Last month we were gracously invited to check out the Science of Sleep conference in Cincinnati. Since my husband and I both have problems sleeping, I was excited to go and find out a little bit on how to make our sleep more restful. Plus I was excited to see Cincinnati since I had never been to Ohio before.





After lounging in my room for a bit, I decided to go have some dinner downtown. I have to say that I haven't walked a city other than Atlanta or New York City before so it was very fun to see all that Cincinnati had!


And after my dinner, I headed on over to the Science of Sleep Conference which was on the 2nd floor of the hotel.


I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Cincinnati and I really enjoyed seeing all it had to see. Here are some of my favorite shots from the hotel window!




A big thank you goes out to the 21C Museum Hotel in Cincinnati for extending our stay and for P&G for inviting us to their exclusive conference.

Our family lives in North Georgia but we are only about 20 minutes from the Tennessee state line. For that reason, we visit Chattanooga much more often than Atlanta. And one of our favorite places is the Tennessee Aquarium.


The Tennessee Aquarium is located right at on the Riverfront in Chattanooga. What makes it so unique and special is that it is separated into two different buildings. The freshwater animals and the saltwater animals. The buildings themselves are called River Journey and Ocean Journey. Since we got to the aquarium a little after 1pm, we started in Ocean Journey since that building closes first at 6pm. At the top of the building, you start in the lemur forest and then the butterfly garden. In between is where you can pet sting rays and Mary loved that part!


After the butterfly garden, you'll go to the mid level to see the penguins! We had so much fun seeing them but they're so quick it's almost impossible to get a good shot of them!


After the penguins, you'll start making your way through down the building with huge tanks on either side of you. There are sharks, stingrays, fish and of course green turtles everywhere.

You'll also see the coral reef which has some amazing fish in it! I love seeing the brightly colored fish. As you make your way to the end of Ocean Journey, you'll see the jellyfish before heading to River Journey.


River Journey is comprised of freshwater animals and starts with a four story high escalator ride to the top. Once there, you'll meet the otters and a whole bunch of turtles!

My favorite part was the alligators they have since my teenage years were spent in South Florida. There's nothing like a gator to a Floridian. After you make your way through the gators, you will get to a section completely devoted to turtles. Since Mary is obsessed with turtles at the moment, this was her favorite.


Overall the Tennessee Aquarium is our favorite aquarium in Tennessee now. But what really made the whole trip wonderful was that everyone was so friendly and hospitable. Everyone was so polite and kind. It really made the difference in the entire experience.

The Tennessee Aquarium currently costs $34.95 for anyone 13+ and $21.95 for children 3-12. They also have the Imax theater that you can add on to your package as well.

Our family lives in North Georgia but we are only about 20 minutes from the Tennessee state line. For that reason, we visit Chattanooga much more often than Atlanta. And one of our favorite places is the Tennessee Aquarium.


The Tennessee Aquarium is located right at on the Riverfront in Chattanooga. What makes it so unique and special is that it is separated into two different buildings. The freshwater animals and the saltwater animals. The buildings themselves are called River Journey and Ocean Journey. Since we got to the aquarium a little after 1pm, we started in Ocean Journey since that building closes first at 6pm. At the top of the building, you start in the lemur forest and then the butterfly garden. In between is where you can pet sting rays and Mary loved that part!


After the butterfly garden, you'll go to the mid level to see the penguins! We had so much fun seeing them but they're so quick it's almost impossible to get a good shot of them!


After the penguins, you'll start making your way through down the building with huge tanks on either side of you. There are sharks, stingrays, fish and of course green turtles everywhere.

You'll also see the coral reef which has some amazing fish in it! I love seeing the brightly colored fish. As you make your way to the end of Ocean Journey, you'll see the jellyfish before heading to River Journey.


River Journey is comprised of freshwater animals and starts with a four story high escalator ride to the top. Once there, you'll meet the otters and a whole bunch of turtles!

My favorite part was the alligators they have since my teenage years were spent in South Florida. There's nothing like a gator to a Floridian. After you make your way through the gators, you will get to a section completely devoted to turtles. Since Mary is obsessed with turtles at the moment, this was her favorite.


And now there is a new exhibit called Island Life at the aquarium. It has chameleons, clown fish and a lot of learning fun for kids!







