Spring Break 2017: Day 4

We really wore the kids out on Sunday, so they slept until about 8 am Monday morning.  (This is unheard of if you know us at all, haha!) Hotel breakfast ends at 9 on weekdays, so we booked it to breakfast pretty quickly.  This particular morning was much busier, probably because we weren't up at the crack of dawn and people had to get to work!  We ate, packed up our room, checked out, and headed to our last attraction.  (Hadley was so sad to leave the hotel...she wanted to know if next time we could stay "FOREVAAA")

Our last day in Atlanta saw us visiting Fernbank Museum.  I'll be honest, I was enamored with the area where Fernbank is located as much as I was in the museum itself!  You have drive on Ponce de Leon Avenue (adoringly referred to as "Ponce" to native Atlantans) which in and of itself is a looonnnng road, basically connecting all of Atlanta, haha.  We were in the Druid Hills district and y'all.  GORGEOUS.  Of course the roads were lined with million dollar homes, but they were older, classic, full of character.  I mean....this is the elementary school:

*For the safety of the kids and since this is a public blog, I'm not going to share the name of the school.  But I got this picture from this website.*

Can you even imagine going to elementary school here?  It looks like it's right out of a movie.  There was so much greenery, pretty parks, sidewalks that wound throughout, it was just a really beautiful area.

Fernbank is a National History Museum and when you pull up, there are dinosaur statues outside.  My kids were already excited when they saw those!  For the second time on our spring break trip, we opted to leave the stroller in the car, and I'm so glad we did.  Fernbank is 3 stories and while they have elevators, we chose to walk on the beautiful spiraling staircases to each different level.  The kid play area is on the 3rd floor, so that's where we headed first.  The kids seriously played in there for about an hour.  There are all kinds of activities built into a tree-house that let their imaginations just go wild.


*Daddy teaching Hadley about the rings on a tree.*


*Standing in the misting cave.*




*Building a wall.*

We literally had to drag them out to make sure we could see everything else the museum had to offer! The second floor was a lot more of the "museum-y" stuff, where we walked through the different "eras" --based in Georgia, mostly.  They had a lot of taxidermy animals in their wildlife habitat and Hadley pretty much skimmed over most of this.  David and I thought there was some pretty cool stuff in there (like a tree trunk made out of stone...what?!), but Hadley wasn't having it.  We finally got to the dinosaurs and she loved that part!


*Learning about the dinosaurs!*



David and I hadn't really been paying attention to the time and we realized it was about 11:45 so her meltdown was more than likely due to hunger, so we quickly headed to the cafeteria area.  We grabbed some food and the kids were a lot happier after getting some food fuel!  #badparentmoments

 



Once everyone was full and happy, we headed to the bottom floor of the museum, which was all about weather patterns.  Hadley and Griffin got to make their own tornados, Hadley played a fun game where she was a part of a tornado, and then she did a quiz on hurricane trivia.  It was all very interactive and they had activities that, even though she's young and doesn't quite understand the concepts, she still enjoyed and we got to introduce her to some science.


*Hadley making her tornado!*


*Griffin working on his tornado.*

One of the coolest parts, in my opinion, of Fernbank, is the nature walk.  They have miles of wooden walkways over their natural land habitats, full of climbing ropes, and platforms for the kids to play on.  There are a couple different viewing areas, and even a playground for the kids.  Both Hadley and Griffin had a great time running up and down the boardwalks.




*Walking on the rope bridge.*

We knew it was time to go when our generally sweet-hearted girl had a fit about sharing one of the two xylophone hammers.  So we made a family trip to the bathroom, walked through the gift shop, and got in the car to head home from our first family trip.  By the way, Hadley and Griffin both picked out wallets as their present to commemorate our trip and David and I picked out a christmas tree ornament to add to our travel ornament collection (started on our honeymoon).


*Some of the natural habitat at the museum.*

We did make a pit-stop at the Mayfield Dairy factory for a dip of ice cream on our way home.  We thought about going on the tour to see how ice cream is made, but ultimately decided to just eat the ice cream this time around.  In hindsight, I'm glad we stopped because we got caught in traffic halfway home. (Something about a tanker truck spilling flammable liquid all over 85 and totally shutting down all 4 lanes of traffic for like 12 hours....)  We ended up driving back roads the majority of the way home, so our typical 2 hour drive ended up taking 4 hours.  Needless to say, we were all ready to get out of the car when we got home! :)



It was such a great trip.  Some of my fondest memories growing up are the trips my family took and now I love to travel and explore new places.  I hope my kids learn to love traveling and family trips just as much!

You can read up on the other days of Spring Break 2017 here:

Day One
Day Two
Day Three

Spring Break 2017: Day 3

Because we went to bed so early on Saturday, the kids were up by 7 am on Sunday.  We headed downstairs to the complimentary breakfast and Hadley and Griffin thought they were something special.  (I mean, they are for sure.)  They got to pick whatever they wanted for breakfast and we sat down at a special table in the hotel lobby to eat.



