Pancakes and Icicles

We finally made it to The Pancake Pantry for my long-awaited pancakes.  I am happy to report that I can check one more item off my list.  I skipped the chocolate chip pancakes and picked pecan instead, but Reed and Caroline ordered them so I had a few bites.

They were as yummy as I remember.  Cole ordered M&M pancakes with peanut butter syrup (he could only handle about 3 bites, then switched to his dad's omelette) and Brooks ordered parisienne pancakes.

We waited about 15 minutes in 30° weather just to get a table.  The wait was twice as long by the time we left!

After breakfast, we dropped by the Sugarlands Visitor Center to plan our hike for the day.  Tim and I were optimistic that we could still get to the Chimneys despite the cold weather.  However, the ranger discouraged us.  She said it had been down to 1° that night, so about a mile into the hike it would be treacherous.  Since we had our fearless Cole along for the hike, we decided we should revise our plan.

We headed up to Newfound Gap, the place where FDR dedicated the Smoky Mountain National Park in 1934.

  We stood on the North Carolina/Tennessee border and had a snowball fight! 

Mt. LeConte had over 7" the night before - glad we got to hike it a few weeks ago!

After our making a mini-snowman for the car, we drove down the mountain a bit to play with the GIANT icicles! Cole was in heaven, running from ledge to ledge, collecting as much ice as he could.

Brooks and Reed had a blast making it snow - they just forgot how cold it can be when the snow goes down your shirt!

Our hike on the Appalachian Trail never came to fruition, but that's ok. 

 We had a great time in the snow, and a warm and cozy afternoon watching movies and playing games in the cabin.  We watched The Christmas Story for the very first time.  It was great!  We've been quoting lines from it all week.

On our way out of town on Sunday, we stopped by WonderWorks for a little more fun.  It was 3 hours of action - much better than I ever expected!  I'm not a museum girl, but this one was well worth our time.

Caroline and I tried the piano...

They were ready to experience an earthquake...

and we all had fun lying on a bed of nails...

Funny, the kids all laughed and said the nails "didn't even hurt"!  I personally thought the bed was quite prickly.  I'll take my comfy bed over this one any day!