Chattanooga Fun Part One

We recently took a nice weekend vacation to Chattanooga.  And though it wasn't as lengthy as our St. Augustine trip it is still deserving of a two part post.  We crammed more than I could have imagined into a three day stay. Tired eyes and jello like legs were proof of that.

We left {or at least} tried to leave pretty early Friday morning.  Two kids, two parents, a Grammy, and four suitcases later we were on the road.  Because I was pretty sure there would be no slowing down {i.e. naps} I reluctantly left Lucy home with Grandma.  It was a hard decision, but I knew all too well that it would be in her best interest.  It didn't change the fact that I felt like something was amiss our entire time gone.  Lovely Lu is a hard one to leave behind.

From the minute we hit the Chattanooga city limit we were on the go.  The first stop was the Children's Discovery Center.  I'm pretty sure I've mentioned it before, but I am seriously impressed with that place.  It puts our Children's Museum to shame {in my opinion anyway}. 

We could hardly get the kids in the door with this bubble maker thing-a ma-jig outside to divert their attention.

And then we could hardly get them past the entrance with this amazing water table system right as we walked in.

But, once we did, Maggie found the art nook to be her favorite.

And I found myself missing my littlest.

And no surprise, Jack found, you guessed it...animals.

And Clay found a way to entertain us all just when we needed a little pick me up.

After the, never disappointing, Children's Museum we headed over to check into our Choo Choo.  This is where we slumbered.  Or if I'm being honest, this is where Clay, Jack, and I slumbered.  Have I ever mentioned that Maggie spending the night in the same room as any other living being is not a good idea?  I've decided that for future vacations we get two rooms...one for the entire family and one for Maggie.  Trust me, it would be worth every penny.

I will give her that sleeping in a train car is pretty cool and can certainly elicit some excitement.  However, at some point the novelty should wear off.

Our rooms were incredibly authentic {I assume that should be the case considering they were real train cars}.  But, I think it would also be fair to assume they hadn't been updated since the Victorian period.  Authenticity at it's finest.

And if our trip wasn't exciting enough, the Cibula cousins and family met us in town.  My kids adore their cousins.  Jack said this was one of the "best days of his summer" somewhere in that Chattanooga weekend.  I'm pretty sure Whit and Larkin had something to do with his exuberant appreciation.

We spent the evening exploring the grounds and eating dinner with the singing wait staff at the Station House restaurant {that was perfectly touritsty}.  Jack and Maggie got their first taste of a salad bar and it was a surprising hit.

My kiddos were slap wiped out by bed time.  We returned to our train car for what I hoped would be a restful night of sleep {Maggie had something else in mind}.  We had a long day filled with lots of rocks ahead of us...