Hot-lanta, July 27-30

We recently packed our two babies and all their stuff (and a little bit of our stuff, too...) and headed south on I-85 for what has become the annual "halfway point" visit with our Tennessee gang! The past two years we've met in Pigeon Forge, TN, but this year we decided that Atlanta would be a fun place to gather. Jimmy and I were treated to a room at The Westin, courtesy of Bettra, and she, Marilyn, and Granny stayed with some friends in College Park. We enjoyed our cozy room with a playpen for Henry, a crib for Charlie, and a king bed for us! One thing I want to remember is that we had to sterilize bottles downstairs in the Starbucks microwave! Ha!! Oh, the joys of traveling with kids so young!

We arrived at about 1:30AM, and Charlie couldn't have been more excited. Or more AWAKE. He woke up at about 11:30 and didn't go back to sleep. Once we pulled into the hotel and he saw all the people and the lights, he was SOOOO wound up. There were lots of people in the bar area/lobby because of a family reunion and a conference going on, and he felt the need to wave at them all and run around everywhere. He may have gone back to sleep by 2:45AM. Oh well. We caught up on sleep the next morning, had lunch at Chick-Fil-A, and put the boys down for a nap. Jimmy hung out with his mom and sister in the lobby while I stayed in the room with the boys.

That night, it was game time! Bettra generously purchased Braves tickets for the three of us to go have a good time, and she stayed with the boys!

I love this picture! We were trying so hard to get a shot of the three of us by putting the camera on a closed food stand after the game. I haven't had bunny ears in a picture in a long time! : )

I'm not sure why we didn't just ask someone to take a picture....

Jimmy and his dawg.

Pretty picture of Marilyn!

Jay-Hey at bat

Chipper!

We are sad that it's his last season, but glad we got to see him play one more time!

Catcher Brian McCann, another favorite

Closer Craig Kimbrell

Kimbrell throwing a pitch

Jimmy brought a sign and actually made it onto the megatron! This picture was my attempt to capture the memory, one second too late. The camera guy filmed him right as Kimbrell made his entrance onto the field, with Kimbrell's name in fiery letters above him (you can still see part of his name in the picture). Jimmy let out a ferocious roar for the camera too! (The camera man actually approached Jimmy and said he wanted to film him with his sign at a certain time if the Braves were still winning! He gave him directions on where to go and when, and Jimmy was more than happy to oblige!)

The awesome sign, and my awesome hubby!

The bullpen

Woohoo, they beat the Phillies!!

I love our baseball memories!

See you next year Turner Field!

After the game we headed to The Varsity for a midnight snack. Yum!!

That night Sarah and Todd also pulled into Atlanta- what an awesome treat to see them for the weekend, too!

Sunday morning we headed to a local park that had a great playground and a small splash pad. Charlie loved it!! (and Henry slept through it!)

Sliding with Sarah

Driving

Love this picture of Sarah and Charlie!

After the park we went to Five Guys in downtown ATL for some hamburgers, then we went back to the hotel for naps and indoor pool time. 

After dinner that night we had some fun hang-out time in the hotel together.

Sarah sweetly offered to give Charlie his first "official" haircut!

Jimmy got one too!

Playing with Todd!

The next morning before leaving Atlanta we had breakfast with Todd and Sarah at IHOP and then lunch with  the rest of the family at Piccadilly's Cafeteria.

Loooove these sweet pictures of my mother-in-law and my son! This weekend was her first time to meet little Henry!

Granny and her beau, Charlie

We then drove out of Atlanta and headed east to meet up with a dear friend of mine!

Katie was my first friend when I moved to Southeastern and became a best friend as well. She and I were in each other's weddings and happen to share the same anniversary (just five years apart!). I hadn't seen her since before she and Donald left NC several years ago, and our last phone conversation was right after Charlie was born, but we just picked up right where we left off! We had the sweetest afternoon, meeting each other's children, seeing their home, talking about everything, and sharing dinner. I'm hoping there will be many more visits with them on future Atlanta trips!

Her sweet firstborn, Addison...

...and spunky second-born, Savannah! I feel a kindred spirit here. : )

Lovin' some chicken wings!

The restaurant had this awesome pirate ship that the kids could play on!

The Shearins! (plus Henry)

Thankfully, Charlie played hard and then slept pretty much the whole way home. We pulled into Wake Forest in the wee hours, but the late night was certainly worth it! I'm so thankful to have time to visit with family and friends!