke"?).

 And this is a full view of the mountain range behind us.

Thanks to Jon and Karen for another great Tennessee visit!