Where to go on Spring Break?  That is a question that has fewer answers when you are traveling with an infant, especially an infant with special needs.  Making it even more difficult, we want to make sure the vacation is fun for a 14, 11, and 3 year old.  Sounds impossible, right?  Well, we tried and this year, we decided to pack up and head to Gatlinburg, Tennessee!  It’s not the beach, but some refer to it as the Myrtle Beach of the mountains, so close enough!

The vacation was filled with some great memories for all.  We headed to Dollywood, which was great for the big kids with roller coasters and water rides.  It was also great for the little kids with merry-go-rounds and mini pirate ships.  A big hit on the trip was the mountain coaster!  The bigger kids had a blast flying down the track with their own cars controlling there own speed – the feel of independence with fresh mountain air blowing in your face!  Everyone had a great time at the Pirate’s Voyage dinner show.  Acrobatics, diving, sword fighting and eating chicken with your bare hands – what could be better.

The one day I was looking forward to the most, which was the day that the kids and Courtney were looking forward to the least, was hiking day.  I grew up hiking and camping with my family and love being outside and going on hikes, specifically if there is a waterfall on the other end of the hike.  As far as I was concerned, we weren’t going to go to Smokey Mountain National Park and not go on a hike in the fresh mountain air.  So off we go to take a short hike (some may argue that “short” is a relative term) to a beautiful waterfall.  This would be both Hayden and Camryn’s first hiking experience.

As a parent, one of the greatest feelings in the world is seeing the joy in your child’s face when they are doing something they love.  I’ll be honest and tell you that I wasn’t expecting the reaction we got out of Hayden when we strapped her into her hiking backpack (thanks Uncle Chris!).  Once she was strapped in and on my back, she grinned from ear to ear.  She was seeing the world from a new vantage point was something that gave her great joy – which gave us great joy.  We have found something that she enjoys and that is one of the happiest moment of our vacation.

Here’s to many more hikes, Haydeybear!

With love,

Matt