Spring Break 2021 - Day 3

Our 3rd day in Gatlinburg was also Zoe’s 4th birthday! We started the day with birthday cupcakes right after breakfast. We picked the cupcakes up at this super cute bakery in Pigeon Forge the night before. The girls each got to choose their cupcake flavor, icing flavor and sprinkles. Zoe picked a strawberry cupcake with buttercream icing and rainbow star sprinkles. Ava picked a strawberry cupcake with chocolate icing and pink sprinkles. The cupcakes were huge and took several sitting to finish (well, Zoe never actually finished her’s) and the girls loved them!

After cupcakes, we headed into town for our first meal in a restaurant in over a year! We had brunch at Flapjacks Pancake Cabin. The girls each got the bear pancakes and they were so cute! On our way back to the cabin, we watched 3 bear cubs cross the road in Cobbly Nob, our cabin neighborhood!

Then, we packed our picnic food and headed to Cades Cove. This place is so special to my family. It was my dad’s favorite place to go in the mountains so it was special to celebrate Zoe’s birthday there and also remember him on the 6th anniversary of his death. The girls loved checking out the cabins that are similar to what Laura Ingalls Wilder lived in (we are reading those books right now). We saw a bear along the road, which was exciting. And the girls played in the creek at the picnic. I tried to get some 4 year old portraits of Zoe but she was too distracted (so we got them later after we got home and moved to the new house). I loved sharing this place with the girls again because the last time we were here, Zoe was a year old.

After Cades Cove, we headed back to the cabin for Zoe to open her presents and have pizza for supper. It was a special way to celebrate Zoe’s 4th birthday!! Just cannot believe she’s already 4!!