Fun in Tennessee

In early August we were blessed to save up enough money to get away for a couple of days. I've been itching to go to the beach and I know Gracie would love it, but we really didn't want to put the kids through a four or five hour drive and have to do it again the next day. We decided to go somewhere close and ended up going to Chattanooga, Tennessee. Our main stop was at the Aquarium. (By the way, we think that the Chattanooga Aquarium is soooo much better than the Georgia Aquarium. The layout is so much better for little kids.) Gracie loved it and the whole time kept saying, "I want to see the SHARKS!" She ran through most of the exhibits looking for the sharks, but she seemed to enjoy everything. She also liked the penguins. One of the coolest things about the Aquarium is that they have all these different pools and man-made streams (I guess that's what you would call them) that kids can play in outside. I think Gracie enjoyed playing in the water more than anything else.

This is how Cooper spent most of his time in the Aquarium.

Here's Gracie and Daddy taking a break.

So, we were getting ready to leave the gift shop when I saw this cute little otter statue. I had to get a picture of Gracie with it. I am so glad I stopped to get this picture. It cracks me up. The otter reminds me of something out of The Chronicles of Narnia.

One of the highlights for Gracie was that we got to stay in a hotel room. She LOVED the fact that she got to sleep in a different bed. When we got to the hotel room, she started jumping on the bed. I actually let her since she had spent 3 hours in the car.

Gracie's excitement spread to Cooper, and they both were all smiles playing on the hotel bed.

We went to Rock City the next day, which was so cool. I've been there before, but still think it is neat. Can you imagine the awesome game of hide and seek that you could play there?

Have I told you how much I LOVE my Snugli baby carrier? Cooper usually goes to sleep in it once I start moving around. Thanks to it, we can boldly go where no stroller has gone before! The Asian tourists at Rock City got the biggest kick out of Cooper in the carrier.

John's parents joined us on our trip. It was nice to have an extra set of hands to help, and we enjoyed their company too. Gracie dragged "Papa" running through most of Rock City.

After Rock City, we went back downtown and let Gracie play in the water again before we headed home. There was this awesome staircase on the other side of the Aquarium that had water running down it. I think I would have sat down in the water if I had a bathing suit. John and I did walk around in the water with her and it felt great on my hot, tired feet. There is a really cool looking kid's museum next to the Aquarium that we had originally planned on visiting, but we ran out of time and money. I figure that we can go next year or sometime in the future when Cooper is walking and can also enjoy it. It was awesome to get away, even if it was only for a couple of days.