Atlanta

We drove to Atlanta on Thursday looking forward to spend a couple of fun days as a family without the distractions of home before sending Bill off to Korea. We had a great time together enjoying each other as a family. Thursday evening we went to the American Girl store with Kaity and she had a great time looking at all of the dolls and their accessories then we walked over to the Cheesecake Factory and had a great dinner sampling a variety of items off the bar menu. We tried some new things and enjoyed some old favorites. Then we were off to check into our hotel for two nights near the airport.

Wow!

We woke up the next day to a very brisk 15 degree morning. I had no idea Atlanta got THAT cold. It was FREEZING, but refreshing all the same. We had a great breakfast at the hotel and headed to the Georgia Aquarium. Kaity had a great time with the touch pools and touched some rays, starfish, and sea anemone. Ryan was very hesitant to even go near the touch pools, but warmed up to them a little. He was torn between touching and being too scared to touch. He opted to point instead. Both kids really enjoyed the exhibits, especially the beluga whale exhibit and Ryan kept running up to the exhibits pointing and saying wow, which is either a new word for him or I finally just figured it out (most likely the case with him). He also started saying (and doing) the Gator chomp at the alligator tank (and the beluga whale tank, but we'll keep that on the down low). :)

Kaity was full of great questions, like how do belugas sleep and how long can they hold their breath. We all learned something new. A beluga's brain can't shut down and breathe at the same time, so they sleep with half their brain at a time. The right side shuts down to sleep and the left stays awake so the whale can breathe and vise versa. The only way to tell that they are asleep by looking at them is that they have one eye shut. Cool huh? They can hold their breath for 20-25 minutes. Not nearly as cool, but something new we learned.Holding our breath like beluga whales.
"I'm a hammerhead!" Ryan was one too, but too quick for pictures.

We went back to the hotel and took late naps, woke up refreshed, and headed down to the Manager's Reception. To keep it simple, stress free, and enjoyable, we ordered take out and had dinner at the hotel. It was a great decision! We brought wine back up to the room, got the kids bathed and ready for bed and put Ryan to bed. Then Bill, Kaity, and I played go fish. Kaity loved playing a big kid game and we enjoyed the time with her. After a couple few rounds, we put her to bed as well and enjoyed a quiet evening together drinking wine and playing rummy. It was a great, tear free way to spend our last couple of days together.