Southern Vaca Day 2: World of Coca-Cola

The World of Coca-Cola

Day two of our vacation started off early for me.  I had a lot of things going through my mind the night before and the morning of, so when I woke up way-too-early I was unfortunately unable to go back to sleep.  Instead, I grabbed my laptop and headed into the kitchen.  Jen was having a painter come to paint her kitchen the next weekend and needed to select a paint color.  She had pinned it down to two options and wanted me to pick one of them, but I didn't really feel either were right for the space.  Instead, I worked on creating some other possible options for her and Stephen to look through.  By the time they were up, I was ready to show them what I had.

Wohlers' Kitchen Before Photoshopping.

Wohlers' Kitchen After Photoshopping.  They both thought they wanted a lighter, less bold color but when I showed them this (among several other options) they both really liked it and wanted to go for it.  I thought it would work well since there is very little actual wall to be painted and they have all white cabinetry.

When they decided on the bold color, I shared an even bolder option with them.  My personal favorite! :)

Once everyone was up and had enjoyed some delicious Mickey Mouse, train, truck, plane and butterfly pancakes made by Stephen we had to decide what to do for the day.  My request was the World of Coca-Cola, a very touristy Atlanta thing to do.  I'm not sure that anyone else was very interested in this option, but they were willing to go for me so that is what we decided on.

I knew that Avery would LOVE William's train set.  Jen always used to say that Asher had the best toys but between their pool, William's Jeep and William's train set I was pretty sure that the boys might refuse to go back home with us.

When it was time to go we got all of our stuff packed up for the Coke outing and got the kids buckled up in their carseats.  Then just as we were about to head out we noticed that the right rear tire on our rental was flat...completely flat with the hubcap touching the ground!  At first we thought this put a damper on our plans but since Jen and Stephen have two vehicles outfitted with two car seats, we simply transferred the kids into their CRV and off we went.

Avery enjoying his first time forward-facing.  The entire trip to World of Coca-Cola he was saying "Ooooo, Ooooo".   :)  I was concerned that we would have a hard time changing him back to rear-facing (law in Wisconsin and Michigan until age 2), but thankfully it was not an issue.

At around 10:30 that morning we arrived at the Coke tourist attraction and immediately after walking through the doors into the Lobby we were given small aluminum bottles of the caffeine-loaded beverage.  Prior to coming here I had made an deal with Asher that I would allow him to have some pop where we were going, because he was not happy about having to leave the Wohlers' house and their awesome pool that he desperately wanted to try behind.  Little did I know that they would give us pop as soon as we entered though.  I had to keep my promise and since Avery wants to do everything that big brother does, I also had to let him have some as well to keep the boys happy long enough to get our moneys worth from our visit.  Jen (a dentist) and Stephen also let their kids enjoy the fizzy beverage, giving us four kids ages four and under that would soon be on caffeine/sugar highs!  When in Rome...

Avery anxiously awaiting a sip.  I chugged as much as I could from his Coke bottle knowing that once I gave it to him I wasn't getting it back without a fight.

Eric gives Avery a little taste.

The bubbles tickle!

Mmmm that's pretty good.

I want more!

No, we did not let him drink an entire bottle!

William and Catie try out Coke.  Catie was a BIG fan and didn't want to part with it!

Catie's crazy eyes in this picture make me laugh!

Just like Daddy. ;)

When we were done enjoying our free Coke samples, we were brought into another room (The Loft) full of Coke memorabilia and given a run down of the company's history.  Then we were brought into the Coca-Cola Theater to watch a short film about Coke around the world.

Jen, Stephen and I with the kiddos.

The boys and I ready for their first theater experience.

After the movie, we were brought into the lobby of the museum which then led to several others areas for exploration.  The older boys took some potty breaks before we continued while Jen and I stayed behind with Catie and Avery who were in awe of the Coke Polar Bear mascot.

"Mommy look...a polar bear!"

"Did you see him?"

Once the bigger boys got back, we headed upstairs to begin our museum tour...

First we headed into the Pop Culture Gallery to look at some Coke-related artwork.

After the Pop Culture Gallery, we headed over to the 4-D Theater to watch a sensory-overloaded movie on a search for the secret formula.  As we waiting in line for the movie, the sugar and caffeine buzz hit the kids pretty hard.  They were a little crazy and we hoped they would enjoy the movie.  I didn't prepare Asher for what was coming knowing he would be afraid of the unknown, but I thought if he gave it a shot he would have fun.  I was wrong.  All of the kids except Avery completely freaked out by the loud movie, moving seats, bursts of air and 3-D viewing.  Catie and William left with their parents right off the batt, while I hung around with Asher a bit longer.  At first he seemed ok, but as the movie continued he crawled into my lap and was shaking in fear.  I held him tight, but eventually we had to get up and leave as well and wait outside for when Eric and Avery were finished.  When we got back out into the main space Asher looked at me and said, "Momma, can we please not watch that movie when we get back home?"  :(  I fear we may never get to watch a 4D movie again (Sorry Bug's Life).

Avery Hanging Around outside the 4-D theatre.

Asher & William burning off some of their sugar/caffeine buzz.

Video: Asher & William Coke Buzzing'

William, Stephen, Catie & Jen waiting for the 4-D movie to start.

The youngest of the 4 and the only one who made it through the entire movie.

From the disastrous 4-D experience, we headed over to the Taste It! room to taste the multiple Coca-Cola flavors from around the world.  We tried flavors from all of the continents, including the discontinued North American flavor Surge, which was a high school favorite of mine (wasn't as good as I remembered it).  I didn't have the time or stomach to taste all of the flavors, but we did enjoy quite a few.  Asher's favorite was an Apple flavor and mine was a Blue Raspberry.

Avery's face desperately requesting more in this picture makes me laugh.

When we cut the kids off from their taste testing, the Wohlers family decided to head home as it was lunch time and the kids were starting to loose it.  Asher really wanted to see the Coca-Cola Polar Bear though, so we stuck around a little while longer to get our picture with the mascot and also get a little bit more of our money's worth at the museum by taking a quick tour of the Milestones of Refreshment room (to see the a bit more of Coke's history) and Bottle Works (which shows the equipment and processes used at the Coca-Cola bottling plants)...

Milestones of Refreshment.

Avery enjoyed pressing all the buttons at this Milestones of Refreshment display.

Avery & Asher in the Bottle Works tour.

Finally, it was time to go as our kids were starting to loose it too and getting hangry.  I would have liked to take a little more time in our tour to read things and check out a few exhibits that we had to skip (like the Vault of the Secret Formula which had a long line), but all in all we had a good time and enjoyed what we were able to see.

From the World of Coca-Cola we got back to our vehicle and then needed to find a place for lunch.  Jen told us that Varsity was a well-known Atlanta restaurant, and since it was very close we decided to check it out, but I will tell more on that another time.  It was only a mile or two away, but Avery didn't even make it out of the parking garage...