Overall the Tennessee Aquarium is our favorite aquarium in Tennessee now. But what really made the whole trip wonderful was that everyone was so friendly and hospitable. Everyone was so polite and kind. It really made the difference in the entire experience.

The Tennessee Aquarium currently costs $34.95 for anyone 13+ and $21.95 for children 3-12. They also have the Imax theater that you can add on to your package as well.

Growing up in Florida, I had the wonderful chance to see a lot of beautiful animals up close. Florida has some amazing opportunities with all their zoos, aquariums and wildlife centers. And who can forget places like SeaWorld?

As a lover of aquatic life, I've always loved going to aquariums and I still do. And one of the most beautiful ones in Florida is the Florida Aquarium in Tampa, FL.


Ranked one of the top 10 aquariums in the country and ranked one of the top 5 kid friendly aquariums, there are many wonderful experiences for families there. Exhibits include the Wetland Trail to see native Florida animals like alligators, Journey to Madagascar to see the colorful Indian Reef, Bays and Beaches for upclose experiences, the No Bones Zone where you can touch starfish, the Coral Reef, and the Ocean Commotion.


What makes this aquarium different from many is that they also offer wild dolphin tours. Being situated in South Florida helps to let visitors see wild dolphins right from their boats. They also offer some amazing swim and dive programs too. Swim with the Fishes lets you snorkel in a replica of the Dry Tortugas Coral Reef site, The Shark Swim lets you swim alongside Sand Tiger sharks and Dive with the Sharks for certified divers.


If you've never been to the Florida Aquarium, you're certainly missing out on a wonderful experience. And right now you can bid on two general admission tickets through Charity Auctions Today. All the money goes to benefit different charities and in this case of the aquarium, this auction goes to the Rotary Club of Brooksville.

So if you're planning on going to the aquarium, why not bid on the tickets to help a charity? It's a worthy cause and the auctions are super easy to bid on too.

 

We received press tickets to this event. All opinions are our own.

This past week we were in Pigeon Forge, TN enjoying the Christmas festivities. One of which was the Hatfield and McCoy Christmas Dinner Show. 

The show we went to was the 5pm show but it's best to get there around 4pm because they serve dinner before the show starts. When we got to our seats, we did find that the tables are very close to each other. For us, it was a little hard to get into our seats because the tables surrounding us had already been seated. We actually had to move our table over just to sit down. 

The dinner itself is all you can eat and they do bring a lot of food. One huge plus is that they cater to certain allergies. For us, my husband had a gluten free meal, I had dairy free and Mary had a vegetarian meal. I was really impressed that they even could offer this because it's hard for us all to find a place to eat that caters to us all.

During dinner, you watch some pre-show entertainment and this is the only time you can keep asking for more food if needed. Once the actual show starts, you won't see your server again until the very end so if you need anything, you won't be able to get it. They do give you an ample warning though before the servers leave the room. 

When the show starts, it truly is loud inside the theater. Mary has sensory processing issues and loud sounds make her freeze up. During the show, she couldn't eat anymore because she was having a hard time with the loudness. If you plan on seeing the show and have sensory processing issues, I would suggest bringing some headphones to help tone down the sounds.

The show itself says that it's family friendly and I would agree since it has no profanity or innuendo in it. But some of the girls are dressed too provocatively in very short shorts and knee high socks. Honestly, you can clog in pants too so the way they are dressed is just not appropriate if you believe in being conservative. 

In being honest, the best part of the show was at the end when they explained the true meaning of Christmas which they said was the birth of Jesus Christ. They even read a passage from the Bible.

Overall the show was alright but being a conservative family, we wouldn't see it again because of the way the cloggers were dressed and the alcohol being served in the theater. 

Pros: 

The dinner can cater to certain allergies, like gluten free, dairy free and vegetarian.

Dinner is all you can eat and you get plenty of food.

There is no profanity or innuendo used in the show.

There are a few animals in the show.

At the end, they told what the true meaning of Christmas was and read a passage from the Bible.

Cons: 

The tables are very close together. If you are a larger person, you might have a hard time being comfortable. 

The show is loud so if you have sensory processing issues or have problems with loud sounds, I suggest taking headphones with you.

They serve alcohol in the dining room as well if you have an ID so if you don't want people drinking around your kids while you eat, you might want to skip this show.

Some of the girls are dressed provocatively in very short shorts and knee high socks.