Chattanooga

We decided a while back to spend Memorial Day weekend in Chattanooga with the Joneses. We didn't want to deal with all the crowds at the beach (it ended up raining at the beaches here anyway), so we headed the opposite direction! Chattanooga is so kid/family friendly as well, so it's fun for everyone. It also ended up being kind of a birthday trip for Charlie. For Carter's first birthday, we went to the Atlanta aquarium and then to Gatlinburg for lots of fun stuff. I'm sure he remembers it well (ha!) but I have to be fair... In my head, I picture them talking to each other when they're older about this stuff. I couldn't have Carter saying, "Well, Mom and Dad took ME on a trip when I turned one, but they didn't take YOU on one."

We had a really fun time, and did a lot of walking around downtown. We went to the aquarium, IMAX theater, and children's museum. We also had fun walking along by the river, enjoying ice cream several times, letting the kids run around in grassy areas near the river, and swimming. Carter remembers going to Chattanooga the last time we went, which was in December of 2007 (I was pregnant with Charlie). The main thing he remembers from that trip is that he went swimming in the hotel pool, and there was a man (a parking attendant) who looked like Santa Claus. Apparently, it would suit him just fine to go to the hotel down the street as long as they have a pool!

I had way too many photos to narrow down, so please view the slideshow. I made captions where appropriate. Click on the pictures to view the original slideshow, in larger format.