Chattanooga Aquarium

Yesterday was Daniel's mom's birthday. As a part of her birthday celebration, she and Amy came to Chattanooga for a couple of days.

Jack had the privilege of hanging out with his Nana on Monday night and almost all day Tuesday, while Daniel and I got spoiled with an unexpected, and much needed, date night.

We spent most of yesterday exploring the Tennessee Aquarium together. Jack had a blast. 

If I had to guess, I would say his favorite things were the penguins, running down the ramp in the River Building, and laying down in a little cove that he called "his hammock" in the big aquarium.

I love introducing our little guy to new things and getting to see the wonder on his face with each new experience. 

Interestingly, the last time we visited the aquarium, I was 5 months pregnant with Jack. I am currently 5 months pregnant with Baby #2. 

After our time at the Aquarium, we ran across the street to eat lunch at The Blue Plate Diner. We all enjoyed a lovely lunch and Jack was so worn out he fell asleep in the booth while we finished up.

It was a great day and we look forward to going back to the Aquarium – we missed the otters because they were napping when we walked through.

It is nice to be able to hang out with family for special occasions. We hope you had a very Happy Birthday, Regina!

Incline Railway: My {Very Late} Birthday Present

Very late may be a bit generous of a descriptor since this was supposed to be my birthday present LAST YEAR. Just 11 months late, but who's counting?

Last year Daniel surprised me with a trip to Chattanooga for a birthday breakfast at the BlueGrass Grill and a proposed trip to the top of Lookout Mountain on the Incline Railway. The only problem was that it was really foggy and we didn't feel like the views would be worth it. 

Plus I was almost 9 months pregnant and the thought of going into labor on the steepest train in the United State, while ascending a mountain didn't seem like the best idea...

At the time, we did take a scenic drive up Lookout Mountain and I experienced my first Braxton Hicks contractions. However, Jack did not show up for another week.

Anyways, I recently informed Daniel that he better figure out when he could take me to the Incline Railway since my birthday is fast approaching and he still owed me a trip. So on Friday, we headed to Chattanooga for a day of family fun.

We really needed that time together. We have both been busy with work and home improvement projects; then last week a friend of ours died unexpectedly. It just felt right for us to take some time to be together as a family.

We made it to the base of the Incline Railway in time to make one of the last trips to the top. This railway is the steepest in the United States. At the top the grade is 74% – which is kind of nuts! The track splits halfway up the mountain so a train going the opposite direction can pass.

We enjoyed our scenic ride up the mountain. We only had about 30 minutes at the top since it was late in the day. It was probably the perfect amount of time for Jack. I think he had a good time riding the train.

After our railway experience, we headed downtown to attend the Three Sisters Bluegrass festival at the Riverfront. We decided to eat The Blue Plate Diner, which is right behind the grassy area where everyone sits for the concert. We even scored a table on the patio without having to wait too long. We had a lovely dinner and finished it off by splitting a slice of their Moon Pie Cheesecake for dessert.

This is our second year to attend Three Sisters -- it is very family and dog friendly event that happens to be free. We ended up leaving about 9 eastern since Jack was falling asleep in our arms; despite his best efforts to stay awake to watch all of the kids, dogs and general concert craziness. I'm sure that we will be back in the future.

It was a good day. We are trying to be more proactive about not spending our ENTIRE weekends doing things that can wait. We want to make more concerted efforts to spend time together doing things we love. Sometimes the chores can wait. 

Creative Discovery Museum

There are very few times that I go an entire day without checking my email. Yesterday was one of those days. It was kind of a shock to actually look at my email at 10pm and realize that I have projects that need attending! Oops... It's a good thing nothing was on a tight deadline.

Daniel took an extra day off for the long weekend {he had some comp time he needed to use} and we met up with my sister and her kiddos to go explore the Creative Discovery Museum in Chattanooga.

 

We actually met in South Pittsburg and dropped our car off so that we could have some extra time for visiting on the way there, and we got to ride in the mini van to decide if it is something we would ever want... 

I am in the "NO mini van, NO station wagon, NOT EVER" camp. 

While Daniel is in the "don't let the preferences of your 20-year-old self determine the needs of your 30-year-old self" camp. Either way it is a discussion is for another day.

 

It was a rainy Tuesday, kind of perfect for taking two babies and a 3-year-old to roam around a kid's museum. 

It was good for Izzy to be able to use up some of her abundant energy and it will be great in a year or two when the boys can really get involved in the playing.

 

Mostly they are in the observing and crawling around stage; content with basic toys and books.

 

It was nice that there were not a million kids there. I think that I would have hated it if there had been.

 

Daniel was impressed that there was a working lock in the water section.

I thought the music area was pretty cool. I really liked that it was so interactive.

 

We didn't spend much time in the electricity section but Daniel said it was pretty neat.

 

Digging for dinosaur bones was fun for Izzy. Jack just wanted to eat the sand. 

Since it was raining, we couldn't go out on the roof top, next time we go we will have to make sure we go during the week, on a sunny day, when bigger kids are in school. You can just order up days like that, right?

For lunch, we walked two blocks to The Blue Plate. In the rain. My sister, Angela, is super mom and was prepared with not one, but two umbrellas. She and her kids stayed dry. We, on the other hand, had no rain gear. At least Jack stayed relatively dry in the stroller under the shade. Daniel and I got wet. Thankfully it wasn't a cold wet.

Lunch was good. I had a BLT made with heirloom tomatoes from a farm on Signal Mountain. Daniel had the Cheeseburger with Sweetwater Valley Buttermilk Cheddar. Angela had a veggie plate with Mac N Cheese, Broccoli and Grilled Green Beans. The Grean Beans were on the crunchy side {we like ours soft} but the rest was delicious. Burgers come with chips instead of fries and we had to request slices of tomato and pickles {evidently those don't come with kids burgers}. We also tried the Fried Pickles – they were really good, not greasy at all. Our waiter did a good job of keeping us and our kiddos happy.

We walked back to the museum after lunch {in a downpour}. 

There was a tinker toys exhibit upstairs. It was probably more suitable for older kids, but Izzy enjoyed it. We also took a break in the library and let the kids crawl around.

Levi managed to pass out in the stroller for a short afternoon nap and Jack conked out for a little while in the Moby, so I would say our play date was a success.

Funniest moments of the day: 

We thought it was hilarious that my sister walks so fast that she was an entire block ahead of us on the walk to lunch. 60-pound stroller and all. I don't know how she moves this fast – I had to run to keep up with her on the walk back to the museum in the rain.

Angela took a photo of me and Jack during lunch. Just as Jack picked up a fork and I grabbed it from his hand. At least it wasn't a knife, but my expression was pretty funny.

When we were loading up to leave, I was the last person to get in the van. When I went to shut the hatch door of the trunk, all of the water that had been accumulating while we loaded the van dumped right down the front of my shorts... Good thing we were headed home!