Staycation - Day 1

Having a 3-month old who hates riding in the car does not make a person want to travel.  So, Jeremy and I decided to take a "staycation" and enjoy some of the local attractions with our little family.  Today was our first day, and we decided to take a trip to the zoo.  For those who have never been to the Chattanooga Zoo, it doesn't compare to your Cincinnati, Atlanta, or St. Louis zoos, but it still is nice for a smaller city.  I also think it is a good size for toddlers - we got through it in a little over an hour this morning!  Cora got to see lots of animals including monkeys, leopards, coyotes, peacocks, deer, goats, owls, prairie dogs, and jaguars just to name a few.  Her favorites were the jaguars, and if you get the chance to ask her about it, it's funny to hear her say "jaguar."  :)  Probably the highlight of the trip was a camel ride with Daddy!

After we finished at the zoo, it was lunch time!  We decided to visit the downtown Qdoba for lunch.  It was delicious as always.  We had never been to the Creative Discovery Museum, but we thought Cora might like it, so we decided to give it a try.  She absolutely loved it!  The first thing we saw was the water area.  She played, and she played, and she played.  Then she pooped....gotta love changing poopy diapers in a public bathroom.  Anyway, we climbed some, and then she went back and played in the water a little longer.  Next stop was the creative zone where Cora made a space creature.  She enjoyed the markers and glue stick.  At one point they brought out some hula hoops and played some music for the kids to hula hoop to.  Cora really enjoyed trying!  After that venture was over, we found a play area for kids 4 and under.  She played in the kitchen area for quite a while and played with the car.  Then Micah had a poopy diaper.  Yep.  Two poopy diapers in one trip.  Awesome.  The next exhibit we came to was the music exhibit.  Cora loved hitting buttons to hear the different instruments and getting to play some string instruments and drums.  She kept going back to it over and over.  One thing I really liked about the museum is they have nursing rooms available.  They are private rooms with a little chair and books available for older siblings.  I love that I can nurse Micah and lock Cora in the room with us!  It is nice not having to worry about her running off since she doesn't always listen very well...  It is definitely somewhere I could go with the kids without Jeremy necessarily having to be there to help me.  We probably only made it through about 1/3 of the museum in a little over 2 hours.  We decided it would be worth the investment to become members as much as Cora enjoyed it.  It was after 3:00 when we left, so she was really tired, overdue for a nap.  She just sobbed as we left because she wanted to stay and keep playing.  Both kids fell asleep on the way home - the quietest car ride we've had in a long time!  When Cora got up from her nap, the first things she did was ask if she could go back and play the instruments.  :)

More staycation fun tomorrow!!