"Chagganooga"

Like a lot of people, before I visited I only knew this town from the old Glen Miller song. Before Hubby and I were married, I drove down to meet him in Chattanooga before heading to Carson Newman's homecoming together. Although he insisted it was a great little city, I kept hearing "Shovel all the coal in, gotta keep it rollin'... woo woo Chattanooga there you are." What could be so special about it besides big, dirty trains?

Plenty. That first visit was 7 (!?) years ago. We officially moved up here after Hubs finished seminary, right before Big Sister arrived. Trying to move while 9 months pregnant was insane. We still haven't taken down all the wallpaper or hung many of our pictures. For a well disguised introvert like myself, I was so exhausted from being a mommy that I didn't really WANT to go out and make new friends or see the city. Only in the last year or so have I finally begun to realize what a great town this is. We're finally starting to take advantage of all that Chattanooga has to offer- museums, outdoor activities, progressive culture, family friendly parks, and more.

Like Friday evening., when we ventured downtown with the whole family. Hubby didn't have any Upward stuff to do, Big Sis had a coupon to ride the carousel for free, and it would soon be too cold to play in the Coolidge park fountain. Plus, I've been feeling guilty about the lack of fresh air Big Sister gets on non-school days. Our yard is infested with mosquitoes that don't seem to have any kind of curfew as they bite 24 hours a day, which results in giant welts on her tiny arms & legs. We tried going to the park, just us girls, but I try to limit time in public with both girls after the infamous Barnes & Noble incident last month. So, now that Daddy was free to go with us, it seemed like the perfect family outing.

And it was, with the sun setting over the river and the families gathering to dot the landscape of the park. Big Sister approached the water much more gingerly than she had the last time, she wanted to hold Daddy's hand the whole time. He didn't mind. Little Sister stared at the carousel as if it were magical, and it kind of was. We explored the walking bridge, the fair trade shop, the sculptures, and the entrance to the aquarium through the eyes of a three-year-old. It really was perfect.

And then came dinner: with the loooong wait and the awkward "what do we do with our strollers?" question and the tired kids and the tipping booster seat and the lack of crayons for Big Sister's entertainment (I made up a straw wrapper game instead that bought us a few sane minutes) and the fussy baby and the giant glass of coke we knocked over on the way out and the man who "had too much medicine", who fell down in front of us as we crossed back over the walking bridge, leaving an exhausted Big Sister very concerned. (She thought we had knocked him down with our strollers!) But you know what? At some point in all of that madness, Hubby looked at me and started to laugh. It was so awful, so TOTALLY imperfect, that it was still perfect. I can't wait to do it all again.