What a fun few days! Since Ryan is in Alaska, I decided to take the girls on a little getaway for a few days. On Monday morning, we headed out to Chattanooga. We had a blast! I took over 300 pictures in just three days, and I have narrowed it down here...it wasn't easy!
We headed straight to the Children's Museum when we got in. The girls loved this place when we visited in December, and they couldn't wait to get back. We spent almost 5 hours there, and I think they would have been more than happy to spend even more time there. They both love the water feature area and the playground above it.
They enjoyed creating their own cartoons.
Playing with clay is always fun.
Painting with water is a favorite.
While Mia enjoyed the stamping area, Lily had a good time with rubbings. They both made about 8 or 9 pages in these areas.
Lily was fascinated by the mineral, crystal and critter area. She studied the minerals and crystals, noting their sizes, colors and shapes. Then she moved on to study the critters. In this picture, she's watching the Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches before moving on to the gecko, millipede, corn snake and tarantula.
Mia would have been happy to spend hours in the sand digging for fossils. She loved this area!
Next up was a little pretend play. First they were dinosaurs before moving over to become doctors.
Lily enjoyed the science area a lot too.
The girls worked together to build this race set; they had fun rolling the balls down to see what worked on the course and what didn't.
They loved the bee area. Here they dressed up as bees, but they also studied the live honeycomb with its bees in the window.
The rotating exhibit had some fun things from the mid-1800s in it. It was based on one of the Magic Tree House books. Here they are pretending to take a carriage ride, but they also enjoyed "driving" a coal train.
We spent some time in the area for kids 5 and under. Lily was a little bored until they discovered the train set. Mia however loved being in here as things were closer to her size. She cleaned the house, played in a tree house, drove a car, built a dog house and painted it here.
The girls showed some self-expression with face painting.
Lily listening to the ocean in a shell.
Finally, at almost 3, we walked over to check into our hotel and rest for a little bit. About 4:30, everyone got back up, ate a little snack and then headed over to Ruby Falls since it was raining. The girls were fascinated by this excursion! They were amazed they were down inside a mountain and walking through a cave. Of course, they thought the waterfall all lit up was beautiful too. This was definitely a great part of the trip.
Enjoying the view of Chattanooga from Ruby Falls after the rain had stopped.
Mia was elated to get this miner's hat as her souvenir!
Both girls were worn out on Monday night!
On Tuesday morning, we drove up to Jefferson City to visit with our Granny and with my mom who was also in town visiting. This was a great treat for all of us! The girls showed off some of their skills for her. Lily read a book to her and showed her how she learned to tie tennis shoes. Mia told a few jokes, danced and did a few karate moves.
After spending some time at Granny's home, we all drove over to Morristown to enjoy a lovely lunch at Timeless Elegance. The girls loved their individual tea pots and cups!
After lunch we headed back to Chattanooga and both girls took good naps in the car. We actually headed straight over to the Sepulveda's house where we enjoyed a great evening with them. The kids get along so well, and I had a wonderful time catching up with Allison and Michael.
On Wednesday morning, we ate breakfast and then checked-out of the hotel. Allison met us at the aquarium to get us guest passes which was very appreciated.
My little fish in the tank.
We all enjoyed the Ranger Rick bird show. The toucan was beautiful, the screech owl was interesting and the parrot was fun as he repeated sounds for us.
Having fun!
Mia couldn't help but pet the sturgeon, sharks and rays.
Taking a break and enjoying the view.
Holding still in hopes a butterfly would land on their hands.
Watching the penguins. This was a favorite exhibit for us.
In the shark tank. Mia said she couldn't wait to do one of these for real when she was older. When I explained that it meant she would be inside it and lowered into the ocean and surrounded by sharks, she said "I know. That will be awesome!"
Mia in with the king crabs; Lily refused to get in here.
This note was my reward of this wonderful getaway. You can believe it was absolutely worth it!
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