Sam's Birthday

My birthday was on a Saturday this year! Yay! It was so wonderful to have Michael with us all day to celebrate. We made a day of it with the idea that we would head toward Pigeon Forge for some shopping and then end up in Gatlinburg for putt-putt and dinner.

On the way to the outlet mall in Pigeon Forge, we stopped for some Chick-Fil-A chicken minis, hash browns and a biscuit for Michael. It was delicious! I love their breakfast.

We ended up spending way too much time at the mall (oops) without getting anything. The weather was beautiful and warm, which was nice, but Paul was having a rough time going with the flow. He did not want to walk around and was easily upset. We were all tired by the time we left. It turned out in our favor that the short drive from Pigeon Forge to Gatlinburg took more than an hour (without traffic it's a 15 minute drive) because Paul fell asleep and got a good nap in.

We were pretty hungry by the time we parked a little ways from "the Strip" in Gatlinburg. Our first order of business was to find food. We found some cool bear statues first though!

We saw Fannie Farkel's and decided to get a giant corn dog! Luckily we all shared one or I think I would have been sick! I had seen that there was a good donut shop nearby so we set out to find it. The Donut Friar definitely lived up to its reputation! I got a chocolate crueller, Michael got a sprinkle donut and Paul went for a chocolate glazed donut.

I love this picture of Paul! He ate the top -- the chocolate part plus a layer of donut -- off first.

After we had filled up with good fried food, we went to play putt-putt. We had originally wanted to Hillbilly Golf, which is an outdoor course built up on a hill. But despite the beautiful weather, it was closed. We found this indoor one and it was perfect! I think it worked out even better. The hill might have been hard on Paul, but this one was so fun for all of us. Paul actually played pretty well, getting several holes in two or three strokes. The true miracle of the game was that I played well and even won! Michael always wins (in pretty much every kind of game we play, except Banangrams). It was my birthday miracle! Michael and I both got hole-in-ones, which was fun! Paul absolutely loved it -- of course, he loves every single sport he tries, and while this was his first time playing, he has a plastic golf set that he plays with at home. We will have to go back for his birthday in April.

Paul taking a little break.

Michael in the fun black light section.

Check out this swing!

We almost left him there. He blended right in!

After our very fun golf adventure, we walked up the Strip, checking out shops and candy stores as we went. Eventually, we were hungry for dinner, so we went to Calhoun's for ribs. We were all exhausted (as you can see in a later picture of Paul and Dad) but dinner was great! Afterward, we had a hike ahead of us just to get back to our car. We walked much faster back, but it still took us 20-30 minutes.

Christmas lights were still up!

The drive home took much longer than anticipated due to bad traffic, but that was ok! We had so much fun and were all very glad to be home in time for bed. It was a wonderful birthday!

Chattanooga with the Wards

On Saturday, Jan. 31, we all woke up early and got in the car (Paul still in his pajamas) to drive to Chattanooga for the day. We have been wanting to visit Chattanooga for a while, but the most exciting part of this trip was spending the day with Carolyn, Austin and Felicity! They had a little mini vacation there and we were so close -- just an hour and a half drive -- that we had to go meet them. We got there right at 9 a.m., and as we were changing Paul out of his pjs in the trunk of the car, I realize that I did not bring shoes for Paul. Neither did Michael. We went into this whole thing, like we would just find a shop nearby and get him some new shoes. After a quick search we realized this was not really an option. Luckily, we realized Paul and Felicity wear just about the same size and she just so happened to have an extra pair -- sparkly, silver flats. Paul absolutely loved them and I think was a little sad when he had to give them back that night.

Notice the shoes! He was wearing a lot of gray that day, so they really went with his outfit.

It was a little chilly so we decided to catch a bus downtown and begin our Chattanooga adventure!

Paul and Felicity were having a blast on the bus until the driver told them they had to sit back down.

Our first stop was the Children's Discovery Museum. It was superhero day and they had all kinds of activities set up! Paul and FJ especially loved the obstacle course, which they did about 10 times each.

Can't leave him hanging! Outside of the museum.

Felicity came prepared with a cape, which once again, Paul, whose parents were apparently unprepared, borrowed from her. They had a neat water area with a waterfall and cups and boats to play with. This was the first thing we saw when we came in, and it was a big hit.

Paul gave Felicity back her cape and picked up a new one. It didn't last too long but he liked it. He also really liked playing trains on this rug. Below are pictures from the obstacle course, which both kids did repeatedly. There were high school kids helping out and I could tell they were having fun teaching Paul and Felicity new tricks -- like rolling -- each time around.

Paul is mid-roll here.

Preparing to jump over/on top of the last obstacle.

One of my favorite areas was a cool sandpit that had fossils buried in it. There were lots of tools for the kids to use, like sifters, shovels and brushes. Also, they provided cute little vests like you might expect to see a paleontologist wearing. We spent a good bit of time playing here.

