Trip to Atlanta

It has been at least 6 months since we have gone on a trip with the girls.  We have been wanting to take them to Atlanta to see my great aunt and uncle and visit the ‘country’ for a weekend.  Scott really wanted to also take them to the aquarium and we found out that they are free until they turn 3.  So with that knowledge we decided we probably should go now as age 3 is approaching much faster than I care to admit. 

So last Thursday we planned to leave at nap time, which gave me the morning to do something important: check out preschool.  I went and visited a local preschool at a church where several of our friends send their kids.  I was not overly impressed with the fact that there are 10 kids to 1 teacher (and a shared assistant).  Also, I left feeling like my kids aren’t behind in any way.  I think that was a big help, to know that my kids are in fact learning what they should be learning from our nanny and us.  After my visit I feel better about waiting another year to do preschool.  It is a big expense and none of the local preschools offer a discount for additional kids.  So we are going to sign up for a homeschool version of preschool, the twins that they have a play date with every week will be joining us in the preschool and they will start meeting twice a week to do the activities and curriculum. 

So right before we left Stephanie came by and did a quick haircut for the girls, there last and only one was in September so it was definitely time.  They all did great and sat very still while she worked.  Then we all said goodbye and headed out.

The trip down was not too bad the girls slept for the first 2 hours and watched tv for the next hour, but we ran into some traffic which made the last ½ turn into more like 1 hour.  So they grew pretty impatient, we sang lots of songs that last ½ hour.  We took a tour of the flower garden, vegetable garden and tractors.  The girls even got to ride on a tractor with 'Paw-Paw Dick'

We had a lovely dinner and the girls got settled into their bedroom.  In their bedroom were little stuffed animals for each girl, which was great because we did not bring them anything like that.  They also had lots of toys to play with that Dot had thought to borrow from a friend.  We had a nice evening and though the girls didn’t go to sleep well they did ok for a new place.

The next morning we headed out to see the aquarium, we wanted to go on a Friday since we had heard it was much less crowded.  Dot was able to go with us which was a real blessing, we arrived around 10am and the girls were very excited to see the fish.  They really enjoyed the aquarium but were too hesitant to participate in any of the ‘touch tanks’.  They absolutely loved watching the dolphins, they had a show but it was a little scary for kids.  Emma didn’t seem to mind she just clapped and clapped every time the dolphins jumped out of the water.

We also crawled through these little tunnels to see the penguins, here Savannah and I are peeking up to take a look.













After the aquarium we headed over to Centennial Park and played on a playground, it was really unique and had some unusual features.  One of the highlights was the slide, it was kind of like a conveyer belt, the type with pipes that roll.  I had to go down it just to check it out, it was pretty fast and it sure made your bottom feel funny afterwards. 











We walked up to see the water that shoots out of the Olympic rings, that was such a hit, the girls loved the water.  Emma and Olivia were completely soaked, Savannah was just a little wet, she was a bit more cautious about getting wet.

The girls crashed on the way home, when we got back Dot's adopted grand kids were waiting to meet the girls.  I remember them being in elementary school, but now one is in high school and the other one is in 8th grade, wow how time flies.  We all went to Chick-fil-A for dinner and the girls played on the slides.  You would think they would just crash at bedtime.  It seemed like they might because they were very quite in there.  When we went to check though we found they had pulled out all the toys and were quietly playing on the bed...haha.  So I laid with them until they and I fell asleep.

On Saturday we got to meet some good friends of Dot and Dick's and their little doggie.  The girls liked the dog but Olivia and Savannah are a little scared now, we are going to have to get them around dogs more often.  Emma, our animal lover, had no problems and loved the dog.  We went to the park in the afternoon and the girls helped water all of Dot's plants that evening, that kept them busy for about an hour.

On Sunday we went to church and then packed up for the ride home.  The girls did great on the way home, mostly because they were exhausted from our trip.  It was a really good trip, so good in fact that I think maybe we'll take another trip before 6 months passes again.