Atlanta

Adam gave us ladies a gift! He took us to Atlanta for spring break :) The primary reason for going to Atlanta was to see a concert, but he decided to make it into a short commercial break from our daily lives and it was quite a good commercial!

We arrived in Atlanta and ate at a place called Flats Handmade Flatbread. It was good, overpriced flatbread :) Then we checked into the hotel and parked our van and headed to the aquarium for the day. We saw some pretty incredible animals. First we watched a sea lion show. Then...Dolphins! Crazy to me that a sea animal can be trained so well, that people can RIDE them! After those shows, we wandered around looking at all of the sea creatures. Autumn was most excited about the whale shark and that tank ended up being the most amazing. There were some Big animals in this tank.


Notice the size of the people...

Then there was this guy...a Japanese spider Crab! He was not small and had super long legs. I would not like to run into this guy on the sand! The aquarium in Boston was better, but this one did have some cool things that Boston did not. 

For dinner we decided on German food. There was a place nearby, but boy was it windy! It was a brisk walk! We had this gargantuan pretzel and potato pancakes with smoked salmon which were both very crispy on the outside and soft and delicious on the inside. I am not sure what the dishes were called that we ate, but they were good. The sauerkraut was my favorite!  

Friday, we planned to go to the Federal Reserve Museum and learn about money, but our plans were foiled when I left my purse at the hotel with my ID. Apparently a family of four can look like they are casing the place :) We went outside to regroup and Autumn spotted a badminton net, so we killed some time doing that while Adam came up with plan B. Side note: badminton can be fun, even if you are very bad and it made us laugh :) 

Our most recent Lyft driver told us about a shopping area called Ponce. That is where we ended up spending the morning.  It was filled with boutiques, mostly with things we wouldn't buy, but that are fun to look at. There were two really neat stores for us...a toy store and a paper store. Also, I learned that an aloe plant can bloom! There was a booth with succulent plants and there was a pretty large aloe plant with a flowery part.

We chose to eat a late lunch at a nearby mexican place, before heading back to the hotel to rest. Guacamole, tacos, nachos, and fajitas made for a fabulous meal. We also HAD to walk back to Ponce to pick up dessert at a joint called Batter (cookie dough in a bowl!). 

Time for Celtic Woman!!! The show was at the Fox Theater, which is an incredible building. There were hieroglyphics in the ladies room! We didn't have as much time there as I intended, because I forgot to grab the tickets on the way out the door so we had to take a slight detour to go back and get them. We were all excited about the show. 

I'm sure some of you are wondering why we like them and you have never heard of them...I'm not sure where I first heard them, but Adam and I went to a show many years ago, when Chloe was a toddler. Now, in our school time, we use some of their songs to learn hymns or carols. They have really pure, clear voices and the music is very nice and elegant.
The show was very entertaining! There was a man who played the bagpipes. One of the ladies played a violin and a harp. There was even a tap dancer!

Today we didn't make any plans. Chloe and Autumn wanted to swim in the hotel OUTdoor pool! When Chloe and I were exploring the hotel on Friday morning, she noticed steam coming off of the pool. We went out to investigate and the pool was heated. She was thrilled! So, at 9:15ish this morning, they both jumped in the pool :) I am never sure if they will need swimming clothes and we have been without and wanted them before, so we almost always have them along now. They did not act the least bit cold. The sun was out and directly over the pool and there was no wind...so, fun March morning!

We got all packed up and headed over to the Olympic Park. We had not walked around there yet and I thought there would be some interesting things to see there. Of course, Chloe and Autumn were most interested in the playground. The reflecting pools and water falls were a peaceful, lovely addition to the park. Seeing the Olympic rings and Gold, silver, and bronze medalists names and such is always inspiring to me.

Sometimes commercials are really great!!