Soon after that, a musical performance was due to start, so we made our way to it. There was a man playing the guitar and singing songs about superheroes. The kids were encouraged to pick up their own instrument and play along. Paul got the drum sticks and beat them together in time. Paul got really into this! He danced a lot and even talked to the guitar player between songs. After three songs Paul asked if it was done yet -- he sometimes does this during movies that he is enjoying. The player told him there were still three more songs and Paul said, "Ok!" and kept playing. It was very cute! All the other kids came and went but Paul gave his full attention.

Felicity on the cymbals.

Chatting

After listening and performing to a set of six songs, we moved on to see what else the huge museum had to offer. We found a "tot town" area with a play kitchen area, toy cars and tools, as well as a very small train track. It was packed in here and you could only access the track from one side, so we tried to get Paul to play with other things. Of course, he is all about trains so this was a difficult task. 

Before we left we played around the rest of the building. There was so much to do and see that I think I got a little tired and stopped taking pictures, my bad. On our way out we had to stop to do the water area again! Such a neat place. It reminded me of the Memphis Children's Museum but was much bigger.

After spending a few wonderful hours at the museum, we decided it was definitely time for lunch. I did a little googling and found a place nearby that looked good -- the Maple Street Biscuit Cafe. So we walked the two blocks there. When we got there, we realized they pretty much only served one thing -- chicken biscuits -- but in about 20 different ways. Everything looked good! And everything we got was amazing. Everyone loved it. I want to go back! I can't say enough how good it was!

Top left to bottom left: Paul's egg biscuit; Michael's Sticky Maple, fried chicken with bacon and smothered in maple syrup; my Farmer, fried chicken with cheddar topped with apple butter; our shared Hashups, homefries, peppers, ham, cheese. 

Close-up of "The Farmer" because it was glorious.

He ate every bite of this huge biscuit.

If you are in Chattanooga, go here for breakfast or lunch! You will not be disappointed. After our lunch, we went back to their hotel, The Chattanoogan, for some quiet time. Felicity (and a few of the adults, including me) took naps while Michael and Paul watched Frozen on the Kindle. Paul has mostly given up naps lately -- he occasionally takes one -- but he was happy to sit still for a while. Once Felicity woke up, we were ready to get back on the town!

Paul insisted on Austin holding him for much of the walking throughout the day. Their hotel was pretty close to the famous Chattanooga Choo Choo, which we knew Paul would love, so we walked over there. Paul loved seeing the trains up close, but otherwise there wasn't much to do unless we wanted to wait and pay for a short ride. We knew we wanted to get to the Aquarium, so we headed back to a bus stop and caught a free shuttle to our destination area.

Finally at the Chattanooga Choo Choo. You can actually stay in some of these old Victorian train cars. A few of them were restaurants, too, which was pretty neat!

Paul is saying "CHOO CHOO!"

Paul wanted to cuddle on the shuttle but I don't think Felicity did.

Once we got off the shuttle, we saw a Ben & Jerry's nearby and realized we could all do for some ice cream. On the walk there, we saw this cool climbing gym. You can climb the walls outside! On the street! It was so, so cool! It made me think of my sister, Jess. (If you are reading this, let's go back together!)

Enjoying some chocolate ice cream! Favorite flavor.

We made it to the aquarium a little before 5. It was made up of two big buildings, one being saltwater and the other being freshwater. We started with the freshwater building. Paul was pretty tired by this point, which generally means he wants to run like crazy. Michael just accepted this and chased him through the exhibits while I lingered a bit at each one, trying to stay close to Carolyn, Austin and Felicity. Paul was hoping to see some alligators, but unfortunately they were not visible because they are constructing a new exhibit. But he did find some in the gift shop and was very excited to show them to me and Daddy.

A beautiful view of the Tennessee River, which incidentally begins near Ijams Nature Park here in Knoxville before running through the state to Chattanooga.

Our family picture for the day! It'll do.

Cuties.

Checking out the otters, right before Paul really just started running like crazy.

I think this was a stingray touch tank.

I love this picture of Felicity and this humongous sting ray checking each other out.

On our way to the saltwater side!

First up was a butterfly garden!

Austin and Felicity checking out the sharks swimming by.

Paul and Daddy in a rare quiet moment.

I think sharks are cool and fun to look at in the aquarium, but I don't know what I would do if I was swimming and saw this below me. By the time we left the aquarium, the sun was going down and it was time to find dinner. We thought this would be pretty easy, but it wasn't. All the places we tried had long wait times (1 hour +) and we knew the kids would not be happy with that. We kept looking before we ended up back at the hotel's restaurant, which was perfect. It was not too busy and there was a band starting to play. The kids loved dancing and we all had some good food! It was the perfect end to the day. We left around 8:30 and it took Paul about 5 minutes to fall asleep. He slept the rest of the way home and into bed. We were so grateful to spend the day with family!