Atlanta: Spring Break Part One

Note: This is my third post today. I am playing catch up.

We decided to break up the thirteen hour drive to Orlando in half and stayed in Atlanta Gerogia the first night. We arrived in the evening and we were tired from driving (well, Todd was tired from driving and I was emotionally exhausted from a great book I was reading :) so we didn't do anything that night except eat dinner. Fisher was sleep deprived since he refuses to sleep in the car and was very hyper. Within the first few minutes he had run a marathon back and forth across the room, jumped on the bed, thrown pillows off the bed and threw Todd's watch into the toilet. He's never done that before but I guess it was all the pent up energy and lack of sleep. The first night was rough since Fisher was a little sick and was up all night coughing. We eventually had to bring in him to bed with us (something I can count on one hand the times we have done) and he slept on my stomach. There was also a huge thunder storm, so in between coughing and booming thunder, sleep was not all that great that night.

The view from our hotel. We had a great room that was really close to the aquarium and all the good stuff.

The weather was horrible while we were there. Rain and temperatures in the 40s-50s. Thankfully we had each brought one sweatshirt with us...no coats. Here is a picture of the Coca Cola Building.

Our first peak at the Georgia Aquarium. It is the largest in the world.

We spent the morning at the aquarium before driving the second half of the journey to Orlando that afternoon.

Fisher definitely enjoyed the fish more than he has enjoyed things like this in the past.

Giving rock climbing a try. Too bad I didn't get the sign in the picture right next to them that said "No climbing on rocks".

Fisher stuck between the glass and rail. It took a couple of minutes to get that big head of his out of there. Notice the panicked expression on his face.

One of my favorite parts of the aquarium was the beluga whales. They were beautiful! At this point Fisher is starting to get really tired. It was almost nap time, not to mention that he hadn't slept well the night before nor did he nap the day before. This was the beginning of a week long of sleep deprivation.

There is a huge tunnel with huge hammer head sharks, sting rays, tons of fish and the whale sharks. It was extremely crowded and Fisher threw a temper tantrum in there. Todd was able to hang out a little longer while I took Fisher out.

I haven't put up many pictures of the fish we saw since most of the pictures didn't turn out but Todd took this one of one the whale shark swimming over the tunnel. Even thought it isn't crisp clear, you can get the idea. So cool.

After the tunnel you come out into this huge room that is sort of like a movie theatre, except with a bigger screen...and no movie. I could have stayed in this room for hours watching the fish. These are the same fish as in the tunnel only now it is a huge wall of glass to get a better view.

This is what the aquarium's website has to say about this area:

"This exhibit was specially designed to house whale sharks, the largest fish species in the world. Schools of predatory trevally jacks, squadrons of small and large stingrays, enormous goliath grouper and hammerhead sharks all ply the waters of this captive ocean habitat containing more than six million gallons of saltwater. With 4,574 square feet of viewing windows, a 100-foot-long underwater tunnel, 185 tons of acrylic windows and the second largest viewing window in the world at 23 feet tall by 61 feet wide and 2 feet thick, visitors will have multiple opportunities to view all of these magnificent animals. No other aquarium in the world has ever attempted to manage the variety and size of fish in this major exhibit."

A dark, but clear picture of one of the whale sharks. It was pretty neat but we didn't get to enjoy it long because at this point in time Fisher has officially reached melt down and was screaming at the top of his lungs. In a crowded room...not so much fun. See you later fish. It's been swell.

My favorite part of aquariums is the jelly fish so we did manage to find them on our way out despite Fisher's protests.

The Coke Museum is directly across from the aquarium. We were going to go but Fisher was tired, it was getting late and we still had a seven hour drive ahead of us. We were hopeful Fisher would sleep in the car and all would be well...wishful thinking :)

Across the street was the Centennial Olympic Park.

A picture of the park. If we were ever to go back to Atlanta there is definitely more that we would like to see. The next installment will be our first day in Florida at Universal Studios.

We did celebrate Easter...

Here is yet another post that is a little outdated. I haven't felt like blogging but I realize that the grandparents miss seeing pictures of Fisher so I am trying to update for you guys! I am hoping to get our Florida trip pictures up as well. Prepare yourself for a lot of pictures today. I finally have the itch to get caught up and I am going to do it all at once.

