Atlanta Baby!

I've really been slacking at posting lately. I really don't have an excuse. Zack has been keeping me busy along with other commitments that I do. I've also picked up an extra hour at work each day so that's been a bit of an adjustment to my schedule.

May 21-25th Bob, Zack and I flew to visit my bestest friend Mandi. It's been way too long since I've seen her and her family! It was so much fun to visit her instead of her visiting us (not that I mind her visits; it was my turn to visit her). This tripped marked a first for all of us. It was Zack's first plane ride. All our first time going to Georgia. And Bob and I's first time watching the Braves play.

...This is a long post so you can just look at the picture if you want, I won't be offended...

So here is what we did and some pictures:

May 21st: Our flight didn't leave until 4:50. Bob and I both took the day off. It was so nice spending time as a family. We didn't really have an agenda other then to make sure we were packed before Bob's dad picked us up at 3:00. We got to the airport in plenty of time.
- Benefit of traveling with an infant and a stroller -- you get the front of all the lines at the airport!

They now have different lines based on the way you are traveling:

Expert Traveller - is for frequent travelers who know what 3-1-1- means, and who have their shoes off before they even get to the conveyer belt.

Casual Traveller - is familiar with TSA rules but don't travel as often.

And the Family/Special needs line: Those travelling with small children or people with special needs, medication or baby food.

We fell into the later category. It wasn't too bad. There weren't any lines and we got right up in front at the security checkpoint.

Zack liked watching what was going on outside the windows. The pilot of our plane even waved to him while they were unloading passengers. Zack did so good on the plane. I was really worried that he would scream or cry the whole time. Not that Zack is a bad kid, he hardly ever cries, but in such a small space where he wouldn't be able to run around I was worried about him. But he did great. We tried to give him a bottle and pacifier when the plane took off but he thought it was a game and wanted to see what was going on. He didn't seem like his ears hurt him at all. About 1/2 way through our flight to Dallas Zack fell asleep. He woke up when we landed. He did about the same thing on our flight to Atlanta. It worked out just fine.

We got into Atlanta at 1:15 am. We drove to Mandi's house following our GPS. We got lost a few times but GPS eventually got us there. The only reason we got lost was we didn't understand the wording of GPS. It kept telling us to keep Right. But when we kept right we got off the freeway. So we had to make our way back. We got to Mandi's between 2-2:30am. We were pretty tired!

May 22nd: It was so nice to sleep in. Bob, Zack and I went to McDonald's for "breakfast/lunch" while Mandi was picking up her youngest from school. We went shopping for groceries, then went home to wait for her other two kids to get out of school. It was their last day of school so they had a little neighborhood party. Bob and Zack napped for a bit. It was so fun watching the kids play in their little cul-d-sac. It was also fun meeting the neighbors. That evening we went to the CNN building. They have some shops, and food court there. But we got there about 8:30 and EVERYTHING was pretty much closed. There were a few food places open so we got some dinner. We then went to the Centennial Park across the street. They have a fountain there. It was fun watching the people playing in the water. It was such a nice warm night too! Zack didn't really enjoy the water too much. I tried to get him near it to take his picture but he wanted nothing to do with it.

May 23rd: Saturday Bob and I decided we would try to go to the Aquairum. I've heard a lot of really good things about the aquarium and it looked really neat. I guess 10,000 other people had the same idea. There were so many people there! We waited in line for a little bit but decided that it wasn't worth it. By the time we got into the aquarium Zack would have been onery and it wouldn't have been fun for any of us. So we went to the CNN building again and found some shirts for the game and a bat and ball for Zack. We then decided to take a tour of Turner Field. The last tour was at 3:00 pm and we barely made it! It was really neat to learn the history of the Atlanta Braves and the history of the stadium. I would recommend the tour to anyone that is in the area. But make sure to go on a non-game day then you'll get to go to the locker room. We didn't because there was a game that night. During the tour they took us to the press boxes and in the radio box there was a guy sitting at the window. He started talking to Bob and offered him tickets. Unfortunetly Bob declined, because he didn't think that the kids would want to go and we had talked about going to a laser show that night. Later we found out the guy that offered us the tickets (right behind home plate) was Don Stewart (a hall of fame baseball player!). It was pretty cool! That night we did go to Sand Mountain for the Laser Light Show. The mountain was huge and there was a carving in the mountain of three confederate soilders on horse back. I'll try to get some pictures from Mandi of that night. I rained, no it poured on us! Luckily Zack fell asleep and slept throught the entire thing. Including the fireworks and cannons. It was amazing. It was fun sitting out there in the rain watching the laser show though. It was also pretty warm!

May 24th: Bob and I went to the Atlanta Braves game. Zack stayed with Mandi. We were told it was going to rain so we didn't want to bring him. It was nice that we had gone there the day prior because we actually knew how to get there and what to expect with parking. I thought I bought tickets on the third base line but the tickets were actually for the first baseline. Oops. But it was okay. Bob's favorite baseball team has always been the Braves so we had to get good seats for his first game. It was pretty cool! I took a ton of picture, I like trying to get the action shots when they are hitting. Here are a few pictures that I took



It was by far the hottest day that we were there in Atlanta. We didn't see the sun very often on our trip but during the game I actually got a sunburn! The game was really fun! And....

Which made a great game!

May 25th: Was our last day in Atlanta. We packed everything up and loaded it into our car. Mandi took us to a restaurant called the Mellow Mushroom. It's a pizza place and it was yummy. We then went to Five Points (I think that is correct). It's a hippy place near Atlanta. We went to a couple shops then we had to head home.

The flight back was pretty good. We boarded the plane in Atlanta and had some drama. I guess someone boarded the plane then decided to get off because they were sick. The flight attendence asked if the person was on the plane then realized they got off. Well a few people freaked out because their luggage was still on the plane. We taxied out only to go back to the gate so some people could get off the plane that were uncomfortable with the situation. Others were complaning about missing their connection but still put up a fuss about the luggage. Eventually the pilot said get off the plane or shut up (in a nicer way). We finally left. Zack was onery on that part of the plane, but fell asleep before we took off. He woke up about 1/2 hour before we landed. It was great. On the flight home from Dallas Zack slept the entire way. He was pretty exhausted.

It was such a fun trip! We will defintly need to go back. I still want to go to the aquarium! But there is so much to do that there was no way we were going to pack it all in one weekend. It was a very relaxing vacation as well. Thank you Mandi for letting us crash at your place! We had a blast and Zack made some new friends.