What we did on our summer vacation

This year, we had a “STAYcation” as opposed to a vacation. We stayed in, or rather, around town instead of heading off on an adventure elsewhere. Mom came up to visit and we had some mini-trips to various places within an hour or two’s drive from home.

First up: Cabbage Patch, Cleveland, Georgia.
The girls had a great time watching a baby being “born” and were fascinated at the concept of a baby coming from a cabbage patch! Although they had been there once before, apparently they’d forgotten about it and the experience was new all over again for them. We spent a great deal of time in the gift shop and went home the proud new parents of twin girls (for Angelina) and a baby girl (for Mary Beth). Ironically, Mary Beth’s new daughter shares Angelina’s real birthday, and Angelina’s twins’ birthdate is one day prior to Mary Beth’s. How weird is that?!?

On the way home from Cleveland, we made a stop at Vogel State Park, where the girls had a dip in the lake. They stared at Mom and I in disbelief as we told them it was perfectly fine to “swim” in their clothes. After making sure we weren’t joking, they dove right in and had a blast.

Tuesday was a “rest day” and we treated ourselves to pedicures and manicures. The girls went to Sweet & Sassy, a salon dedicated to pampering Little Girls and Mom and I made a trip that evening to our own nail salon.

Wednesday, Rob took off work and the five of us headed to Chattanooga, to our favorite hangout, the Chattanooga Aquarium. Since we’re members, we go pretty frequently, but Mom has never been, so we treated her to a tour of the aquariums’ exibits. The girls loved showing her around and we had so much fun. One highlight was the butterfly exhibit… which is always interesting. Angelina was afraid the butterflies would bite her, and Mary Beth was trying her hardest to get one to land on her. We managed to find two who decided we must be good traveling companions. One perched on Mom’s shirt for a long time and the other on Mary Beth’s hands. Angelina was brave enough to let one on her hand, but not for more than a second. She laughed that it tickled, but had NO interest in a repeat visit when Mary Beth offered to share her “rider” with her sister. Thursday and Friday were spent hanging out at home and doing some belated spring cleaning.