A Slice of Smith Life

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Fall Family Vacation: Part Three: Georgia Aquarium

7:19 AM | Posted by asliceofsmithlife | Edit Post

See Fall Family Vacation: Part One: Carowinds HERE
See Fall Family Vacation: Part Two: World of Coca-Cola HERE

After visiting the World of Coca-Cola on Monday afternoon, we walked around downtown Atlanta and went to the Olympic Park where the 1996 Olympic Games took place. The kids loved running in the big open grassy area surrounded by all the tall city buildings and we snapped some pictures of our visit.

There was a fountain with the 5 Olympic rings designed on the pavement and the water would randomly shoot up around the rings. The kids loved dashing in and out of the rings trying to avoid getting soaked. Only one of our daughters got really wet.

On Tuesday, Sept. 25 we went to the Georgia Aquarium, the largest aquarium in the world!

We saw so many fascinating sea creatures and we were able to take in a dolphin show which was amazing! I couldn't take pictures during the dolphin show or video, however.

One of our favorite animals that we observed was the Sea Otter. It was Sea Otter Awareness Week so there was information and activities about this fascinating creature. Here we are feeling the incredibly soft fur of the Sea Otter.

Did you know that the Sea Otter has the most hair than any other mammal with up to a million hairs per square inch and they have no blubber to keep them warm! Amazing! All the animals at the aquarium are fed really well with restaurant quality food. A lady told us they spend 50 million dollars each year just to feed all the animals that well. Then my husband joked with her and asked if the food in the cafe area was the same quality as what the animals get! :)

Sea Otters eat all day since they are so active and it gets so cold. Here is a video of a Sea Otter trying to crack a crab leg against the glass. I could have stayed and watched these playful mammals all day!

In a huge tank there were 4 of these whale sharks. The tank held 6.3 million gallons of water! WOW!

We also saw a 4-D theater show with cartoon fish teaching about saving our oceans from pollution.

After spending a good part of our day at the aquarium we surprised our children and made a quick stop at Legoland Discovery Center which was in a huge nearby mall in Atlanta. I only got a few pictures because my cell phone battery died and my husband's camera wasn't working right.

The Legoland Discovery Center had a small ride in it where you have laser guns and try to shoot targets to rescue the Lego princess and it had another small ride that the kids and even my husband enjoyed. There was also a small 4-D theater and we were able to see two short movies since it was not crowded. After leaving Legoland Center we traveled to SC to visit my brother and sister-in-law and my children loved seeing their cousins.

We had a great vacation and made many fun memories with our family! Now it's back to the books again for 7 weeks and then a week off for our Thanksgiving break....

Labels:LEGO,Vacation | 6 comments

Fall Family Vacation: Part Two: World of Coca-Cola

7:19 AM | Posted by asliceofsmithlife | Edit Post

See Fall Family Vacation: Part One: Carowinds HERE

See Fall Family Vacation: Part Three: Georgia Aquarium HERE

Then after Carowinds we headed to Atlanta on Monday to visit the World of Coca-Cola. Our hotel room was a few blocks from here so we walked to World of Coke on Monday afternoon and it was alot of fun. Anything and everything you want to know about Coke is in this place!

This was the oldest artifact in the museum part dating back to 1886, when Coca-Cola was invented. I think it was used to mix and serve the Coke.

Our family was bubble-sized!

Coke wood art

Do you recognize this couch?

Does American Idol come to mind?

Yep, the red couch was used on the Season Four set of American Idol in 2005.

My husband trying to create the secret formula of Coca-Cola virtually on a big screen. A little of this and a little of that....

One of our favorite parts of the World of Coke was the "Taste It!" room where you could taste Coke products from all over the world. Some were yummy, others not so much. But, you can taste as much as you want. I personally got a headache from the sugar rush and our family did opt for the water option that came out of the electronic vending machines.

Coke products from Asia

We also saw a 4-D show in a theater.

We had to find clues in one area of the museum in order to enter another room that had the vault that actually holds the secret Coca-Cola formula.

Have a Coke on us! Everyone got to take a glass bottle of Coke home as they exited the museum.

Cheers!

Labels:Vacation | 1 comments

Fall Family Vacation: Part One: Carowinds

7:18 AM | Posted by asliceofsmithlife | Edit Post

See Fall Family Vacation: Part Two: World of Coca-Cola HERE
See Fall Family Vacation: Part Three: Georgia Aquarium HERE

For our homeschool this year, I'm doing a schedule where I will teach about 6 weeks with my kids and then have 1 week off and end the school year at the end of May making 36 weeks total. Last week was our week off (Sept. 24-28) after starting our school year on Aug. 13 so we packed our bags and headed to Carowinds in Charlotte, NC then we drove to Atlanta, GA to visit the World of Coca-Cola and Olympic Park where the 1996 Olympic games took place. We also visited the Georgia Aquarium, the largest aquarium in the world! Then as we headed to SC to visit family, we surprised our children with a visit to Legoland Discovery Center in a mall in Atlanta.

The end of September is a great time to vacation! The weather was great and there were no lines/crowds for any of our visits! Here are a few pictures from our visit to Carowinds on Sunday, Sept. 23.

Because it was almost October, Carowinds was gearing up for "Scarowinds", their Halloween- themed park days, so here are my children in front of skeletons at the entrance to the park.

On Sunday, September 23, after attending Mass at a large Catholic Church near Carowinds, we headed to the park and we were there from opening at noon to when it closed at 8 PM, but little to no wait for rides even for a Sunday! It was great to hop on and off rides all day long!

3 out of 4 of my kids are in the third and fifth cart on this ride called Lucy's Crabby Cabbie in Snoopy Land.

Our 4 year old was the "Carousel Queen" and rode it over and over again!

We were able to go up over 300 ft. in a round building with seats to see an aerial view of Carowinds and beyond. My husband snapped these pictures while we were up at the top.

Looking down at this orange and yellow ride called the Flying Ace Aerial Chase which was one of our family's favorites as you sit with your feet dangling and the coaster tracks are attached to the top of your seat vs. the bottom.

Another family favorite was the Gold Rusher ride, but I didn't take any pictures of this one. Our kids loved the part of the ride where it goes fast through tunnels.

This thin red coaster is called the Intimidator which was quite intimidating, but I worked up my courage all day to ride it alone and got a little nauseous to prove that I actually rode it :)