After arriving in Atlanta Thursday evening, our first stop the next day was the Tutankhamen Exhibit, where 50 of King Tut's treasures from his tomb were on display along with 80 other ancient egyptian artifacts highlighting the different dynasties of Ancient Egypt. It was amazing, to say the least, but there is something eerie about seeing the actual golden sandals that adorned the king's feet, and peering into the canopic jars that held his internal organs.
Naturally, no pictures were allowed inside, but we were able to get a decent snapshot with the 3,350 year old King outside the civic center where the exhibit was.
Oh well, nevermind about a decent snapshot-it looks like Israel decided to pout about the fact that he doens't have gold flip-flops like Tut. :-)
And then, we must have a silly picture. Galen looks like he's hanging in the air between King Tut's Hega scepter and his face!Next we went to the stunning Georgia Aquarium, the only aquarium in the world to have four whale sharks in captivity.
Yes, I said whale sharks, and I can prove it, too. I have photo evidence!
At the touch tank, they had several stingrays and two juvenile bonnethead sharks swimming in circles sharks just beggin' for you to stick your hand in the water and pet them!
Lillian and I managed to touch a stingray!
The 6.3 million gallon Ocean Voyager Tank was the most amazing exhibit of the entire aquarium.
After initially picking my jaw off the floor at the mere size of the tank itself, I was further astonished at the hugeness of the whale sharks and the incredible variety of fish. Wow, just WOW!"O LORD, how manifold are thy works!
In wisdom hast thou made them all: 
the earth is full of thy riches.
So is this great and wide sea,
wherein are things creeping innumerable,
both small and great beasts. 
"Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created:
and thou renewest the face of the earth. 
These wait all upon thee; 
that thou mayest give them their meat in due season. 
.....the glory of the LORD shall endure for ever:
the LORD shall rejoice in his works." from Psalm 104
A very nice employee gave us a special behind the scenes tour of the penguins, who were evicted from their previous home by the construction work for the new dolphin exhibit. Poor guys. They'll be stuck in their little refugee habitat for at least 2 more years.Pesky old dolphins.
:-)
Cute, huh?
This is Dodo, the head honcho of the penguin society.
More touch tanks! This one was for touching anemones.
We went by the Belugas, but unfortunately, they were cleaning the tank so the water was very cloudy. The divers you see in the picture above got their lines all tangled up and were attempting, rather unsuccessfully, to untangle them in the 55 degree water. It was most entertaing-more so than the belugas themselves, who spent most of the time pouting in the opposite corner because the divers were intruding upon their privacy.
Israel and Zion enjoying the coral reef exhibit! Most of the coral was live, imported from Fiji.
Galen, our video guy for the trip! He got some great footage of the whale sharks.
Mother and Zion, enjoying the incredible variety of fish!
Sulli-man!
Father and Oliver, relaxing at the Centennial Olympic park after the aquarium.After the aquarium, we went to our cousin's house for a delicious home cooked meal. It was so nice to eat real food and not to be at the mercy of the restaurant! After we played legos and enjoyed the company of our beloved cousins, we went back to our separate hotel rooms- Sullivan, Israel, Lillian, and I in one, Father, Mother, Galen, Zion, and Oliver in the other. We slept very fitfully that night!
Next day, Uncle David, Austin, and Elizabeth took us on an trip to the Atlanta Cyclorama and Civil War History Museum, and then on a hike to the summit of the historical Kennesaw Mountain.
Here's all of us eating lunch after going to see the largest painting in the world at the Atlanta Cyclorama
!!WE LOVE OUR COUSINS!!Later on that day, we went out to dinner with Aunt Diane, Uncle David, Austin, and Elizabeth to a yummy barbecue place.
On our way back home, we stopped by our Grandparent's house in Anderson, SC for a visit. We played some card games, ate a delicious meal made by chefs Granddaddy Ron and Grandma Marcia, and went on a boat ride.
Even after all the fun and excitement of our mini vacation, I'm so glad to be home. Routine is indeed a blessing in itself!!
