Last weekend we took a road trip up to Tennessee. We decided to leave on Thursday evening around 5PM but ended up heading out a little earlier than planned since we were packed up and ready to go closer to 4PM. Our plan was to make it up to Macon, GA before midnight and get a hotel and get some rest, then get up early and continue on the road to Atlanta. We got to our hotel a little after 11PM and the boys (who had been sleeping for a few hours) were awake as soon as we stopped the car. (So much for our plans to transfer the sleeping children to the hotel beds and get lots of good sleep.) Instead, we all got to the room and ended up not getting to sleep until closer to 1:30AM with our alarm set for 6AM.
We got up and ate, then hit the road for Atlanta. We did a good job of getting there after the morning rush hour and made our way to the Georgia Aquarium without too much trouble. The boys did great in the morning, and we got there just as the aquarium was opening. We made sure to eat before we went in because they don't allow any outside food or drink. We had a great time there and even got to see the Dolphin show which was amazing!
After a busy morning we got back on the road and the boys napped in the car as we made our way to a park in Alpharetta (northwest Atlanta). We stopped and had a great time at a playground for a while before heading on the rest of our trip to Chattanooga. The traffic getting out of the area was horrendous (afternoon rush hour) and by the end of it I was totally car sick from all the turning around to get kids activities and food. I was so happy to finally get to Chattanooga and get dinner. The boys did fairly well given the amount of time that we were in the car but Brett was definitely over it. He kept saying "done" and pointing to the car door that he wanted to get out of. Blake did a great job keeping occupied with sticker mosaics, color wonder markers, and a giant coloring book with crayons. Brett kept busy a lot of the time with his look and find books and some of his favorite Dr. Seuss board books.
We stayed with Chris's Grandmom in Chattanooga and the boys absolutely loved it. They ran around in circles in her house quite a bit while we were there. It was great to see her and she was so sweet to let us crash there and destroy her house haha. Since we don't eat out we had to make all our food there and it was wonderful to have such a great kitchen away from home (Thanks Grandmom)! On our first day in Tennessee we met up with the boy's cousins at the Discovery Children's Museum in downtown Chattanooga and we all had a great time. It is an amazing children's museum and we were really impressed with all that it had to offer for the kids! After a busy morning, we made our way over to have lunch with Chris's Dad's side of the family and the boys got to meet a lot of our extended family for the first time.
The next day we headed out to a park to meet up with my friend Kelly and her little family. We got to meet her son for the first time and she got to meet Brett (and see Blake again). We had a great time playing on the playground, walking around the park, and eating a picnic lunch together before we had to head out for nap time. The boys both fell asleep within minutes of leaving the parking lot. Since they were asleep, I had Chris take me to a few stores as I attempted to find some Tennessee Vols shirts for me and the boys, but I couldn't find anything. Maybe it was just the wrong time of year. =( Later that afternoon we took the boys to meet up with their cousins at Chuck E Cheese for one last activity before we ate dinner and packed up to head home.
We decided to drive through the night since our trip up hadn't gone perfectly smoothly, so we packed up and ended up leaving at 6PM. The trip was as smooth as to be expected and Brett fell asleep almost as soon as we got in the car. Blake worked on a sticker mosaic and passed out around 7PM. I tried my hardest to get a nap while Chris drove halfway home but couldn't get comfortable (I couldn't lean my passenger seat back since Brett is rear-facing and his carseat is right up against the back). So I drove for a bit and then Chris took the last leg. I think we each got maybe 30 mins sleep by the time we got home a little after 3AM. Luckily we were able to transfer the boys to beds and slept until a little after 7AM. It has been a long week trying to make up the lost sleep but that trip back was really smooth and it was good we hit some of the construction we did at 1AM because there were a couple spots where it went from 3 lanes down to 1 for road paving.
All packed up and ready to go.
Watching some fish and worms at the aquarium.
Waiting for the dolphin show to start.
The big salt water tank was my favorite.
The fully enclosed observation tube with moving walkway.
This was my favorite viewing area of the big tank.
This stingray just kept doing back flips, it was pretty funny.
Big shark.
The sea turtle finally made an appearance.
The big kid playground.
Another angle of the playground.
It was chilly so we had on our big jackets. Of course the locals had shorts on, lol.
Before going into the children's museum.
Blake loved the big machines with all their working parts.
Brett had a blast in the 4 and under area with the big kitchen.
Blake on a big pulley seat with Grandad.
Blake and his cousins with Nana spinning around.
Brett trying to blow some bubbles.
Breelyn and Kynli love Brett and treat him like a little baby. They're both so mothering to him.
Brett loved getting read to by Breelyn...
and then Kynli.
Brett loves his girl cousins!
Brett was also really into the whole water area. It was really fun except it was so hot in the sun.
Blake found a few things that were interesting but he didn't stay near the water too long.
On the go!
Riding the blow up space shuttle.
The kid's kitchen area.
The roof area.
The 4 amigos at the family lunch.
Everyone always has good faces at first except Blake, who waits until everyone else is tired of pictures before cooperating.
Memaw and her great-grandchildren.
4 generations of Harveys.
Out in the beautiful weather.
Riding the carousel at Coolidge Park.
Such a gorgeous evening to be out playing. It was wonderful to be in the grass and not have to worry about fire ants.
The kids even jumped in the fountains before heading home for the night.
It was awesome getting to see Kelly and Kevin and meet their little boy! Who needs a selfie stick? (Not this Gessner girl.)
Our last bit of energy was spent running around at Chuck E Cheese.
And some photo sketches.
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