Panda Pals Reunion

Make a Smilebox slideshow

After a fun morning at Old Friends, we headed the rest of the way to Sevierville, TN, where we met up with our China Travel Group. Eleven of the 16 families met for our first annual reunion. We stayed at Hidden Mountain resort which is located right in the Smokey Mountains. We rented two large cabins, one with seven bedrooms & bathrooms and one with five bedrooms and bathrooms. They had an ajoining breezeway so we could go back and forth between cabins. There was also a shared outdoor swimming pool for the two cabins as well as a large picnic area with gas grills and tables. It was an awesome place to stay!

On Sunday night we had an ice cream dessert together. Monday our family just hung out at the pool, played and visited most of the day. Steve ventured out with Noah for a bit to check out some antiques (who would have guessed?). On Tuesday, we went to see Cirque du Chine which is a Chinese acrobat show. It was wonderful. Very similar to the one we all saw in Beijing, minus the tired travelers in the audience! The costumes were great and the acrabats were amazing. We finished the day with dinner at a Chinese restaurant (of course) and visited in the "big" cabin. Wednesday was packing up, taking last minute photos, discussing several options for next year's reunion and saying goodbye.

It was so fun to see everyone again and to see the kids. To sit back and observe the way each family interacts with their own children and each other's children is amazing. There is just such a "glow" from all the love flowing around! I can't even really describe it. The joy these little ones have brought to each of us is incredible.

Honestly, I cried on our way home on Wednesday. I know, I am an emotional fool....but leaving all these families and kids is tough for me, because of the bond we share. I really hope we can have a longer reunion next year! We have all been truly blessed.