Livin' Mi Vida Loca (Version 3.0): Our Train Fix.

We left the Creative Discovery Museum and headed to the Historic Chattanooga Choo Choo Hotel, where we checked in to our very own Victorian Train Car room!

The kids were beside themselves, and Ben and I were pretty stoked, too. It's not every night you get to sleep in a train car. :)

We rested in the room for just a little bit before venturing out onto the property.

The gardens were a huge hit with the kids...they especially loved the little pond full of fish. There was plenty of room for Harry and Babe to run and skip and laugh and play--which they did!--but they often ended up right back at this little pool.

We also spent a ton of time playing on the train engine on the property. Harris and Hadley yelled "all aboard!" and pretended to load and unload guests all evening long. If we could get one of those things in our backyard, those kids would never come inside! It was such fun to sit and watch their imaginations at work.

Because we were still full from lunch, we decided to check out the model train museum before eating dinner. If we had one of these anywhere within a twenty-five mile radius of our house, I'm certain I'd never, ever see Ben. Below are two of the five hundred pictures he took during our half-hour stay.

Upon leaving the museum, Harris stumbled on an "Old Tyme" photo shop and was hooked. And thus our very first professional picture as a family of five was born.

I love it. And them.

In addition to the conductor's hats, museum tickets, and Tennessee Valley Railroad tickets, our package also came with a restaurant credit, so we cashed that bad boy for some pretty good pizza at the Silver Diner car. Eating on a train car was almost as much fun as sleeping on one!

We ended the evening with a carriage ride around Chattanooga. We were pulled by a horse named Junebug and joined by a Dalmatian named Nate. Hadley was in heaven.