Some Work but Mostly Play....

 

Greg had a conference in Atlanta last weekend, so we tagged along to "see the big city!"

Clearly we don't get out much - the kids were mesmerized by the view from our hotel window! :)

 

 My parents met us there and we headed out for a yummy Mexican dinner, at a place I've been before with my TN gal, Hallie. Uncle Julio's has the best homemade tortillas and "swirl" margaritas!!

 Saturday morning, we had breakfast in one of the hotel's restaurants....fancy, fancy! :)

 And then it was off to LegoLand!!! Nanny & Poppy were the designated Barbie holders....

Yes, that redhead is completely made of legos! So cool!

Nate was a little over 110 legos tall :)

Downtown Atlanta, built completely out of legos!

 

Building a lego car to race...

He made improvements on his car and went back for round 2 of racing!

I went on this ride with Abby and the faster you pedaled, the higher you went.
Let's just say I was the worst pedaler EVER, and Abby was not happy with me.
So she convinced her favorite cyclist to go on the ride with her next :)

Clearly, he did better than I did :)

On this ride, we got to shoot bad guys!

Nate took the laser maze VERY seriously. He wanted to do it over and
over; I think he's in training for "American Ninja Warrior!" :)

4D movie time! Abby was clearly thrilled.

Karoke time! Her faves were "You Don't Know You're Beautiful" and "Single Ladies"

Abby's pal, Olivia

Doesn't everyone want to spend their 65th birthday at LegoLand?! Poppy was a trooper,
so he got a birthday milkshake for lunch.

 Then, this wasn't something we had planned on doing, but we happened upon this place right outside of LegoLand, and I finally gave in to Nanny (she has wanted to do this with the kids for years). I'm not sure who had more fun here - Nanny or the kids!

They each picked out a "sound" to go inside their animals. Even though
Abby picked a My Little Pony, she picked the song "Let It Go." (Shoot me now!)
(And Nate picked the TMNT theme song.)

Stepping on the pedal to help the "Stuffing" machine

 

Decision, decisions....

Abby picked out a cape dress & rainbow shoes for her pony...

.....while Nate wanted sais and pjs for his Ninja Turtle.

After Build-A-Bear, I rewarded myself with a trip to the Container Store (aka OCD heaven!!) I could have spent all day in there, but Greg & Poppy were waiting in the car so I controlled myself.

 

We had planned on going out for a fancy steak dinner for Poppy's birthday, but he wasn't feeling well and wanted to stay at the hotel. Instead, Greg found a great Southern place just around the corner, called Pitty Pat's Porch. Crabcakes, fried chicken, biscuits, collards, and black-eyed pea cakes....yum!

Abby still insisted on dressing up even though we
skipped our "fancy dinner," lol!

Reading to Raphael and yes he is wearing pjs too :)

Rarity Reece Givens is ready for bed! :)

 Sunday, Greg actually had to do some work & attend 2 sessions at the conference, so just me & my parents headed to the Georgia Aquarium. Man, that place is huge!!

The "Sea Monster" exhibit showed the insides of lots of fish; so gross!

The albino alligator was a favorite!

The otters were so cute!

N&P didn't get the "funny face" memo

We weren't allowed to take pictures at the Dolphin Tales show but man, was that awesome!!! It had singing and actors, in addition to awesome trainers & dolphins. Nate's favorite part was when a trainer "surfed" across the water on a dolphin, and Abby loved when the dolphins did flips & waved to the crowd. They truly were amazing.

The only dolphin shot I got, as we walked out of the theater

Sea dragons

Penguins!

The largest crab I've ever seen....it was about 3 feet wide and yes I had nightmares
about it that night!!

Abby NEVER sleeps in the car, and this was her on the ride home to Alabama.
Guess that's the sign of a good weekend!!