The main reason for our trip to Chattanooga was to attend JoeCon. Brad has always wanted to go, and this year was the last year for it. Since it was so close to home, we decided this was the year to attend. I have broken down each day from my general perspective below, but Brad has more detail and knowledge on his blog which is included under each day.
We celebrated Brad's 35th birthday Thursday! Unlike prior years, this year he wanted breakfast at McDonald's for his birthday instead of waffles because he had to work. So we didn't start celebrating with him until he was home.
I recently discovered this breading kit when scrolling through the Ibotta deals. It looked interesting, and since Brad and I make baked chicken so often, I thought it would be nice to mix things up.
When we went to Chattanooga back in June, we decide to stay at the Hilton Garden Inn that is in downtown. We had a lot of Hilton points from a recent stay during our home repairs, so we wanted to use them on this trip. Therefore a Hilton property was a requirement for us. Since we had so many points, we decided to stay in some sort of suite. Two hotels offered suites, but one was sold out by the time we opted to book. So we ended up at the Hilton Garden Inn in a Junior Suite.
Since our primary reason of visiting Chattanooga was for Brad to attend JoeCon, we wanted to make sure and do a few things for Melody while there. I did some research, and we decided to try the Creative Discovery Museum. It was literally right next door to our hotel {we shared a parking lot}, and by visiting the Tennessee Aquarium first, you can save a few dollars per admission. It looked like something Melody would absolutely love, so we decided to try and fit it in our schedule.
We decided to enroll Melody into preschool this fall. Since I am a stay at home mom, the doctor recommended she either start school or do a mother's morning out to help her spend more time with other kids and develop more social skills. So we opted for a preschool we toured in the spring and loved. It is very small, affordable, and we loved the facilities.
We eat bread with most meals, so I have been trying to find some new ways to make it besides simple rolls. I decided to try and make a simple garlic butter spread that I found online. It's very quick and easy, and you are likely to have most ingredients on hand. My only recommendation would be to reduce the parsley at least in half.
My parents recently went on a RV trip to Safe Harbor RV Resort in Nashville, TN. Their first night happened to be on a night Brad was traveling for work. I decided to tag along for the one night since he wouldn't be home, and it would give Melody and I something fun to do. We've been camping with my parents to a few campgrounds, but this was the first time we have been to this one.
Back in June, we went to Chattanooga for JoeCon 2018. It was hosted at the Chattanooga Convention Center at the Marriott Downtown. I did some research on surrounding restaurants since we would be there during lunch hours for a few of the days. One of the restaurants I read about was the City Cafe Diner. Most of the reviews I read online were fairly positive. So I wrote it down as a possibility if we found ourselves looking for somewhere to eat.
When we went to Chattanooga back in June, we ate at Bluewater Grille. We actually debated between it and Big River Grille, but we ultimately decided on Bluewater because of its menu. It had more options that sounded better to us at the time.
We have been trying to find a good meal to have during the week that Brad can eat before mowing the grass. We didn't want something super heavy, so Brad came up with a fancy grilled cheese. We loved the old gourmet grilled cheese from Atlanta Bread. They no longer have it though. So I googled and combined a few recipes to come up with the one below.
We decided this summer to let Melody try gymnastics. When planning the fall/spring, we contemplated different activities for Melody to participate in. I really wanted Melody to try dance. She loves to dance around the house. Brad wanted to try gymnastics. He thought Melody would love the activity aspect. We were hesitant to do both since she is also starting preschool in the fall. Gymnastics offered a summer session, so we decided to give that a try and see how Melody reacted to determine if we wanted to also do it in the fall.
Back in late June, we took a short vacation to Chattanooga. It is only about a two hour drive which makes for the perfect length with a toddler! And what truly initiated the trip was that JoeCon 2018 was there. It was the final JoeCon, and with it being so close, I wanted Brad to go. It is something he always wanted to do. We wanted to go last year because it was at Disney World, but we skipped it because Brad was traveling for work. So this year was going to be our only opportunity, so we took advantage of it and made it a family vacation too! I plan to post more about our experiences individually, but below is our general trip report!
Growing up, I remember loving boiled potatoes. And my mom still makes them on occasion. I don't think I have ever really made them for Brad. So we had some red potatoes leftover from when I made roasted potatoes, so I decided to make some boiled ones.
The theme for Melody's second birthday party was "You are my Sunshine". Literally a few days before Melody's party, I decided to make a canvas using her feet to be the rays of a sun. It was around 7:30 at night, and Brad looked at me like I had lost my mind, ha! But it actually turned out cute, and I plan to hang it in her room now.
The theme for Melody's second birthday was "You are my Sunshine". I made three banners to help decorate for her party. The banners changed some from when I first designed them only because where I planned to use them changed.
I love pizza, but I am not the biggest fan of making it at home because I haven't found a pizza sauce I love. Brad likes PizzaQuick but not me. So I found this pizza sauce recipe online and decided to give it a try. It still isn't amazing, but it is much better than PizzaQuick! And you should have most of the ingredients in your pantry.
We have spent quite a few days at my mom's pool this summer. While the temperatures have been fairly hot outside, the pool water has actually been refreshing and not boiling hot like previous summers.
The theme for Melody's second birthday was "You are my Sunshine". I contemplated the food to serve for quite a few months. I wanted to have food that I knew Melody would eat, but that isn't much these days. I also wanted to do something fancy and unique. However, since we were living in a hotel, we had to adapt.
I love chicken parmesan, but it isn't always the healthiest considered it is fried chicken. Well I found a healthier version on Pinterest recently, and I decided to give it a try. It was surprisingly great. And the noodles are totally optional if you want to make it a bit healthier.
