I can't believe it's been two years already! So much has changed and our lives are very different from where we were just a short time ago.
Remember this?
 |
| 10/11/09 |
And now we're to this:
 |
| 10/10/11 |
Our family is larger now and we are enjoying life to the fullest! For our two year anniversary, we decided to head back to a previous vacation spot. We normally tend to only visit once and then never return to the same location so for us to travel back to Chattanooga means that we really loved it the first time!
As on our original wedding weekend, the weather was amazing! It was 75 degrees, blue skies and a warm breeze. What a perfect weekend to get married. I'd do it all over again if I could but Jon won't let me go wedding dress shopping again anytime soon! For some reason, I think I would be much less stressed the second time around. Maybe there is something to that... I don't know.
The weekend started off right with a mile high stack of chocolate chip waffles. Jon wanted me to submit this picture to the website,
http://thisiswhyyourefat.tumblr.com/ but I declined. They were delicious and lasted us 3 breakfasts so it was a worthwhile investment.
After breakfast, we drove down the road to the Celtic Games sponsored by Covenant College that was right down the street from our cabin. We were all excited to see some plaid tartans throw some cabers! They actually did quite well -- those college boys. The Celtic games were fun and all but there is only so much haggis-eating you can watch before its time to call it a day.
 |
| Caber toss |
 |
| Jon and Calvin watch the festivities |
 |
Observing very seriously
|
We grabbed the girls (dogs) and headed to
Cloudland Canyon State Park. This park is beautiful by the way, in case the name didn't give a hint, it has amazing views and fairly easy trails for walking around. As a "serious" hiker (maybe more in the past), I would scoff at trails that were paved. However, we had a baby and two doggies in tow. Not knowing how much time we had to enjoy the scenic views, thanks to the ticking time bomb that is often referred to as Calvin, we chose the shortest hike to the first waterfall. Unfortunately, so did everyone else who was at the park that beautiful Saturday. Aside from some trail congestion, we survived about 30 flights of stairs. The stairs were the kind with the metal grates to allow for water to pass through. That's all good for water and all but not for little doggies' paws. We ended up carrying Bessie and Darby down all of the stairs save for the last set. Darby practically dove down the stairs as she was more terrified of being dropped over the edge than braving the stairs herself. We possibly scarred them for life. The view once we got there was beautiful but was a little too crowded for our liking. We headed back up the stairs and managed to exhaust both dogs and Calvin. Mission accomplished!
 |
| Somehow I snuck into a picture... |
 |
| What success looks like -- tuckered out |
 |
| This doesn't really do it justice |
 |
Our own Percy Fawcett over here
|
We learned some lessons on this trip ...
- A 2 hour road trip can easily turn into a 4 hour road trip. We ran into some snafus and had to stop a little more often than we had anticipated.
- Stick to the short trails while hiking -- last thing you want is to be 4.1 mi from the car when your baby decides its time to go
- Baby soap makes for great eye makeup remover -- it's tearless and much cheaper!
- Flexibility remains key for all "plans" involving a 5 mo and 2 dogs
- My large SUV has come in handy more times than not. It holds all of our stuff and serves as a changing station on the go.
- Lookout Mountain has probably the best sunset views I've ever seen.
We had a really great time on our trip to Chattanooga and we would highly recommend it to anyone. We didn't even take advantage of the bouldering exhibition that was going on that weekend or a bunch of other crazy outdoor events. It's definitely a great spot for outdoor activities and we've really only scratched the surface. However, I think we are going to seek out new spots for our future adventures so we can keep showing Calvin as much as possible!
