Mema's.

The kids and I finished up our Spring Break with a trip to Mema's today.  It was sooooo much fun!  When we arrived, Mema had everything set up for a very special lunch!  The kids took some time to look over the menu and place their orders before enjoying a sweet meal with the Meems.

Emmy slept through all the excitement. :)

My sweet baby woke up eventually, just in time to head outside with Mema, Daniel, and the big kids.

The majority of the afternoon was spent hunting for caterpillars, roly polies, and ladybugs. 

There was a little hammock action, too.

And lots and lots of lovin'.

It was the perfect end to the perfect week.



Spring Break O'Fun.

We've had a blast hanging together during Spring Break this week.  Highlights of the week have included:  our trip to Chattanooga, seeing "The Lorax" (even Daddy got to go!), visiting Daddy's office for a trip to the playground and lunch at Los Hermanos, going to Mema's house, and some time at the Game Ranch.

It's just a little taste of what's to come this summer. :)

I only took pictures of our outing to the Game Ranch.  It's an annual trip for us, and we had a ton of fun once again this year!

Big Nut just chilled in her stroller, but Harry and Babe had a great time feeding all of the animals.  We had peanuts, corn, crackers, apples, and carrots, and the animals loved us!

This was our first time visiting in the afternoon.  I was afraid the animals wouldn't be very hungry, but I was wrong!  We didn't see as many deer as usual, but we spent a ton of time with the farmyard animals.  Spring is a good time to visit, too, because little babies are all over the place!

Until next year (or possibly this summer), Game Ranch!

Sunday in Chattanooga.

We woke up well-rested and ready to get moving on Sunday morning!

After packing up our stuff, we headed to the breakfast buffet and stuffed our faces.  The kids ate well (breakfast is a favorite!) and immediately headed out to get a little more time on the train before we had to leave.

Ben, Emmy, and I watched the big kids play for at least half an hour before loading up and heading over to the Tennessee Valley Railroad Authority for our ride on the Missionary Ridge Local.

We were a few minutes early, so we spent some time climbing up and down and in and out of some of the different train cars they had on display.  We've done this lots before while riding Thomas and The Polar Express, but it was such a better experience without the crowds.

We headed to the platform once we heard the whistle announcing the approaching train.

We had a great little ride through a very famous tunnel (it was featured in Water for Elephants!) and then hopped off to watch the engine on the turntable and tour the shop area.  Even I was pretty impressed with the turntable demonstration.

We rode back to the station, grabbed a quick snack in the cafe area while Emmy nursed, and headed to Mimi and Poppa's for a short visit before making our way back home.

I'm pretty sure my new favorite tradition (other than Disney!) is going to be the quick weekend getaway. 

I love my family.

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.

We returned from the carriage ride to see the Choo Choo all lit up with gas-flame lights...a pretty perfect ending to a pretty perfect day.

We brushed teeth,

tucked in,

and fell asleep.

Contentment. 

Saturday in Chattanooga.

For Spring Break this year, we decided to take a weekend road trip to Chattanooga.  The kids always look forward to riding Thomas the Tank Engine in the spring, but this year Ben and I decided to get our train fix in a different (and much better!) way.

We made it up to the city in time for lunch, and after parking and taking a leisurely stroll through the downtown streets, we ended up at Sticky Fingers, a personal fave.

Chattanooga has so much to offer families, which made it a little difficult to pick our afternoon activity.  We settled on the Creative Discovery Museum the day before we left, and WOW! what a great choice we made.

And, for the record, my very handsome husband was part of the groundbreaking for this facility back when he was in high school.  Ask him about it sometime...he'd be happy to share everything about it with you! :)

The kids and I have been to both INK and and the Children's Museum in Atlanta, and neither can hold a candle to what this place has to offer.  I seriously cannot wait to go back.

Babe's favorite activity was the massive PlayScape we ventured onto immediately upon entering.  Harris enjoyed the "dinosaur" sandbox and theater room.

I was partial to the music rooms.  I was especially stoked to find an old harpsichord just like Mom used to play!

Emmy was content to check it all out from her cushy seat in the stroller.  She's such a good baby.

The art room was quite impressive as well.  Ben and I did a little sketching while the kids worked on some stamping, rubbings, and clay creations.

Harry and Babe were even brave enough to pet the snake!

Ben preferred keeping his hands on this girl.

After spending a couple of hours inside the museum, we headed up to the rooftop playground, which was totally cool!

We even managed a trip up the "tower" before calling it a day.  Ben's fear of heights only immoblized him slightly.

It was such a fun family outing, and a great start to our weekend trip.

Stay tuned to see where we headed next...