We drove to Atlanta the Saturday before Thanksgiving. My grandmother in South Carolina was moving to an assisted living place at the end of the week, so we took the opportunity to spend time with her at her house. So we had a 13 hour drive Saturday, then a 2 1/2 hour drive Sunday morning! Normally it's 12 hours but we hit LSU traffic :(. Thankfully our girls travel well!! My brother Mark went to see my grandmother too and the kids all had a fun time playing together, especially at the river by her house.
Cousin Cassidy...
and cousin Austin...
There was a little rope swing over the river. I was glad I wasn't there - it would have made me nervous. You can't see it in the pictures, but the river bank does curve around to make a little lagoonish type spot where the swing goes over the water. So if someone did fall in, they wouldn't get carried away.
This is my Uncle Bobby, who lives close by. He was always so much fun to hang out with growing up - I'm so glad my girls have a chance to spend time with him!
My brave little Emma!
Back at my grandmother's house for some hot chocolate! I was hoping to get some nice pictures with my grandmother, but I forgot to mention that to my photographer :(. He didn't take any because he's been scolded in the past for taking candid shots of the ladies in my family when they didn't have a chance to put on lipstick which translated in his mind to them not wanting their picture taken. I'm usually too busy "living in the moment" to think about pictures. Thankfully my grandmother really loves her new home and the wonderful social life she instantly has, so I think we'll have a chance to get pictures in the future of her with the kids. What a praise!!
Back at my dad's the next day, the girls had fun hanging out with "Mamie Elaine" (my stepmother - Mamie is french for grandma which is what my brother's 1/2 french kids named her when they were litte). Emma absolutely COULD NOT keep her hands off their little dog Princess. We were toying with the idea of asking Santa to bring them a puppy for Christmas, which has now been tabled until next year.
There was also lots of leaves to play in!
A very happy Emma and not so happy Princess.
Mamie Elaine got them lots of early Christmas presents to play with.
Lot's of fun relaxing times!
We went to the Atlanta Aquarium one day with Mark and kids. It's a pretty spectacular place. There's a giant tank with several whale sharks, rays, and other assorted fish. There's a tunnel you can walk through and a big observation room at the end. I'm not a fan of animals in captivity, but they have a pretty decent set up for these fish. They also had beluga whales and dolphins (each in separate tanks with a dolphin show) - those made me a little sad as they are smaller but it is nice to look at them. The dolphins place was a little bigger and they were playful. The beluga whales not so much :(.
We came back to Mark's house for dinner. He used to be a chef, so eating with him is always a delicious experience.
Then we watched "Wreck-It-Ralph". It was cute!
The next day we went roller skating with my oldest BFF and then made dinner at my dad's house.
Fun times!!
My girls loved hanging out with the big boys!
One of the things Elaine got the girls was a "Friends" (aka girly) LEGO set. Emma was obsessed!
Zac is 10 1/2 - the same age Anton was when I first met him. It really brought back sweet memories for me. :)
Happy Thanksgivng!
Go Red Raiders! (that was Anna's idea).
