Google+ Peter and Kira Jay: October 2008

Monday, October 27, 2008

Our 2nd Anniversary and Chattanooga

Our 2 year anniversary was last Monday. Pete had school and homework so we only had time to go out to eat. We tried out a local Japanese Restaurant that was very yummy! Pete had never been to a Hibachi style Japanese Restaurant before, so we decided we should go there so he could try it.

We took this picture at the dance studio I teach at before we went out to eat.


We celebrated our anniversary in Chattanooga this weekend since we were unable to do much on the actual day with Pete's school schedule. We loved it there! The weather was beautiful and there were so many fun things to do! We loved that there were some "mountains" in Chattanooga! (Compared to Utah they look more like hills but a welcome sight none the less!)
These pictures were taken on the foot bridge that's over the Tennessee River in Chattanooga. There were some pretty views from it. The water is much more clean looking there than here in Tuscaloosa!




We took this picture at our hotel. They had a garden area with fountains and a gazebo.

The hotel we stayed at was the Chattanooga Choo Choo. It used to be a train station and they've converted it into a hotel. You check into your room in the train station and then they have 3 different hotel room buildings and some train cars that are hotel rooms as well. We stayed in one of the regular hotel rooms because we are poor college students and can't afford the train car. It was a cute hotel in the middle of downtown with access to the electric bus system. They also had a really nice pool with a hot tub so we went to the hot tub one night too. I wish I would have taken a picture of the pool. It had a waterfall and the hottub was in the middle of the pool with a bridge leading to it.


We went to Rock City while we were there. In one of the caves they have this fairytale land that they made (we thought it was kind of cheesy but i'm sure kids like it). One of the fairytales was Peter Pumpkin eater. Pete got called Peter pumkin eater as a kid, so we took his picture by his favorite nursery rhyme (actually he really hates it).

Me inside the cave. There's a waterfall fountain thing but you cant see it in this picture.

Pete by the waterfall at Lover's Leap.

Our attempt at taking a timed picture with our camera in the festive decorations. (That's the bench I set the camera on at the bottom of the picture. I know, I'm awesome at taking pictures.)

You can see seven different states from atop lover's leap in Rock City. The lady that took our picture didnt wait for me to look at her before she snapped it.


Squeezing between the rocks in Rock City. This place is not made for fat or tall people. Good thing we are neither!





We also went to the Tennessee Aquarium. Pete with the sharks above and me with a huge sea spider below.

It was a good trip; nice to get away and see other parts of the south!

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Fall Break: Camping at the Beach

We went down to Gulf Shores Alabama during Pete's fall break (Oct 9-11, I'm slacking at blogging). We camped at Gulf Shores State Park and checked out the beach. The state park doesn't allow dogs on the beach, so we drove over to Fort Morgan. We parked in front of some condos and walked out to the beach. The beach was relatively empty and the weather was perfect! I was surprised the beaches were white and the water was clear. When I lived in Houston I would go to Galveston and the beach there is not so nice and the water is nasty brown. It's good to know that part of the Gulf Coast has nice beaches. We had a fun time camping (minus the bugs) and enjoyed playing at the beach.




Luckily we didn't see too many of these alive.


Sunset at the beach










Pete hates this picture but I put it on anyway because I like it. Captures what we looked like on the beach since neither of us brought our sunglasses.



Mila enjoyed the beach too. She started digging massive holes in the sand right when we got there. She swam in the ocean too. She doesn't love the water yet but she is getting used to it and is a great swimmer.




Monday, October 6, 2008

Huntsville Ballroom Dance Invitational

Kira and I competed in the Huntsville Ballroom Dance Invitational this weekend hosted by the Rocket City Dance Club. I recorded our dances and I put a few on YouTube for everyone to see. We stayed in Huntsville at a hotel Friday and Saturday night. We danced in the East Coast Swing, Cha Cha, Rumba, Waltz, Tango, and Foxtrot. We were in the Bronze IV division and won four first places, three second and one third.

The judges were the 2007 Ohio Star Ball Professional Showdance Champions:
Eulia Baranovsky and Steven Dougherty.

East Coast Swing


Cha Cha


Rumba


We had a pretty good time up there. The people from Rocket City Dance Club and the other dance clubs were awesome, and so were the judges. We from Farleys Ballroom all did pretty well and had a good time.