I {heart} Chattanooga!

Someone recently posted the question on their facebook wall, if you could live anywhere in the world and money wasn't an issue, where would it be?

My answer. Chattanooga!

Days like today reinforce that feeling. I am sure my family members that are reading these have had a slight chuckle by now.
I moved here from Utah in the 8th grade.  Let's just say I didn't take it so well.  I hated Chattanooga, I didn't want to live here, I wanted to leave.  And I did, twice.  In the 10th grade I moved to New Hampshire with my sister and went to school for a semester.  And then after high school and a few years of college, I moved to Myrtle Beach..  Both times I came back.  Each time I liked Chattanooga a little bit more.  But it wasn't until I actually became a social butterfly (and the constant improvements and revitalization of our great city) that I began to fall in love.

Here is a very cool video called Chattanooga in 3 minutes. It is a great visual, must watch.

So here I am now, married, family, friends, career, my roots and firmly set here.  I try my best to fully embrace the events and things to do that our city offers.  And that brings me to my "Summer of Fun".  At the beginning of summer, I came up with a nice pretty list of things I wanted to do with the family this summer. Most of it was free, as many things are in this town.  Some would cost money.  Some are out of town.  And some I thought of after I made this nifty little PDF. What I didn't take into account was that the summer months are incredibly hot and miserable, and many of my ideas weren't suitable.  But that is OK, September and October are beautiful so we shall rename my list "Season of Fun".

After dinner trip to Vandergriff Park some on a June Friday night

Here is my list if you want some ideas for your own family!
Summer of Fun

Today, we were able to enjoy the Dinosaur expo that was at the Trade Center.  I had NO idea Lyla knew so much about dinosaurs.  I mean, I knew she had "The Land Before Time" on constant replay but the fact she could point out and name all of this dinosaurs was simply amazing!!!
We ran into some great friends and got to chat with them a little, which is always a nice treat.  Having an adult conversation with friends is always a rare treat.

Sean, interested.  Liv, not interested.

After we left the dinosaurs, we went to and checked out our new neighborhood that we hope to be calling home this time next year.  We were just checking up making sure the grass had been cut and perhaps doing a little daydreaming.  Maybe things will fall into place and we can move sooner.  I. Can't. Wait.

cousins!

Then we went by our favorite dinner spot, Moes!!!! Got some food to go, and headed down to the riverfront and met up with my nephew Jonathan, Amber and their baby girl Hayleigh.  Love their little family so much, and don't get near enough time with them, so this was a special occasion for me.  We had dinner by the river, then headed over to the riverfront where they have live music on Saturday nights.  Nothing better than free entertainment! We hung out for a while, let the kids toddle around, chatted, enjoyed a beer then headed up to the aquarium to let the kids play in the water.  That is one of my favorite activities to do in the summer! We haven't spent near enough time there.  Must go back again soon. Must invite the whole family!

It really was a great night.  Times like these make me so appreciative for all that we have, the family I am surrounded by.  Good times!!

Another one of my favorite summer memories was at the beginning of the summer, we went on a train ride.  Chattanooga has a railroad museum and you can take a real train ride around the city.  It was a lot of fun, the kids enjoyed it, Tim and I enjoyed it, and I love the historical aspect of it all.  We have a few more tickets left, and plan on going again in the next couple of months.

I hope to be writing about some more great summer fun memories soon! As Lyla said to the twins tonight "night night twin twins, I love yaaaaaaaaaaaa!"