Tennessee

Back in January, we stopped in Oak Ridge, TN (outside Knoxville), where Aunt Lisa had a temporary work assignment. Uncle Kevin and Cousin Cody drove in to see us, and we had a nice visit.


Bella, Uncle Brian, Gabi, Aunt Lisa, and Cousin Cody


Same group, minus Brian, plus Uncle Kevin and me


Lisa and Melissa
After being in the car all afternoon, Gabi loved the energetic activities that came along with playing with Cody.


Cody throwing Gabi on the couch


Gabi riding a Cody-airplane


Bella and Uncle Kevin


Happy Bella


Bella feeding Uncle Kevin breakfast
Before we got back on the road to head home, we went to the local Children's Museum with Cody and Uncle Kevin. (Aunt Lisa had to go to work.) Oak Ridge was the site of the Manhattan Project during World War II, where they researched the separation of the uranium atom to develop the atom bomb. The entire town was highly guarded, did not appear on any maps, and everything was such a big secret that the workers themselves didn't even know what they were doing until after the atomic bomb was dropped on Japan. There were interesting exhibits in the museum about this history of the city as well as this time-period in American life in general.


Cody and Bella growl with the polar bear


Gabi in Uncle Kevin's classroom


Bella drumming on the old school desks


Putting on a puppet show


Gabi calling on the guard tower phone


Bella checking out a typewriter (and a bunch of physics books)