It’s no secret that I find traveling with my husband to be worse than traveling with my two small children.
And we all know that traveling with small kids is a task worthy of an olympic gold medal on its own.
So why, pray tell, did I suggest that we load up the car, Clampett-style, and head to Chattanooga?
Because we were facing the impending doom of eternally living life by the school calendar, and I wanted to take the girls on a little trip before they began their new school year.
Everyone whom we’ve talked with about the Tennessee Aquarium has said that it is just *that* awesome.
And they were all *that* correct.
After “petting” some rays (they feel like wet portabello mushrooms, by the way), we observed some more colorful ones from afar.
Daddy and girls observing some polka dotted rays.
There is a massive – and I mean massive – sea aquarium that spans 3 levels of one of the buildings. These ferocious-looking-but-totally-harmless sharks were the highlight of all the sea creatures we saw.
Dude, it's a for real shark!
They'd make great marine biologists, wouldn't they?
Why, yes, it's larger than my child.
There is a second building where the fresh water and Gulf animals are located. On that side, we got to see a giant turtle (though I didn’t get a good photo of him) as well as…
They are so still, just floating around.
and these little dudes.
Whatcha lookin' at?
I also put together a little video of some shark, spider crab and jellyfish highlights. Our trip to Chattanooga to visit the Tennessee Aquarium was like our very own #SharkWeek!
*All photos and videos were taken with my iPhone.
What an awesome trip this must’ve been! I love aquariums and haven’t been to one in ages!! Love your photos.
That looks awesome. I wish we had one of those close. Seeing a real life shark that close would be insane! I love that you made a little video of it. Makes it so much more awesome!
Awesome!! We have the Monterey Bay Aquarium near us but we haven’t been in forever! I need to take the kids there again!
Sounds like a fun day for all! Great shots there Liz
Oh sounds like fun! I like aquariums and I know the kids go cray for ‘em. DYING over Craig’s mailbag!
Um, you mean his “Daddy bag?”
Looks like it was worth the travel time…even with your husband
My favorite is the jail, er, I mean shark protection cage, with the giant, man-eating jaws behind them. And they’re all “Hey Mom! Hi! This is great! No danger here. Just hanging out with a massive human killer.”
I was just going to ask what Craig was holding…like a man bag or something. Snacks for his girls? Such a great dad.
That does look like a pretty amazing aquarium…we are definitely fish lovers over here.
I adore sea life. We recently went to Atlanta and I oohed and aahed over the sea creatures like I was three years old. Loved your pictures. That ‘ol iPhone is a sophisticated beeyatch.
We love aquariums. All of us.
There is one in Chicago that is out of this world, we go in the winter, and make a weekend of it.
Glad to see the girls squeezing it a bit more fun family time before school.
Can’t wait for more school posts, I’ll bet they’re just the apple of the teacher’s eye
We took our kids to the Chattanooga Aquarium a few months ago and it was definitely awesome! Atlanta is only like an hour and a half from Chattanooga, so I wish we had gone sooner. We will definitely be back.