Charlie's Gatlinburg, TN birthday trip

#charlieandcrewtravels | Our tradition for birthday's continues this year. Each year the kiddos pick a destination or adventure to go on for their birthday. The memories have been amazing. This year, our mountain loving boy Charlie, wanted to head back to the Smoky Mountains.  You can find out about Meredith's birthday trip HERE as well!

With having our baby boy on the way, my pregnancies tend to bring about some conditions like the return of Hyperemesis Gravidarum. Having this delayed us a bit heading on the trip until we knew both baby and I were safe to do so. Once we had the ok to travel from my midwife and planned accordingly, we packed the kids and dogs up and headed to a cute cabin in the mountains. 

Our goal was simple with this trip. Relax, explore and eat fun. The kids love the Little Pigeon River. A big portion of our outing time spent was exploring the river and walking the bridges and trails by it. Looking at the fish (and a snake!), walking in the shallow water and trying to cross it. They were so proud that they completed the mission of crossing the river. 

Fun tip: If you are planning time spent playing with kids in the river, be sure to pack some water shoes like these seen here, your kiddos swimming suits or water-resistant clothes to change into, a towel, bottles of clean water and hand-sani to clean up after.

    

Of course, a trip to Smoky Mountain National Park is not complete without reaching the top of the mountain. We headed to Newtons Gap overlook and took in the sites. 

We also headed to downtown Gatlinburg, TN. The busy city strip full of fun shopping, entertainment like Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies and tasty eats like the Smoky Mountain Fudge Shop. 

Evenings were spent at the cabin. We enjoyed a campfire firepit, talking to the raccoon that lived in the tree next to our cabin, some family games like monopoly and the air hockey table. Head to my story highlights on Instagram HERE for some of the fun in action.

All in all, it was a perfect blend of relaxing and exploring to celebrate our Charlie turning 12. It was a needed little getaway for our family to make some memories.

Let me know in the comments below what your favorite thing to do is in the gorgeous Smoky Mountains of Gatlinburg, TN?