Tuesday the weather man called for a 60% chance of rain and this seemed like the ideal day to spend at the Georgia Aquarium. Since the day before had been longer than planned, we all slept in. Our appointment at the aquarium was at 11:00 am so we had plenty of time to arrive and park.

As you turn onto Baker street where the aquarium is located, you see the vastness of the building. The front of the building is covered in reflective glass and sparkles even though the sky is overcast with massive black clouds. I was like a little kid with my face plastered to the window oohing and aahhing. I kept pointing things out to the boys who were in the back seat.

Of course I had snaked a deal for our admission. I had found a combo online for Six Flags and the Georgia Aquarium that allowed us to get in the aquarium for free! With 5 people that is a savings of $125 (stop laughing Carolyn).

As we walked into the main part of the aquarium it was breathtaking with huge curved screens everywhere with images projected on them. Of we went to explore what was there. I have never seen some of God’s creation that I took in yesterday. The beluga whales were one of my favorites. They were so beautiful and graceful in the water. I found myself just staring at them not realizing I was blocking the view of all these other children waiting to see. I was definitely acting like a child yesterday.

Of course we were all waiting for the whale sharks, but I thought it would be best if we saw them last. I am sure glad we did. We stepped onto the people mover and off we went through the glass tunnel with God’s amazing creation above us. When I first spotted a whale shark, Noah was standing beside me and we both saw it at the same time. We were both so excited. After the tunnel, we went to the viewing theater. I didn’t want to leave I sat and thought about God’s beautiful creation. Seeing the whale sharks and the different kinds of fish was very soothing.

It is time for me to get ready for Six Flags. I will tell you about the IKEA experience later.

Monday morning we left for our family trip to Atlanta at 9:00 am. Our departure time was supposed to be at 7:00 am, but  I had left some prescriptions at the pharmacy I had neglected to pick up. Bryan prayed as we pulled out of the driveway on our way to our first stop.

We had one more stop after the pharmacy. Sadie our labradoodle was staying with some dear friends and we had to deposit her to the “dude ranch”. Of course she is going to have a ball and be spoiled rotten when we get her home.  I do miss her though. I say God gives us dogs to show us unconditional love, Sadie is always happy to see me and love on me no matter how long I have been away from her.

Bryan rode in the back seat on our way to deliver Sadie, so he could set up the DVD system for the boys. It sure makes a 7 hr. road trip go much faster. Thank goodness for Blockbuster and Megan for taking the boys on Sunday night!

We had a great trip and made it to Atlanta in good time. I had found our hotel online and it was newly renovated. I had done my homework through numerous websites including AAA, but when we checked in our room was dirty. Housekeeping was gone for the day and the hotel was completely booked. They had another hotel nearby and were sending us there to stay the night for free and then bringing us back the next night. We load back in the car and go over to the other hotel. I checked in and went to check on our room before we all traipsed into the room. I couldn’t believe my eyes, this room was dirty too, their housekeeping was gone and they were booked.  I was through with either of these hotels and we were off to find another hotel.

In the parking lot of the first hotel, Bryan opened his laptop and we began looking for hotels. It is difficult to find a hotel that accommodates a family of  5. The boys put in a movie to pass the time. Most of the hotels we called or checked online were booked, finally we found a hotel with a penthouse suite. It could accommodate our family and was non smoking which is a must with a child with allergies and asthma. The hotel was completely booked except this suite so we quickly booked it and we were off to find our new place with the help of the iPhone. (Thanks Matthew)

When we arrived at the hotel the movie the boys had started when our search had begun was now ending. Not too bad from no hotel room to a great place in 2 hours. We checked in and decided we should find something to eat since it was now 9:00 pm. Everyone was in such a good mood even though it had been a long day. We sat at dinner and laughed and laughed.

We all fell into our clean beds at the end of our long day. Thank goodness for clean rooms.