Chattanooga - Ruby Falls

The next day in Chattanooga (Saturday) was completely full! We went to Ruby Falls and Rock City Gardens.

We had a nice breakfast at the buffet before getting started...

The girls watched a little of the weather report together...

Our first stop, Ruby Falls...

I couldn't believe we were still seeing colorful leaves in December. The drought really delayed the turning of the leaves in the fall...

The girls ready to see Ruby Falls...

The entrance...

You go down in an elevator to get into the cave.

Once you are down, you weave through the cave to get to the waterfall...

Pretty girls...

Our tour guide was awesome. He was so, so funny. I cannot remember his name (which is bumming me out!)...

Entering to see the waterfall...

All lit up and beautiful...

I loved seeing the girls see this together...

Family photo time...

The tour guide was offering hugs, so Doug took one... ;)

The walk back...

The tour guide pretending to eat the steak and potato...

The corny jokes ~ the girls got a kick out of it...

Our two families...

It was at this point that the regular tour ended. But, we bought tickets for the Christmas Underground experience and continued to another part of the cave...

Doug, Bri and I had never done this before (Kathy and her crew had)...

A little tube the kids could climb through...

At this point, Santa was at the end of the path waiting for the kids. No pictures were allowed with Santa though. And I totally forgot to look at the professional pic with Santa and the girls. The girls had fun talking to him though.

I snagged a pic of him from the internet...

 Then everyone got a little light up wish...

And we got to send our wishes down a colored tube...

"Ice" tunnel...

Then the girls got to do a little "mining" down in the cave...

The decorations were so pretty in there...

We finally left the cave and Ruby Falls and it was time for lunch. The table where they tried to sit us was a bit small for six people, so the girls got their own table and they absolutely loved it. Watching them order themselves and sit and talk on their own was a sight for sure. They seemed so dang grown up...

We needed a bit of a rest before heading to Rock City in the evening, so we invited Chani to our suite so the girls could hang out. They played in Bri's room for a couple of hours...

We all chilled for a few hours and then it was off to see the Enchanted Lights.