My favorite egg was Fisher's green one in the middle that he decorated with the sticker edge.

The boys all ready to decorate eggs. Fisher was excited despite the fact that he looks like he is giving me a death stare.

In they go! Surprisingly, Fisher was really good and didn't even try to mess with the colors. He sat in Todd's lap while I put the eggs in the dye and then they would decorate them with stickers. He also colored on a lot of them with the special little crayon before they were dyed.

It is a tough job deciding where the stickers are to go.

Two of my favorite eggs...and yes, I did spell love "luv"...I've been hanging out in too many teeny bopper Twilight forums :) Kidding.

Have I mentioned that Fisher LOVES to eat hard boiled eggs? He was in heaven for days!

Contemplating his next move...

The Easter outfit. Thanks for the cute vest Grandma & Grandpa Church!

Happy Easter!

The kid loves sidewalk chalk and Sesame Street. Easy enough.

I think is going to be an annual thing. He played in the grass last year as well, draping it over his head.

The chocolate candy is starting to work its way into the system. Hyperactivity, here we come!

Here he was saying hi to G & G Lund while chomping down a Reeses bunny.

The end.

Once there was a snowman...better late than never.

I started this post over a month ago and thought I might as well finish it since the pictures had already been uploaded. It seems a little odd to be posting snow pictures when it is spring time but that is what I get for procrastinating.

Back in February and March we had some great snow storms. Fisher in his pj bottoms out in the snow.


If you look closely you can see that Fisher had been drinking some cocoa over at his friends' house across the street.


All bundled up and ready to play in the snow.


Fisher in the snow.


We received about a foot of snow during this storm. It was the kind that is really fun to play in.


Winter Wonderland.

It is hard to tell from this picture but there was a lot of snow.

Out back.

The boys building a snowman.

Once there was a snowman.

Would anyone like a nose?

Adding the finishing touches.

And then removing all the final touches.

Happy Birthday Alicia (and we're back)

Happy belated birthday to my sister-in-law, Alicia. We hope you had a good one! Just think, next year you won't have to celebrate it in Winnemucca. That is a birthday present in itself :) Thanks for being such a great SIL and taking good care of my mom while I am on the other side of the country. Happy Birthday!

***

We took a last minute trip to Florida for Todd's spring break and had a chance to go to Atlanta's Aquarium (the largest in the world), Disney World and Universal Orlando. It was a fun time but now we are back and recovering from our vacation...the drive, the five days of parks and of course- sharing a hotel room with a two-year-old. One of these days I might get around to putting up some pictures from Easter. We have a lot of pictures from our trip so I might just share some of those as well. In the mean time here is one picture of Fisher as we were walking out of Disney World for the last time.

What's Fisher been up to?

Fisher has been practicing putting on his own socks-but tends to prefer Todd's over his own. He digs the leg warmer look.



We now have to move his crib into the middle of his room for him to sleep so that he can't reach the light switch or his hats. He will balance precariously on his rail afraid to make the final plunge of climbing out of his crib. Fisher discovered this new trick while attempting to reach the light switch.



He loves to climb on the eliptical.

The boy loves to dance. I plan on putting up some movies of his current moves.

He not only loves the computer still but now specifically loves i-tunes. The kid will have a very broad taste in music since he has the parents he does. When we refuse to let him have his way with the computer and i-tunes, he throws little fits like the one shown above.

He still loves his car...

Recently he has been wanting to pick out his own clothes. He must be rebelling against me for constantly dressing him in hooded sweatshirts (my own favorite outfit of choice) because he selects button up shirts to hang around the house in on a rainy day....

He's crazy about his bike.

Fisher is crazy. I decided to see what he would do if I let him play as he wanted without picking up anything after him or making him pick up after himself...big mistake. This whirlwind disaster took maybe ten minutes to create.

My friend Cyndi is currently making her daughter an amazing doll house. I've decided I have it a lot easier with a boy. All it takes is a few chairs and blankets. Wallah! A fort :)

Ruling his domain. This was another outfit he chose by himself.