chattanooga...fo real

zoo, mall, aquarium, tennessee riverwalk, pizza crust. jake did it all. and it left him quite tuckered out.

***i took a zillion pictures over our little trip. i was a little camera-happy. 
might want to grab your eye drops and prepare yourself for an eye-strain.***

the aquarium

is it possible to have a spiritual experience looking at japanese sea nettles? i think yes. i may have gotten teary eyed watching those beautiful--and oh so deadly--creatures float around their tanks so gently and gracefully. and i may have screamed like a little kid and persisted to show everyone around me the HUGE--and i mean ginormous here--turtle that arose out of a bed of coral and scared the pants off of me. it swam away into the murky mists and unknown watery realms of the tanks, possibly looking for its lunch...a shark. honestly, it was that big. it totally could have eaten a shark. 

the creatures were all gorgeous (or scary--jakey and i no likey giant octopuses. their little suction cup tentacles are honestly terrifying to me. remember this dream i had? i do. always.)

jake's expression was pretty much like this the entire time. he totally dug it--especially in the butterfly habitat--but also kept a sharp eye on all the critters while telepathically telling them, "you do your thing in there, and i'll do mine out here, k?"

 the zoo

not sure how much he loved the zoo. he liked the prairie dogs and spider monkeys but the sqwuaky, super-loud macaws kind of pushed him to the breaking point. but it was a fun excursion nonetheless.

down by the river

walking around downtown chattanooga was perhaps my favorite part of the trip. i like the whole vibe there. the weather was gorgeous, the breeze was sweet, and the company was ultra-cute. we sat on a bench on the pedestrian bridge and looked out at the tennessee river and i just felt awesome! don't know how to explain but it felt good to be out and about and doing something in the city amid the hustle and bustle and architecture and natural scenery. there were plenty of places to push the stroller around to. we ate at the Mellow Mushroom where jake de-vour-ed some pizza crust. then we strolled up to the Ice Cream Show (not shop) and licked away the chocolate ice cream that melted under the sunshine. it was just...great. really. i wish i could do it everyday. only thing that would have made it better would be having scott there with us (he had a training for work).

we didn't make it to Rock City which i hear is fabulous. but it is definitely on our to-do list. who knows...maybe a move to chattanooga is in our future... cuz you know...we seem to like to move around a lot.

 ta-ta for now chattanooga!