ATL Trip: Day 2

Day 2 in Atlanta had us heading literally just across the street from our hotel to the Georgia Aquarium. 

For once, Noah was braver about touching things than Anna was. Anna didn't try a single touch center the whole day.  Noah tried the starfish and one other that I forget now.

For me, the most breathtaking displays are the wall-size views of giant tanks.  They had more than several there.  

At Josh's favorite exhibit - the beluga whales.

You'd think the kids were impressed with this stuff.  They weren't.  Noah was hounding us all morning about when he would get to ride an escalator and Anna was just waiting to hit the gift shop.

This was mine and Anna's favorite part of the day - the dolphin show.  Nice touch, GA Aquarium!

Love these grand views!

This was Noah's favorite part - the flat escalator path through the tunnel with all the sharks and rays and other odd creatures.

At this point int he visit, Anna had reached the crazy-making part of the day where exhaustion meets hunger and explodes into irrational mood swings.  Oh wait, that was me. :S

Another cool critter.

Another fantastic view.

Exiting the aquarium with gift shop goodies in hand.  Anna chose a perfectly pink dolphin that she named Muffy and/or Doffy (depends on her mood when you ask) and Noah got a sleeve of sharks.  

We hit Johny Rockets for lunch and our moods stabilized ... a little.  

After a nap for us all, we went to IKEA at last.  Anna was enamored at all the little beds and chairs just her size. :)  If that doesn't tell you what city-living spaces and furniture are like, I don't know what does.  We scoped out a number of tables, desks, and chairs and purchased some household odds and ends as well as an outdoor umbrella.  We also had dinner at the little restaurant there in the store.  Mostly, I remember wishing we'd dropped the kids off at the play area, though, after Noah had lost his patience AND HIS MIND and had an unpleasant little meltdown and fallout.  He ended up caged in the buggy as a result.  It was a long day for all, so I can't blame him, but still.  It was bad.  After we got back from there, we regrouped with the kiddos for a few and headed across another street from our hotel to Centennial Olympic Park and let the kids just unwind in the play area while we enjoyed some open space in the perfect weather we were having.

Noah could have done this slide thing all night.  He is an entertaining little stunt man!

Monkeying around some more.

Getting silly (and dizzy) with Daddy.

I enjoyed the metropolitan feel of a park in the middle of the city.  There were people everywhere.

I just liked this building (the pointed one) ... which I learned is the Bank of America building.

Fun little fountain area in the park.

Then, on a whim, we indulged ourselves in a little carriage ride around some of the downtown areas.  Quickest $60 we ever blew, but it was so nice.  And it was fun to check that off mine and Anna's lists of things we've been wanting to do for awhile.

I'm pretty sure the heavy Coke influence in the area is why I could not find a Diet. Dr. Pepper at ANY place we ate.  The World of Coke Museum is one attraction we skipped out on, figuring the kids wouldn't care at all.  We'll hit that another day, another trip.  

We revisited the fountains on the way back to our hotel and slept hard this night. It was a bit of a trying day with the kids, so by that time, both of them had lost the opportunity to go swimming .  This was the day I posted on FB about my children being Ungrateful Brats. :} 

By the next morning we were really looking forward to our planned activities since they did not involve paying admission anywhere nor did they involve maneuvering through big crowds. Stay tuned...