Thursday morning we tagged along with Daddy for a trip to Charlotte, N.C. We swung by the office to get a few things, then hit the road. Stella told us her stomach hurt just after we were getting out of spaghetti junction. We found a QT and pulled over. Donald got gas and I walked Stella in. As we were about to walk in the bathroom, she slipped but luckily I had her hand in mine and caught her before she fell completely. I looked down and she looked up and said, "I'm sorry, Mama." She had thrown up everywhere and slipped in it. I never heard her make a noise. I'd noticed she didn't look good when I pulled her out of the truck, but she said she was fine, she just had to go potty. Poor thing started crying and had throw up everywhere-in her hair, on her clothes and shoes. I called for Donald and he had someone clean up the mess. I cleaned her up in the sink and changed her in the back of the truck. She told me in the gas station while she was on the potty that he tummy didn't hurt, she didn't have to go potty, she just needed to throw up but got confused. I told her I was so proud she could tell me she had to go potty and we weren't mad or upset with her at all. We were happy we'd pulled over and it happened in the gas station versus the back of the truck because I can't even begin to think about how the rest of that trip would have went. We think she just slurped down too much of a homemade smoothie I'd made and then she ran like crazy around the office. Happily, no other issues arrived on our trip. I was a bit sad though-I'd dressed us matching dresses and gladiator sandals, but never got a picture. No biggie though.
This was both mine and Stella's first trip to this city. We arrived around 1 or so, checked in to the hotel (which Stella was super excited about because it'd been a while since she'd stayed in one), then walked down the street a few blocks for a yummy lunch. Then Daddy had to go visit a job site. Stella and I finished up lunch then walked a few more blocks to most awesome library-The Imaginon Library. It's part library, part discovery place. I could have spent the entire day here. She played and explored. We read a few books and she made a friend at the computer. I couldn't get over that this place was free!
Then Daddy stopped by after he was done at job site and we did a summer themed scavenger hunt in the library. Stella loves a good scavenger hunt. It was all pictures placed/hidden around the books and shelves in the toddler section of the library. Some of the pictures were very obvious, others took some time to find. And the only one remaining I ended up having to ask someone for a clue. I actually walked up and said, "I'll buy you a drink when you get off work if you'll tell me where number __ is." He gave me a very good hint and then we were all happy to have completed the scavenger hunt.
They had big typewriter keys outside the library and Stella and Donald found their letters.
Then we just walked around downtown for a while. We tried a few places for supper but they were closed. A lot of the restaurants where we were didn't stay open for dinner since most of their business is done at lunch time.
We found a Chinese restaurant on the backside of the fountains and ordered a bunch of appetizers as dinner.
We went back to the room and threw Stella in the shower with me, then read a few stories and all went to bed.
The next morning there was a beautiful sunrise outside our room (15th floor) overlooking a few construction sites. Stella loved watching the cranes move.
Donald had a few meetings so Stella and I got ready and walked down to The Public Market beside the local train track which is just next to the library we'd visited the day before. I ordered a coffee from one booth and a strawberry, goat cheese and walnut breakfast crepe from another booth. We sat outside beside the tracks and dined.
We then walked to Discovery Place Museum.
But first we had to admire more fountains....
....and read all the quotes on the columns of the "adult" library.
Then we made it inside. And terror struck.
They have a rain forest section at the museum so we ventured in. Almost immediately I look down and see this brightly colored amphibian hop-hopping towards us. Stella does her high pitched "Awwweeee.....what a cute wittle guy" voice and cups her hands down to stop/catch/touch him. But I'm freaking out because I'm thinking "This is a poison dart frog." So I yell, "Wait! Don't touch that" and put my hands in front of her arms to block her. I start looking around for someone that works there. Two women walk up and they are thinking the same thing I'm thinking-poisonous frog. So they start looking around too. Then a woman walks in and I point to the frog. I say, "Umm, so this looks like a poison dart frog and he's just out hopping around. Did he get out somewhere? Should I be concerned because my child is trying to pick it up? Surely you don't have poison dart frogs here, right?" Between each of these questions I'm pretty sure I said, "Stella, don't touch it baby. It might hurt you."
The employee looks so confused and slightly more terrified than me. Immediately she picks up her radio and calls for someone. But no one answers. So we chat for a minute. Then she says in a frantic voice, "Can you just keep an eye on it because no one is picking up so I'm going to try to find the rain forest specialist?" She turns around to take off and in he walks. All of these grief stricken faces glare at him and I point and he's all "Ok, so this is a poison dart frog but he's not poisionous here because the rainforest we created doesn't have the certain ants that they eat which eat special leaves which cause the frogs to secrete the poisonous oils on their skin." Oh. Ok. No big deal. Umm.....I'm so ok with this, but just wish there had been a sign or something so I didn't have heart attack #2 for the trip.
(Heart attack number 1 was when Donald was explaining to Stella what a shower cap was and she put it on her hair, then pulled it down over her face and sucked it in her mouth as I was standing in front of her having a conversation with Donald. I heard this weird noise and looked straight ahead to see it sucked completely in her mouth and basically gasping for air. I reached down and yanked it off of her, took a deep breath and tried to remain calm as I explained that she could not do that or ever play with that again.)
Stella says, "Look, it's Gecko from PJ Masks!"
No, those are not twins behind Stella, they are 2/3's of triplets!!! And the mom had an older boy. Can't.Even.
Then we moved into the science portion of the museum. Stella loved the tubes which sucked shredded paper up them and rained it back down on her.
Then this pulled system which lifted her.
And the balls floating on air.
Massive water table where she got soaked before donning the raincoat.
Then she discovered the safari animals and played with them for a really, really long time. Like, she didn't want to go. At all.
I got a video of playing with them and you can't really hear or make out what she's saying, but I recorded it because her mouth was moving constantly as she talked for all of them.
Then we checked out the aquarium part of the museum. These are the jellyfish here.
Then we saw three clown fish swimming around the anemones so naturally it was Marlin, Coral and Nemo. She was so happy to see this.
We met Daddy for lunch at Vida Mexican and I stuffed myself. Then we headed towards Athens for Michael and Jessica's housewarming party we were giving the next day. We stopped at a rest stop and I found an antique. I was even more excited when I picked it up and it had a dial tone.
This was a good first visit to Charlotte. I really wanted to visit the Charlotte Nature Museum, but didn't get a chance to. Hopefully we can go again and check this out.
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