Once we were finished, we headed back to the room to get ready for the day.  Everyone was excited because day 3 of spring break we were visiting the Atlanta Zoo!  The Atlanta Zoo is probably my all time favorite zoo.  I've been quite a few times in my life and it never disappoints.  They open at 9:30 on Sundays and we arrived at 9:20.  We had our pick of parking, so we parked under the trees (hello, shade!) and made our way through the express line with our previously purchased tickets.



*A note about our tickets: we purchased a Citipass- a booklet of discounted tickets for visiting the main attractions of Atlanta.  We didn't go to all of the attractions, as our kids were too young for some of them.  (The World of Coke is so awesome and one of my favorites, but listening to a guide talk and just walking around looking at coke products isn't something my 3 1/2 year old would appreciate!)  So, if you are thinking about visiting Atlanta, definitely look into the Citipass!



Y'all, getting to the zoo when they open is the way to do it.  It was still cool, the animals were awake, and even though there were still quite a few people...it wasn't super congested.  The kids had had enough sleep so they were in great spirits, and the only meltdown we had was from Hadley around lunch time because she wanted to play instead of eat, haha!



Hadley really wanted to see the lions and tigers, I really wanted to see the panda bears, and Griffin really wanted to see the giraffes!  And we happened upon the giraffes around feeding time, so we paid $3 for Hadley to feed a giraffe--except as we got up there and paid, she chickened out, so Mommy fed the giraffe instead.  Which was okay, because that was such a cool experience!



They have a great spot in the middle of the zoo for lunch, so we just bought our food there, but you can also bring in sandwiches and stuff yourself.  Right across from the food area is a petting zoo, a train ride, rock climbing wall, gated play area for the kids, and a merry-go-round.  The kids did the petting zoo for a bit, played on the playground for a bit, and then we hit the train- which is always a favorite for my kids.





I just can't say enough good things about the Atlanta Zoo.  The staff is friendly and welcoming- always available to answer questions, the set up is great for little kids who want to stop and play, and they have so many great animals- it's just a great thing to do in Atlanta!



We left the zoo about 1:30p and were meeting David's friend for dinner about 45 minutes away in Sandy Springs.  Over in that direction is the Chattahoochee National Recreation Area (Have you ever heard Alan Jackson's song "Chattahoochee"??  It's about the Chattahoochee River!)  We used to go there when my grandparents lived in Atlanta and I was a little girl, so it was only right to take my kids!



One of my favorite gifts given to my kids were these National Park Passports.  Whenever you visit a National Park, the kids can get their passports cancelled just like you would if you were visiting another country.  It's a great way to plan your vacations and see some of the nation's most prized National Parks.  I knew ahead of time that we would probably stop by here, so I brought the kids passports just in case.  Hadley thought this was the COOLEST thing!



We walked the trails a little bit- which we learned were trails worn over hundreds of years by people moving and settling throughout Georgia- and let Hadley put her feet in the water like Mommy used to do.





We met David's friend at Perimeter Mall for some Cowfish (seriously so good) and they had a great place outside the restaurant for the kids to play.  We rounded out the day with some great fellowship, dirty and tired kids, and showers/straight to bed when we got back to the hotel.





I'm so proud of these kids, they were such troopers.  Day 3 did not disappoint!

You can read up on the other days of Spring Break 2017 here:

Day 1
Day 2

Spring Break 2017: Day 2

All of Hadley's school friends had spring break "plans" (you know those three year olds are so busy these days), so I thought it would be fun to take a little trip, too!  David can't take a whole lot of time off work these days, but he was able to snag Monday off, so we took a quick trip to ATLANTA for the weekend!!  It's about a 2 hour drive from us and there are a ton of kid-friendly activities to do.

We made it through the evening without anyone getting sick (yay!) and I meant to get up early and start packing, but I didn't actually get out of bed until 8 am!  (When the kids sleep in, you take the opportunity to sleep, too!)

We had *planned* to leave right after breakfast, but the packing still needed to be done, people needed to get dressed etc.  so that didn't happen.  David and I made a game time decision to leave by 10, so we could get down there, grab a bite of lunch, and go to the aquarium.

In order to leave on time, I forgo-ed my shower (because that's what us mom's do, right?) and just packed like a crazy person.  I'm proud to say that over the years, hubs and I have gotten so quick at "getting ready" for trips, that we were out the door by 9:30!! Whoop whoop! Which actually worked out great. I'm not sure if you've heard, but a portion of Interstate 85 collapsed because of a huge fire about a week ago.  We made GREAT time....until we hit Atlanta.  Atlanta is already known for it's lackluster performance in rush-hour traffic and now that one of the main thorough fares is gone, there are few options to maneuvering the city and we got stuck big time.  By the time we reached our destination, the kids were hangry and ready to eat.

via

(Also, I love Atlanta, so I joke from the heart on this ;) )

We planned to do one excursion a day and because our hotel room wouldn't be ready for a few more hours, we headed straight to our first stop: The Georgia Aquarium!  David and I came to Atlanta for our first anniversary, so we already knew how massive this place was, but Hadley and Griffin were in awe.  It's 2 stories of fish, sea creatures, animals you can touch (starfish, stingrays, and sharks, oh my!), beluga whales, huge whale sharks...you name it, it's there.  They have a cafeteria so we grabbed some food before we started the long trek through the aquarium.


