Tennessee Aquarium

This weekend was a long weekend due to Martin Luther King Jr day on Monday and I was pretty excited, because who doesn't love long weekends?! Friday afternoon, my mom emailed me an email she had received about Saturday being Teacher Recognition Day at the Tennessee Aquarium and asked if I wanted to go, in a totally joking way. I said Haha I wish and went on about my day at work. When it was almost time for me to get off work, curiosity got the best of me and I looked up how long it would take to get to Chattanooga. It was only 2 hours and 45 minutes! All of a sudden, an idea that seemed somewhat preposterous a few hours earlier started to take root in my mind as something that was actually doable and could be really fun! I convinced Mom and Brooke it was a good idea, and Saturday morning we hit the road. We got there about 12 their time and went into the ocean building first.

 One of the first exhibits we came to was the penguins. Oh my goodness, they were so cute and Brayden and Bentley loved it! The would swim right by the glass and you could see them so well.

Since we used my phone as our GPS, it was about this time that my phone died. Unfortunately I didn't get any more pictures, but I know Brooke got some. After the ocean building, we left the aquarium (another thing I loved about this aquarium - you could leave and come back!) and went to downtown Chattanooga to eat lunch. We ate at Lupi's Pizza Pies and it was delicious. Then we went back to the aquarium and went to the river journey building and had lots of fun in there too. Our favorite exhibit there was the otters. They are so cute!

While we were finishing up at the aquarium, Bentley succumbed to sleep. So Brooke sat in the car with her while she slept and Mom, Brayden, and I walked across the really long walking bridge they have in Chattanooga. It was awesome! Once we got to the other side, we found a carousel inside a building so we all 3 got to ride it. Now, the one at the Galleria, the parent gets to ride for free with the child so I normally just stand by Brayden and act like a parent. On this one, we each had to pay $1 to get on. So, feeling like I paid my fair share to ride it, ride it I did! :) I hopped on one of those horses and acted like a kid again. My mom even joined in on the fun. Brayden thought it was great!

After that, Bentley was awake so Brooke came and picked us up and we headed for home. I seriously was sad that we had to leave. I LOVED Chattanooga and want to go back there soon. Brayden loves "fautterwalls" so I know he will love Ruby Falls. I loved the downtown area and that walking bridge. It was such a fun day trip and I'm so glad we did it!