A Thousand Word Thursday...Our Mini Vacation to Wilderness at the Smokies

We spent Wednesday thru Friday at Wilderness at the Smokies last week. We had reserved a multi-room suite with a King size bed in a hotel that is across the street from the one where the waterpark is actually located.  When we went to check in we found out that they were upgrading us to the main hotel, but we would have a Queen size bed.  I was reluctant, but since the upgrade room also included a full kitchen we decided to take it.  As soon as we got to the room, the kids got into their swimsuits & we headed down to check out the waterpark.

Marissa & Melanie were thrilled to lay down in the shallow water & pretend to be mermaids.

Next they checked out the little kids slides....

Morgan hung out with them for a few minutes, checking out all the features of this section, then was eager to try the BIG slides.

Maggie stood under the 750 gallon bucket to get wet for the first time, then she went off with Morgan to the BIG tubes & slides

I didn't buy a waterproof camera so these are all the pictures I took in the water.  It was very damp & misty in the pool areas, I was afraid I would damage my camera.

That night we ate at the Thirsty Miner Restaurant.  It is located in the hotel, right next to the waterpark.  Wednesday, they didn't have their buffet, so we received one free kids meal for each adult meal purchased from the menu.  Two adult meals, one kids meal (plus 2 free kids meals) and 6 drinks ended up costing $45.....a bit expensive but the portions were large and the convenience of not having to leave the hotel was worth it.  I took these pictures from the window of the restaurant....

This is the wave pool on the left and the toddler area on the right

Across from the wave pool was the surf rider and the kids slides.  Marissa got to try out wake boarding on Wednesday night.  Technically she was a little too short, but she absolutely LOVED it.  I wish I had been able to get a picture.  Morgan and Maggie both tried wakeboarding and surfing.  It took until Friday before they could stand on the board for more than a second or two.

I didn't get any pictures of the BIG slides or of the indoor/outdoor hot tub.  Hubby and I spent a lot of time in the hottub.....it was HUGE. 

Thursday morning we woke up to THIS

We watched it from the window, then got in our swimsuits and went back to the waterpark for the day.