This photo quality is terrible, but I LOVE his face! This is what happened when the sea otter swam RIGHT by him!

We didn't bring the stroller in because that place is busy, but in hindsight, we both decided we should have because the kids got tired of walking around.  We both ended up holding someone as we went through.

One of the coolest parts is the dolphin show.  They have 4 beautiful bottle-nose dolphins and during the 30 minute program, they show off all their tricks.  Essentially, the trainers show how they work with the dolphins, how smart the dolphins are, and teach us facts about dolphins.  Hadley kept asking to see the dolphins jump again!

Riding in style!

The kids were starting to have meltdowns after the show and it had been a long day for them, so we left the aquarium and headed to the hotel.  If you ask Hadley what her favorite part of the trip was, she will most likely tell you it was the mini-fridge in our hotel room.  (Hahaha!)  She "unloaded" our snack bag into the mini fridge and any time we were out and got food, she'd exclaim, "I have an idea!  We can take this and put it in our mini fridge!"

Hadley and her mini fridge ;)

There was a restaurant right down the street from our hotel, so we walked to dinner (at 5 pm, holla!) and walked back afterwards.  It was about 6 pm when we got back to the room, so we bathed the kids, put them in jammies, and propped them up to watch a movie.  Hadley wanted to paint her fingernails and toenails, so the girls did that.





We ended up in a room with a king-size bed and a pull out couch.  We brought the pack n' play, but didn't end up using it.  Each of us took a baby and slept in separate beds.  It worked great and gave me all the feels about vacations in the future.  I so love spending time with my little family!

You can read up on the other days of Spring Break 2017 here:

Day One

Spring Break 2017: Day 1

Hadley only goes to school 2 days a week (T/Th), so Thursday after school started spring break!  She has the whole week before Easter off, so I wanted to plan some fun things for us to do to celebrate.

I deemed Friday as the "first day of spring break".  Friday morning, I sorted laundry and started washing some loads (for our spring break trip on Saturday!), waiting for the kiddos to wake up.  Once they were up, we had breakfast and got dressed so we could head to Chuck E. Cheese!  We met one of Hadley's best friends and her mom there and the kids had a blast.



(Side note: did you guys ever go to Chuck E. Cheese as a kid?  I remember a totally awesome place, full of games, tickets, cool prizes and a huge stage with mechanical mice that put on a show.  Now, the stage is cut in half, and Chuck is only the top half of his body behind a dj booth....what?? Ugh, so disappointed in that.  They did have the dressed up character come out and wave/ high five the kids every hour, though.)

We ended up sharing a pizza and 30 tokens, which was plenty for the girls.  Between the two of them, they ended up with 40 tickets, which I thought was pretty good!  They each got 20 tickets which bought them a tootsie roll and a plastic spinning top (hahaha...not the prizes I remember, but I'm sure they were the same!).

And the girls were so sweet with Griffin.  He tries so hard to do all the "big kid" things like his sister and her friends.  They included him in the playground area, let him ride the rides with them, and even gave him a couple turns at the games they played.  He was in heaven.



After we left Chuck E. Cheese, we headed home to what I was sure would be a long nap for G-man, but he had other plans.  He slept for about 45 minutes and was up for the rest of the day.  Sooooo, we headed to the playground store and picked out a playset for the kids!

We have been thinking about getting one and wanted them to have it for this summer.  We've been looking for a couple months and finally settled on one.  We went to the store, ordered that baby, and it should be here in about 3 weeks!  We are so excited!!  I know the kids will love playing on it.



We came home to have dinner and pack for our weekend trip.  After dinner, David was playing on the floor with the kids while I was cleaning up and Griffin made a funny nose.  Right as I rounded the corner to see what was going on, Griffin puked all over David.  Y'ALL.  Knock on wood, we have escaped stomach bug and flu season unscathed and then this happened.  David can't even handle poopy diaper changes without gagging, so this sent him over the edge and left me to clean up Griffin and the puke.  It was definitely sick-smelling puke (Sorry, TMI!), which sent my mom brain into meltdown mode (OF COURSE this happened before vacation! Who is the next victim?  Should we go ahead and cancel the hotel reservations?) and then immediately into nurse mode (Where is the lysol?  Lysol everything!  I need my gloves and mask.  Laundry on hottest possible setting.  Must kill all the germs. Hadley don't touch that, oh my gosh they shared a drink at Chuck E. Cheese today!  And then he kissed me, we are ALL GOING DOWN.).

Griffin only got sick the one time, but I was not going to be fooled.  When Hadley was his age, she also got sick "just one time" and 2 days later I was sickest I've been in years.  So, I didn't end up packing that evening, because my hardened heart didn't want to have to unpack everything the next day when someone else fell ill that night.

Ohh, evil stomach bug, you are my nemesis.