Not Just your ordinary Family Vacation
My family vacation was like no other. One moment we were sitting in the living room watching it rain and the next hour, our bags were packed and we are ready to go to Pigeon Forge unexpectedly.
This all started because it was summer vacation and our kids were driving us crazy. So, I look at my husband and say, “let’s get out of here fast, let’s just drive”. The next hour was strictly packing and reserving a hotel room. The kids were excited, and so were my husband and I, to take our first family vacation. We call everywhere, nobody has rooms available within our budget but we had our minds set on going on this family vacation as soon as possible. We finally look up an indoor water park that has rooms available within our budget including waterpark passes, and off we go!
On the way there we run into two accidents and get stopped by three different people asking us questions, holding us up from what seems to be a vacation we will never make. Finally, ten thirty at night, after going up windy mountains and backgrounds listening to every word the GPS tells us, we arrive at our destination, exhausted.
The waterpark is immaculate as we pull up. There are two resorts on one property and then resorts surrounding that property, a golf course on one side and attractions on the other, all within feet of our hotel room. We walk into the hotel room and its small. At first glance, with our tired eyes, there is no bed, only a couch that has a pull-out bed, a TV, and a dining room table with a ten foot, what seems to be a mobile closet but we open the closet up and figure out that it is a pull-down bed, after panicking, thinking that we just wasted all our money for a pull-out couch.
The next day, 8:30 in the morning, our kids wake up, jumping on the bed, excited for what the day entails. We get our swimming attire on and head to a buffet were kids eat free. So, we gladly order two adult buffets so our kids could have a free meal. The buffet was awesome they had everything you could imagine; pancakes, chocolate chip pancakes, potato wedges, sausage, etc. We were so over joyed to go to the water park. Then we got our bill of 45.00 thinking, there has got to be a mistake kids eat free after all. We look at our receipt 20.00 per adult plus tax. It turns out kids don’t eat free after all they just add it to the adult price.
We shake it off and enjoy our vacation. Our kids have a blast, they get in the water, they go down slides they get really brave in the wave pool. My two-year-old just lets the waves hit him in the face, not a care in the world, laughing. It’s like we’ve died and went to heaven. We get finished at the water park, we go to the arcade later that evening. You must walk through it to get to the water park conveniently, the same arcade that our five-year-old cannot stop talking about. So, we spend the remainder of the day until it closes. After our vacation intoxication ended, and reality sat in, we had gone with the intention of staying in our budget. 1,200.00 later we pack our bags, clean the room. Trying to leave in a polite manner, like our mom was going to look at the room to tell us that it was clean enough. That was the end to our first official family vacation.
In conclusion, we had a blast. Spent more money than intended, but life needs those random moments of excitement sometimes to regain our sanity. This vacation was unforgettable and will be forever cherished.