Captured Echos: Staycation Fall Break 2010- part I

Saturday we went to the Braves game with Randy and Amanda. We went to a game during my spring break and decided upon going to Bobby Cox's farewell game at the end of the season. They picked out the seats. Yes, they were pretty amazing seats. We weren't too far up and were behind homeplate. We were so close we could read the jerseys!

Some pretty big named people were there. Many of the old Braves players were there to honor him. Hank Aaron was even there. I was pretty impressed! You can see how they painted a jersey on the field with the #6 on it for Cox. They also had a #6 in the grass. It was pretty amazing.

The rest of the weekend was a blur. My wonderful cousin, Hannah, got to stay the weekend with us because Momma and Martha were at a BOW thing in Alabama. Friday we hung out at Miriam's a while and Hannah and Micah played. Jeremy, Hannah, and I then went to eat. When we got home, we made oobleck for her science extra credit project and played a little Wii. Hannah is amazing at Mario. It's hard to play with two people because you have to make sure both people do the same thing or one person dies. However, Hannah has all kinds of strategies she taught me! She got to hang out with the Robinson's during the day on Saturday while we were at the game, but they wore her out! She slept until 10 AM on Sunday!! When she got up we got ready and played a game. When Jeremy got home from church, we had a little reunion with Daddy's family and ate dinner with Jeremy's dad's family on Sunday night for his grandfather's b-day. It was a busy weekend, but I'm thankful I had the week off after being so busy!

Monday- Day 1 of the City Pass extravaganza

Jana, Brandi and I decided to purchase Atlanta City Pass books for our stay-cation this year. With the book, you could go to all kinds of Atlanta attractions. It's a must do thing in Atlanta. It's funny how things are close to us but we rarely go to them.

We started the trip by going to the aquarium. It was a beautiful day, a little chilly at first, but we survived!

The petting area was one of our first exhibits.

Don't worry, I will wash my hands before I eat.

One of the highlights of my day was riding down this whale slide. Don't worry, I made it down okay!

I didn't take too many pictures at the aquarium because it didn't look like they were turning out good. I look back and they don't look to shabby. Oh well, at least I have some!

We got a behind the scenes tour at the aquarium. It was super neat to see the top of the exhibit. We saw the whale sharks up close. This "pool" was HUGE!

The crew.

Our first 4D theater of the day. Their mascot is Deepo (don't worry--- it all comes from Home Depot, since the guy from there donated the money to build the aquarium). I just now realized it and I've been before.

After the aquarium we had a little lunch at Pemberton Cafe in Centennial Olympic Park. It was a nice day to eat outside.

This is our view of the World of Coke from the lunch table.

Are you over stimulated by the amount of coke memorabilia?

Yet another 4D theater. This one was a little crazy. I remembered it from spring break because at one point something pokes you in the back. I didn't even lean back in the chair because I was afraid. The dragonfly attacked Jana and Brandi though! I even warned them about it! Brandi didn't know what she was getting into with us. She hadn't been to a 4D theater before. Jana didn't like getting wet or all the movement of the seats. She was a little sick afterwards.

After the World of Coke, we got on a backstage tour of the CNN center. We started by going up the longest/highest escalator in the world. It was 8 stories and pretty scary. I already have an aversion for escalators. Number 1, I don't want them to stop while I am going up them. I know there has to be a switch turned, but still... Number 2, I don't want to get stuck in it. Number 3, I don't like the moving nature of them. Number 4... Okay I'll stop. Anyway, the CNN center was pretty neat. We got to see the different studios, watch a live broadcast, listen in on the director, see the way they do teleprompter, see how new weather technology, and be put in front of a green screen. Although I knew some of the stuff, it was pretty interesting to see how camera/directing is on a bigger scale.

Day 2 of the City Pass

Brandi didn't get to join us today. Jana and I started the day by going to the High Museum. The Dali exhibit is on display, so we got to see some pretty interesting things. We are a little challenged though. A guy had to help us find our way out of the parking garage once we got off the elevator because we didn't know which way to go. We followed his directions by walking about 10 feet to the next elevator. Hm... A few minutes after waiting on the elevator, that never came, a worker came by and told us we had to push the "call for service" button on a little stand next to the elevator. Who knew?! We are not city folk. We are used to the button being on the elevator. I guess we thought it was motion censored! Anyway, we finally made it inside the High. We walked around for a long time. We saw his early and late work but enjoyed his mustache quotes. People weren't taking pictures so we didn't either. Jeremy asked where the pictures were and I told him I didn't take any. Sorry! Jana and I got a kick out of some of the art. Others were a little disturbing. A chess set with fingers as pawns. Hm...

There were other exhibits too. The floor in the folk art section was extremely squeaky. I tried to tiptoe but a worker said, "That doesn't work!" I guess he has tried!

Next, we went to the Atlanta Botanical Garden because there was a chocolate exhibit. Well, it wasn't all what it was cracked up to be. Oh well. We did get to walk on the new canopy walkway though and that was fun.

However, our trip would not be complete without going to another wonderful attraction, the zoo. After we made a beeline to eat lunch, we got to walk around the rest of the afternoon to enjoy the animals. We should have tracked our milage over the past two days because I'm sure we walked more than we usually do.

I used to be intrigued by flamingos, but then I was let down when I saw them in person for the first time. They aren't too pink at the zoo. Oh well.

We are kangaroos!

Yes, I pet a goat even though I have them in the pasture outside the house. I also got to pet a lamb.

Triplets.

Inquisitive look of the parakeet

Singing, "When I was a young warthog......."

Meer-cat faces. These animals cracked us up.

Great posture!

Hm... Dead or not?! Nope, they were just sunning.

Giraffes.

Willie B statue reminded us of when we were kids. Oh wait, I think we may still act like kids!

Human nest, not to be confused with a bird nest.

Can't you tell we like pictures?! We enjoy ourselves way too much.

This is my thinking face.

Showing off...

Favorite moment of the day: It was pretty amazing to watch the gorillas catch apples the zoo worker threw to them. We stayed and watched for a long time because we were in awe of their talent! This gorilla was pretty entertaining!

This panda had a pretty bad itch going on while we were at its exhibit. It kept rubbing against the tree. This is the only time it stopped so I could get a decent picture!