Exploring Knoxville

If you know me well, you know that I love to get out and do new things; go on adventures, if you will. I don't waste much time figuring out fun things to do when we move to a new place or go on a trip. It makes sense, since my primary "love language" is spending quality time with the ones that I love; there is nothing that fills my heart more!

Although we've barely been in Knoxville for three weeks, we've already had lots of fun exploring the city and getting comfortable in our new surroundings! Even if that means walking up and down three flights of stairs just to leave the apartment (Eli is becoming a pro!).

The first weekend we were here Daniel took us on a tour of the city! We drove around downtown Knoxville, saw the river, and then headed up north of Knoxville to see where Daniel grew up. As soon as we got off of the highway and pulled into his hometown he exclaimed, "WOW! They built a Walmart!" Haha! My country boy!
We were able to see the house he grew up in, where he learned to drive, the infamous Raptor Center where he became a world renown expert on birds of prey, the HUGE (not really) hill he had to walk up to get home after school, and lots more! We also took a detour to Norris Dam and hung out by the river, which Eli loved!

 

Almost every day since moving in Eli and I have been taking advantage of our new pool during the last hot days of summer, which has been amazing! Nothing like playing in the pool with the hot sun beating down! Our pool has a wade in entrance, like a beach, and a rock waterfall... so many cool features for a little boy to be fascinated by!

We've been to the Knoxville Zoo twice already! Eli LOVES animals, so he is all about the zoo! It's a lot bigger than Birmingham's zoo and there are a lot of fun areas for kids! I see us spending a lot of weekends there. Each time we've gone it's all Eli talks about for the next couple of days. They even have an indoor activity center for kids to play at... Daniel and I may or may not have fully taken advantage of the foam blocks (see picture below!):

And of course, Eli and I have been checking out all of the local parks! Including the awesome play place in the mall for those really hot days! Our favorite so far is the World's Fair Park downtown. They have an awesome playground, plus a huge "splash pad" and a green lawn for running around on. The first time we went was kind of spontaneous, but luckily I had a swim diaper in my trunk - Eli was soaked afterward! We've gone back several times a little bit better prepared!

We are loving Knoxville so far!