Atlanta -- Children's Museum

Michael needed to take a class that was being offered at SECO (Southeastern Conference of Optometry) in Atlanta this year. Atlanta is only a three-hour drive from Knoxville, so we were able to make it into a two-day trip. We drove down there on Friday morning, arriving just around lunch time. We checked in and then walked the half-mile to the conference. We split up there since Michael had a lunch to attend. Paul and I walked to Max's Coal Oven Pizzeria.

The pizza was so good! Once we had finished eating, we walked to the Children's Museum of Atlanta. Paul had a great time playing there for two hours until it closed at 4.

Fishing

Checking out the tractor.

Paul got a basket full of food at the groceries and brought them to the girl who was manning the cash register.

More fishing!

Playing in the kinetic sand.

Cool train table!

Conveyor belts to help sort recyclables.

Now Paul is the cashier! He had to weigh all the food before saying it would be "Two".

Michael was done by the time we left so we met him at a playground in Centennial Park. It was a neat playground and Paul enjoyed running around in the nice weather.

Spongy playground

View from our hotel room.

That night we went to dinner at Mary Mac's Tea Room. So delicious! Just check out the complimentary bread basket. Those cinnamon rolls are amazing! I got the vegetable plate and Michael got the fried shrimp, which he shared with me.

Fried green tomatoes, green beans, mashed potatoes and fried apples.

It was a fun night but we were ready for bed by the time we left. Unfortunately it was a very busy night in Atlanta and all the valet lots were full. We drove around waiting for them to take our car for almost an hour before we parked it in a lot ourselves. Finally off to bed to rest for Saturday.

January Roundup

Welcome to the New Year! And what a wonderful year it will be for us, with Michael graduating in May and starting work soon after, moving to Pensacola and spending more time with family this year than last year. We also have a lot of fun trips to look forward to this spring, including a quick weekend in Atlanta and a long weekend in St. Petersburg to celebrate two of our best friends getting married! Anyways, I won't get too far ahead of myself here, but I think that although 2014 was a fantastic year, 2015 is set to top it.

Aunt Jess sent Paul this cool grow-your-own-crystals kit for Christmas. This is day 1, just a bunch of rocks in vinegar.

About a week later it was all crystals!

We were all tired the first couple weeks. Even Paul wanted to lay on the couch with the blanket.

We started going to Smart Toys and Books for story time, to play at their train tables and for craft times. They have some dolls that you can play with and Paul loves to take care of them.

We tried a couple libraries before finding our favorite for story time. At the Bearden branch, they blew bubbles! Paul loved it.

Paul got a humongous box of Lego Duplos for Christmas (thanks to a sweet Black Friday deal) and we all had fun recreating the animals pictured on the box.

Paul also really enjoys his ocean floor puzzle from Uncle Jeremy and Aunt Flavia!

We started going to Gym Bug's open gym hour each week. Paul loves it! They have all kinds of things for the kids to play with, including trampolines.

Pretty sunset one evening.

Paul re-purposed this Christmas box as a train depot.

A few more pictures from our cold day in the Smokies.

"Look! I'm Santa now!" He did this on several different occasions.

Playing trains at Thomas' play day at Smart Toys and Books.

Cute boy hiding in the ball pit at the gym!

Playing in the mini-sandboxes and Smart Toys and Books.

We finally had a beautiful day so we had to get out to the park! This is Northshore Park.

They had soccer fields and this goal was not being used. Paul had so much fun playing soccer with another little boy. I got to sit back and relax.

Phoebe and Paul making plans.

Soon after we moved we made some friends at story time. They were so kind to include us in their tradition of Chick-Fil-A after the library each week, and it is something we look forward to all week!

Paul is probably holding out a hair tie for Phoebe.

Another fun picture of Paul playing at the gym!

This month we also discovered The Muse, a small children's museum. It has so many wonderful play areas. We got a membership so that we could go once a week.

They even have a cool space shuttle you can "fly".

This month Michael started making/preparing meals for us more often. I loved it! Look at this hummus spread!

Fun at the park!

Michael made donuts! I still feel a little sick looking at them, although I thought they were good.

Paul has an octopus in his hair!

First snow.

Our mini-snowman -- those are chocolate chips for eyes and a mini carrot for a nose.

Building blocks at The Muse.

He insisted on wearing this outfit into the space shuttle! It impressed the other kids who wanted to exclude him at first since he was younger. Then they realized he was an authorized captain and it was a whole different story.

This month we also got to see Carolyn, Austin and Felicity in Chattanooga! I took this picture of a butterfly at the aquarium.