Have a Coke and a smile

Two Saturdays ago, we decided it was high time to have a family outing. Chase has seen the Coke Museum on the Food Channel a week or so previously, so we decided that would be an excellent Saturday afternoon destination. Chris and I decided this independently and just said to Chase to load up because we were going to do something fun. Immediately the questions began. Now I know young people are curious by nature, but the unknown literally stresses Chase out. He was visibly uncomfortable because he did not know where we were going and what we were going to do when we got there. I should explain for those of you who might not know that he gets this personality trait from me, his mother. I ended up giving him 3 clues: big city, television, and a drink. He quickly figured it out.

I should also illustrate how deeply this particular disdain for the unknown runs. Last May, we surprised Chase with a trip to Disney World. We told him we were going to the beach and never changed our story until we pulled into our hotel. We had stayed there before so he knew at that point something was up. When we said surprise, we are going to Disney World, he was absolutely furious. He had a full on meltdown because we lied to him and tricked him. The entire week he kept referring to us tricking him and not trusting us. Poor Chris, this is so the opposite of his personality and his whole upbringing. I think it really bothers him that his 6 year old is not able to go with the flow. I am thinking Noel is going to be infinitely more laid back than his big brother, so there is some hope for Chris there.

Once Chase knew where we were headed, he was excited and as we got nearer to Atlanta (or the big city as Chase kept calling it) he began remarking on the cool tall buildings and the traffic. At one point we somehow annoyed the driver behind us who proceeded to honk and shout obscenities as he drove past. To this Chase remarked, "People aren't very friendly in the big city. Dad, did that man call you a goofball? I can't believe he called you a goofball." Let me just say that is not what the man called Chris. He called him a bleeping a**hole. I am so thankful that Chase heard Goofball because that was the topic of conversation for the next half hour.

At last we arrived at the World of Coke museum. It was a lot more crowded than I anticipated for a random Saturday in February. I had been to the older facility and was pleasantly surprised by the new set-up. We had a really great time especially experiencing the 4-D movie, but the highlight was the spot where you can drink Coke products from around the world. We even dipped Noelly's pacifier into a few of the flavors. We ended our day by trying an Indian restaurant ( YUM!!!) close to Oglethorpe University which is where I worked and we lived when Chase was born. It was the first time he has seen it since then. He wondered why we lived in a castle. We had to explain that the back side of campus where we lived most certainly did not look like a castle, but that is where our story as a family began so in a way, I guess, it was our kingdom.