I began this blog post before our trip so that I could just fill in the fun details when we came home from our mini vacation.  But things got in the way of us taking our vacation. So here is the original blog, with some edits:

With our work schedules we have found it hard to plan a family vacation.  Our hope was to go to Gatlinburg for Valentine’s Day like we have done several times in the past.  But since Doug is one of the most recent hires in supervision, that week was already taken by the time the yearly calender got to him.  So we planned to go the week before Valentine’s.  And reality hit me.  My wild boys in Gatlinburg for 5 days may not be the best idea.  And I thought about how much un-fun (its a word in the dictionary of Tiffany) it would be to pack the 4 of us for those five days.  And then I remembered how expensive that long of a trip away from home would be and that schoolwork would still have to be done while we were gone.  So we changed our destination to Chattanooga.  A shorter trip with a shorter drive with a lot of kid friendly things to do, yes please.

In a nutshell, I was told at the last minute (like within 30 minutes of leaving town) that I had to work the weekend.  Our bags were packed with nowhere to go.  I also bought the boys cute luggage for their Valentine gift weeks ago knowing it would be perfect for our trip.  And I had cute shirts made for their first aquarium visit.

We salvaged the second half of the day Friday after I worked the 1st half of the day while never leaving Birmingham.  Me, Doug, and Aunt Coco took the boys to the McWane center where they owned that place.  For the most part (until the field trip arrived) it was kids about their age going wild.  Our only real drama was in the bubble area Sawyer decided to rub bubble soap in his eyes.  I may have panicked in my sprint (which I know my version of sprinting was HILarious) to the bathroom to clean him up. And I had a few panic moments when the boys would disappear in the big enclosed playground.  Its true, having two toddlers may leave me with no mind when it is all said and done.  But I would not have it any other way.

The lady at the shark tank said we were the 3rd set of twins in 40 minutes to visit her (we kept running into a set of identical twin girls).  She went on to ask that oh-so-personal question “were your twins natural or through fertilization?”  I still don’t know why people think that is an okay question to ask a total stranger.  It’s like when strangers used to ask me if my platinum blonde hair was natural.  It shouldn’t matter as long as God decided to allow us to be their Mommy and Daddy.  I did answer her honestly that they were naturally conceived as twins run in the family.

After the boys ruled the McWane Center, we took them to Chuck-E-Cheese to play and eat lunch.  I must say, I was quite impressed with the selection of toddler-sized things there for them to enjoy.  We also took the boys to my favorite places, Target and the Cookie Company to buy them valentine cookies.  We ended the night at Logan’s with Jeff and Katrina, where I may have had a headache that wouldn’t quit.  I did get the sleep for the next 12 hours to get rid of the headache.  I think I just crammed too much fun in 1 day.

Their Valentine Rocket Backpacks/Luggage and Heart Breakers Cars candy:

At the McWane Center (love Sawyer’s reflection and Braddock happy in the background):

Fish! (Not quite the world renowned Tennessee Aquarium, but they were happy):

Braddock running wild, having a blast:

The bubble room:

Sawyer helping blow a big bubble:

Daddy making a long giant bubble:

Water fun (yes there was lots of splashing):

thought their little legs were so cute here:

PuttPutt:

Demolishing the fort:

Braddock enjoying the view of downtown Birmingham:

Playing basketball at Chuck E Cheese (cellphone quality pics):

their favorite, riding the horse:

Chuck-E-Cheese souvenirs (love the one of Saw trying to get in the car with Braddock):

Valentine Cookies: