Chattanooga Day Trip

We took our crew on the road for a quick day trip to Chattanooga on Thursday of our break. The TN aquarium has been on our bucket list for awhile. We considered venturing to our hometown Atlanta aquarium, but since all the kids were on break we knew it would be slammed.

This was Eliza Kate's last time to make the below the age of 3 free admission. We took full advantage:)
I love days that we can play & learn as a family. The penguins were our first exhibit stop along the way. Miller's getting old enough to teach his sister little facts and read the descriptions. He had fun identifying the different types of penguins. We studied their colored  bracelets to figure out each penguin's name. EK was highly entertained by their tobogganing belly flops into the water. Can you spy the torpedoing penguin diving at the bottom of this shot? 

Trapped in the shark tank! Landon really likes to play---lucky kids:)

A micro phoned scuba gave us the inside scoop from inside the 2 story high tank. Sharks were swimming all around him. That held our interest to see him dodge the swimming sharks.We used the picture glossary to figure out each fish as it swam in front of us.

Miller used the two finger rule to touch the sturgeon. Little sister wasn't brave enough to attempt such a feat. She enjoyed the experience behind the safety of her brother.

The rooftop exhibit in the freshwater side felt like you were wondering through the rainforest.

We stopped here and there on our tour for a break. Eliza Kate was just old enough to journey out of the comforts of her stroller. We did take it along just in case she wanted to sit & stroll for awhile. The TN aquarium has a smaller, cozier feel to it as you travel to each exhibit. It was definitely more manageable with two walking kids.

We took along a picnic lunch and then walked ran along the Walnut Street Pedestrian Bridge. Miller made many connections to our trip last fall. They both had their eyes on the prize when they spotted the splash fountains below the bridge in Coolidge Park. We didn't get to splash last time we were in Chattanooga so they were pumped about this adventure. It was an overcast day so in between each splash they used their towel to warm up. The water was a little cold being early April.

It was so much fun to hear them full belly laugh from all of the chasing excitement.

Miller was brave and conquered running through the middle of the fountains. Eventually, he convinced Eliza Kate to follow him. She's brave when big brother talks her into a challenge:)

Another Chattanooga first was riding the vintage carousel. It was closed the last time we visited. We barely dried off enough to hop on for a spin. Miller looked up high to scout out the animal that was not going to be stationary:) We needed something to take Eliza Kate's  mind off of her missed nap. She's just now getting to the age where she can miss her nap every once in awhile for special events. After dinner at our favorite The Big River Grill, we called it a day. Looking forward to our next trip to the great city of Chattanooga. There's SO much more to experience!