Tennessee Aquarium In Chattanooga

I could have posted SO MANY MORE pictures of our aquarium trip on Sunday! We've been saving for months to make a family trip to Chattanooga for Steve's birthday. It was so much fun! We had been told many times that the Tennessee Aquarium was much better than the Georgia Aquarium, and everyone was right! I wish the one in TN would have had more large fish, but overall, the entire set-up was just better.

It ended up being a great idea to go on Sunday morning - the aquarium was deserted and it allowed us so much more freedom! Bella was able to run around and explore the exhibits without us worrying that she was bothering anyone else or going to get lost. That aspect alone made it a relaxing, fun trip for everyone! 

We started out in the Fresh Water building; this exhibit was incredible! Bella kept gasping and saying, "Oh my gooooooooodness."

Turtles, "big fish", sting rays...she loved it all!

The piranha exhibit had a periscope-type compartment that you could crawl up into and peek up-close. Here are Steve and Evelyn, snuggling while exploring.

In the rainforest habitat room. It was beautiful! Waterfalls, parrots, and small fish.

Touching the sturgeon. We encouraged Bella to remember the "two finger" rule, but when we looked up to talk to the aquarium employee, she picked up the entire fish! (She chooses unfortunate times to be brave!) Luckily, we were right there to help put the fish back.

Sadly, this is the only picture we got of all of us. (Well, minus Evelyn) Why does this always happen? Our one group shot always turns out fuzzy, washed out...something!

I love Bella's face here! She was so enthralled b the butterfly habitat! We were able to gently catch quite a few and let her see them up close. She was super-impressed that they would sit on our hands!

Mel's about to pick up a huge brown moth. Bella wasn't so sure about his size!

I just love this picture of Bella and Steve!

Pointing out little seahorses.

 

Evelyn playing with Mel. She loves sticking her little tongue out!

Great picture! I love Steve's iPhone.

Our little baby girl is so aware of what's going on around her! She loved the jellyfish because they moved slow enough for her to follow.

The jellyfish exhibit was stunning! 

I want this picture to say, "My family went to the aquarium and all I got were these silly earmuffs!"

About to go into the IMAX 3-D theater. We didn't actually make Evelyn wear those glasses, I promise.

So, the story about the sea creatures...I was really excited about letting Bella pick out a toy from the gift shop. I had images of her squealing in delight over a fluffy turtle or an adorable polar bear. Well, it didn't exactly go like that; Bella found a bag filled with plastic fish and fell madly in love! We let her choose and she went home so happy! She's been playing with them non-stop all week and even lined them up "holding hands" on the counter when we got home.

The aquarium was a great ending to our weekend! We had a wonderful time as a family and loved the aquarium!