Visit to Atlanta

I had a hard time paring down the pictures on this one - Just a warning...

After Christmas, we headed to Atlanta for a few days to see Brad and Andrew.  They had to work, but were able to meet up with us for a few meals.  During the day, we found some fun activities to do.  First up - The World of Coca-Cola.  The kids at a soda fountain.

Since Coke is a major sponsor of the Olympics, they have the torches carried in many of the last ceremonies.

There was a cool screen that built the kids out of soda bubbles.  Here is Caroline.

But this was the best part for the kids - the Tasting Room!  Of course Kevin's favorite was Minute Maid Lemonade and Caroline was partial to the Orange Fanta.  Our adventurous kids!

Outside, they had huge Coca-Cola ornaments.

After lunch, we walked over to Centennial Park and got our picture with the huge Christmas tree.

Here's a close up.

The kids stood in the Olympic statue for a quick picture before...

They got their energy out running on the lawn.

We've determined that Kevin will be a stunt man when he grows up.  He is always throwing himself down on the ground in what looks to be real stumbles. 

Tom got into the fun game of tag.

Caroline thought it would be fun to taunt him...Big mistake!

There was a small hill that Kevin had fun rolling down.  He could never make it all the way down before spinning in the wrong direction.

There was a cool ornament the kids could sit in and be part of the ornament.

That afternoon, we headed to Legoland Discovery Center.  Tom and I thought this would be really awesome, like the one we visited years ago in Chicago.  At this point we still think this.  The kids are super excited waiting to go in.

There is the whole skyline of Atlanta built in Lego bricks.

The Falcons and Braves Stadiums are cool.

But once we got inside, we were all disappointed.  Kevin was so disappointed that his Lego building  freeplay time was spent making this green blob.

He did think the Lego sculptures were cool, especially this cute dog.

He is so upset by the colossal waste of time (as we were upset about the colossal waste of money) this outing was and knows how to make a point.  The Clutch Power's 4D movie was broken.  The line to get into the play park was so long and they wouldn't let anyone in until kids came out...which they didn't, so we gave up.  We did ride the one little ride, which was fun, but the line was so long that it wasn't worth doing again.  The lego bricks in the free play area were just plain old pieces.  No minifigures.  Oh well...

I told the kids to pose by one more sculpture before heading to the Lego Store (which was accessible from the mall without going through Legoland and was smaller and crappier than the Lego store that was in the mall right next to our hotel.)  Anyway, I got smiles when we told them they could pick out a new Lego set.  Kevin picked out The Hobbit set that he wanted so desperately on Christmas Eve.

Before leaving Atlanta Saturday morning, we stopped at the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Park.  Let me just say again, that I love the National Park system.  They really do an amazing job.  Caroline and Kevin have Martin Luther King, Jr. projects due after the Christmas break, so I thought that this would be a great way to kick it off.  The museum is beautiful and very emotional.    There are sections that break up Martin's life.  TV screens in each section show footage of actual events and interviews with people that were affected by segregation.  They have quotes and pictures on the walls - some heartbreaking, most inspirational.

Caroline worked hard to get her Junior Ranger Badge.  She had to find the answers to many questions in the exhibits and write short essays about how she felt about what she learned.

Here she is with a ranger checking her work.

3 kids received badges at the same time.  Here they are saying their pledge with the ranger.

Outside the Visitor Center is a beautiful mural.

I took a few close-up pictures...

Caroline thought one of the most interesting things she learned was that Martin traveled to India to learn about Gandhi's techniques for non-violent resistance.  There is a statue to Gandhi at the entrance to the park.

On a completely different topic.... Caroline got to change her earrings for the first time today.  Her original earrings were a pain to get out, but we did it!  She loves the snowflake earrings she got in her stocking.