Lily and Mommy showing off our red, white and blue, and our matching necklaces.
The drive down was a little long, but the kids were great. No fussing or crying to speak of, though Lily asked constantly, "Are we almost there?" Harrison stayed mostly entertained by watching all of the trucks and cars pass by on the highway. We heard "Guck!" a LOT. Lily was happy to sing along to her favorite tunes, read a few books, and play with stickers. We did stop and eat lunch at Chick-Fil-A and let the kids play for awhile before getting back on the road. Justin and I were quite pleased with how well the kids handled the trip, and their time confined to carseats.
We arrived at our hotel to a very pleasant surprise. Instead of the one-bedroom suite we had booked, they gave us a two-bedroom/two-bath suite with a full kitchen, and now I am sure anything else will feel very cramped in the future. Harrison slept in one bedroom, we had the other, and Lily slept on her air-mattress in the living room. The kids ran and ran when we got there. I brought toys to play with while we were in the hotel, but the kids rarely played with them. They were much happier to hide in the closets and pretend they were in elevators, push the cooler around, or jump on and off Lily's mattress. Of course Harrison played with our shoes.
Play time in the morning.
Unfortunately it was a rainy weekend, but we were able to drive around the city a little on Thursday night after dinner. We were told that we would be able to see the city's fireworks display from our hotel room, but we couldn't. The show started at 10pm and Lily managed to stay awake until 9:45, so if we could have seen anything at all, we planned to wake her up for the fun.
Friday morning we were up bright and early to get to the aquarium right as it opened. We were able to enjoy a good hour or so before it got really crowded. The kids loved looking at all of the sea life. Our favorite exhibit was the dolphin show, but unfortunately we couldn't take any pictures there. Harrison appeared even more excited than Lily to watch the dolphins perform. It was loud, with intense lighting and visual effects at times, so I thought Harrison would be scared though he never seemed to be. Lily, on the other hand, did get a little nervous.
We spent several hours at the aquarium and had lots of fun.
Touching sea anemones and coral.
Lion Fish
We had to crawl through a low tunnel to take a peek.
A look at the aquarium.
They had a really interesting frog exhibit. Not only do frogs eat flies, some frogs also eat rodents and other frogs.
Watching the Beluga Whales.
A giant Manta Ray
The jellyfish are always a favorite of mine.
After several hours, Lily was ready to go and Harrison was asleep in the stroller.
Our plan for Saturday was to visit the zoo, but since it was raining, we opted to visit the Children's Museum and then head home a day early. The kids had a great time and we took tons of pictures.
Learning about farm life.
Lily milking a cow (water into a big sponge)
Harrison had to climb and slide multiple times.
Lily and Harrison operating the crane.
Put balls in, watch them spin up and out
to the track above.
Tending her garden.
Playing with moon sand. Feels like sand, but can be molded like play dough. Less mess, but still lots of fun.
Our little snow skiers.
She quickly got the hang of it.
Took a little fishing excursion.
And tried a little white water rafting.
I almost had a really cute picture of the two kids in the boat together, but Lily got upset and said that her life jacket was choking her. (I wonder why? She insisted on putting it on herself.)
Not the least bit worn out after all that rowing, the two dug for fossils and rode on a mule through the wild west.
Harrison was mad and yelling. I think it looks like he's saying, "giddy-up".
We visited Old Faithful. If the kids jumped up and down...
the geyser would shoot up.
Inside a lighthouse in Maine
Their first (and hopefully only) hot air balloon ride.
They both had fun fishing.
Harrison was thrilled to see and drive these cars and trucks.
If we are ever in Atlanta again, we will definitely make a stop at this museum. The kids probably had more fun here than they would have had at the zoo.
Harrison also learned a few more things on the trip. His first "no, no, no" spoken out at a restaurant one night. Now, I can't remember why he said it. But, he thought it was so clever and funny that he continued to say it all through dinner. He also dropped his fork at Chick-Fil-A (because he will only eat nuggets with a fork) and said a spontaneous "uh-oh!". He likes to say this when we say it, but he had never said it independently.
