Scout Blue and Gold Meeting

Chattanooga - Day 2 (Waking up with the Fish, Hotel Pool, Back to the Aquarium)

The next morning, the boys and I woke up early to pack up and go see the otters get their morning feeding.  We also got to watch Oscar one last time from our sleeping window.  We made it back to the car and had to clear off all the ice and snow, then into the room at the Hilton to get changed into our swimming suits.  We had plans to go as a family to the aquarium, but because of the snow, the aquarium did not open until noon.  So perfect time to go swimming!  

Little Ruby is just to cute in that little towel.  After swimming, we made it to the aquarium to let the girls see all the fun stuff.  Ruby loved the butterfly area.  She squealed and laughed at those funny little bugs.  She also caught one and was not very gentle...so that one died.  And she was just so cute walking around in there, till she slipped in some water to her bottom, then fell onto her back, then bumped her head on the concrete...yeah, it was me watching her during all of this.  But Magan had to dry her clothes as much as possible before we moved on.

Belle finally let me help her pet a sturgeon.  She is such a girl.  And Sam's favorite fish was a giant monkey eater that would actually eat monkeys in the rainforest when the fruit trees got flooded.  And probably the highlight of the trip was a scuba diver spending about 5 minutes with Ruby playing peekaboo.  It was so cute, and she was just laughing at him.  Too precious.  TN Aquarium is Number ONE on our list.

Chattanooga - Day 1 (Discovery Center, Campout at the Aquarium, Snow!)

Our trip was planned earlier in August of '14, not knowing about all the fun snow, ice, and cold we would have this winter.  The plan was for me and the boys to camp out at the aquarium, but I didn't want the girls to miss out, so I booked them at this Hilton about 3 blocks from the Aquarium.  And we decided to skip school and head up early, well ahead of the scout pack that was all leaving around noon.  And I was having to check emails all day to see if anyone else was coming.  Luckily everyone made it up all right, and got through before all the snow and ice hit.  

But before all of that we made it to the Discovery Center.  I love Chattanooga, and this is a great city for our family.  All of these fun activities are within a few blocks, and Lookout Mountain is not too far away.  At the Discovery Center, Ruby was able to just walk all around that place, and I think her many squeals were a good sign of her happiness with this place.  

Sam found the craft table that took up a lot of his time here.  Then both Sam and Davis found the Engineering and Innovation room...and there they remained for the rest of our time at the center.  Belle and Ruby enjoyed being bees for awhile, then Belle found a "transporter" tube that you could send messages across the innovation center.  She LOVED this, and I think believed it was actually magic to place the container in the tube, close the door, hit the button, and let the air push it over to the other side.  I don't know how many times Magan and I had to do this over and over sending messages (and a dollar bill from dad) back to her.  

After the Discover Center, our trip to the Aquarium began @ 6:00 PM, so we bundled up (Already snowing) and took off down the road to the Aquarium.  Once our tour began, Sam got into a different group than us, so most of the pictures are of just me and Davis.  We saw Sam here and there when his group caught up with us.  I think he liked being on his own since I am usually right with him as den leader.  At the top of the Aquarium, we got to see their Sea Turtle (Oscar) that has been injured, missing both back flippers due to a collision with a boat propeller...and this quickly became Davis' favorite.  Later we even saw Oscar from our sleeping area above us.

We went outside around 7:30 PM to go across the street to the IMAX, and it was COLD...and crazy snowing.  And our pizza was late to the IMAX, imagine that, roads were not very good to get pizza delivery.  Davis immediately began throwing snowballs outside.  We watched the "Lemurs of Madagascar" and Sam, Davis and I quickly learned that we had learned the Lemur communication howls and used them in key situations for humor the rest of our trip.  OK, maybe it was just funny to us.  The aquaium hosts were great, playing games with the kids, telling funny stories, then bringing out some snakes and lizards for the kids to pet right before bed time.  I will have to admit, the Air Mattress was a late add, but was perfect.  I slept in the middle, which made both boys roll towards me, which was better than rolling off to the ground.  Our view was not as great as some others that had aquarium all around...BUT it was slightly out of the way, quiet, and made for a good nights rest.