Springtime in the South

We love it! It just smells so darn good!

(Ha! Ha! I just proofread that and I originally wrote: "I just smell so darn good!" Ha! Ha! Especially funny as I have neither showered nor brushed my teeth yet today.)

So after the Great Flood our savings is once again a negative number (stupid house!). But, luckily, Mike had a work trip to Atlanta, plus a whole bunch of Frequent Flier Miles (plus a little help from Grammy Brink - THANK YOU!) and after a lot of pouting and not-so-subtle hinting, he invited us along. It was absolutely perfect. For me and Eli. Mike had to work. Until 5pm most days. Bwahahahaha!

Because Eli thinks it's the MOST FUN EVER to get in bed with us (and therefore WILL NOT SLEEP) we were not sure what to do about his sleeping arrangements. I had read about this little bed pod and, despite our reservations, Eli loved it ... for playing and sleeping!

Ok, truthfully, at naptime I did have to shove his head back in while I was trying to zip up the zipper. I will not break! Sigh ...

I didn't take a ton of pictures. Because I'm a super-great mom and I realized the danger of taking pictures when I am alone poolside with a frisky 18-month-old. And we spent a lot of time at the pool. But we had a great time!

 Mike thought he was so clever using sunscreen as a styling product. It looked even grosser in real life:

 Besides lots of swimming (how does Eli's Speedo from last summer still fit?) we went to the Olympic Park:

 Eli was trying out a new Olympic event: chasing pigeons while simultaneously not contracting any diseases. We celebrated with a hot dog (no disease there!):

We had a great day at the Aquarium:

 Eli wasn't sure if the fish or the girls were more fun to look at!

 He tried 'petting' the rays and sharks (Seriously? Isn't this cruelty to animals?):

 Highlight: On the moving sidewalk under the giant sharks, grouper and manta rays, Eli stops, looks straight up and yells, "WOW!" It was just so cute! Everyone in the tube started laughing. There was one couple who even took his picture!

 Eli and Mike crawled through the tube under the penguin exhibit:

 And he and I crawled thru the river exhibit. Side note: What does it say that Eli started smacking his lips while looking at the Grouper?

 He was so great at walking, but by the end he just wanted to chill in the stroller (usually impossible!):

 We were so excited to get a cute family picture. Except look at Eli's face:

What? Look up close:

After that he was exhausted, and took a big, long nap in his car seat. Too bad, because he missed lunch:

 Oh, ya! Slaw dogs! Yum! Yum! Yum! And of course, peach pie!

 He probably liked the hat more than he would have liked the slaw dog:

 One day we went to the Chattahoochee River and I kid you not, there was a guy walking around with a banjo. Needless to say I didn't make eye contact, and I didn't follow him down to the river. On the way back we stopped by Kroger (or, "the Krog" as we liked to call it when we lived in Little Rock). Eli loved, loved, loved the car carts. So much so that we went back three more times just to walk around!

 And of course it would not be a trip (or really a full week) without a big bruise:

Unfortunately, when we got home (Mike has to stay for another week) it was cold, raining, and our car battery was dead. Sigh ...