Georgia Aquarium

Aunt Connie- Parker LOVED meeting her.  I think she reminded him of Mama

As our vacation was derailed from beach time, we crashed in on my family in Atlanta on our way home.  Such fun family to spend time with.  I wish we saw them more often.  We stayed with my cousin Ken and his wife, Sara, and their son Brady.  My Aunt Connie and Uncle GB came up to spend time with us both days and we had such a great time.  I wish I had taken more pictures!

a view above us of a whale shark

On our way out of town we went to the Georgia Aquarium in downtown Atlanta.  It's the largest aquarium in the world.  I had heard great things about it, but it completely exceeded our expectations.

The most fun part about it was seeing how much Parker really LOVED it- even as an 8 month old.  He was completely in a trance of fascination for 3 solid hours until his little head hit Spence's shoulder and sleep ensued.  I can't wait to take him back when he is older.

a walk through tube of a 6 million gallon tank- breathtaking!

The exotic fish area 

Parker loved the fish- he kept trying to reach through the glass for them

the dolphin tank- we went to the dolphin show and it was so cool.  Parker was mesmerized by them

such a cool picture of the jellyfish tank.  Parker really tried to go after them! 

At the end- we saw the penguins.  If you could see this closer- it must have been mating season for them.  Spence was highly amused, and I think he also took a video.  Men and women really are incredibly different....I didn't seem to giggle as much as he did at this scene.

Family Vacation.....Sort of

We haven't had a real vacation in a year.  Of course, that was a month in Hawaii- sort of the ultimate vacation, I know.  So Spence and I were so excited to take the last week of August and go to Florida.  We invited his family, and it all worked out that his parents, Daniel, Suzy & Jim were all able to join us.  We even got the same house we've stayed in before.....what a treat.  

Parker actually traveled really well!

Then there was Isaac.  Hurricane Isaac that is.  We knew the week before our trip that it was predicted to come up the gulf.  Then it looked like 

it would hit directly where we were staying.  But we had faith that we would be fine.  So we drove 8 hours anyway with Parker to our destination.  Beautiful weather, everyone made it.  House set up, beach gear ready, and kitchen full of a week's worth of groceries.  Daily, the storm looked to start heading more and more west towards New Orleans.  Then after less than 48 hours, the area had a mandatory evacuation of non-residents.  Even our rental company called to kick us out.  Boo.

on the beach with Honey

Spence and I were determined not to go back home.  So the 8 of us went to Birmingham for the night and stayed at a nice resort.  The guys got one more golf day in and we all parted ways.  We ended up spontaneously crashing in Atlanta with my awesome family for a couple of days.  All in all, we had almost a week away, out of the house, away from the hospital, and fun time off together.  Maybe next year, right?

the sand sculptor

We did fit a lot of fun in though- check it out!  On our one full day at the beach, we had a professional sand sculptor come and teach us how to make a real sand castle!

we got in 2 decent beach days

Rick, our professional sand castle architect

building our castle

Suzy and Jim watching the castle construction

our finished product- it got so much attention on the beach!

Parker loved the water

Daniel and Jim

Spence and Parker on the beach

Daniel, Suzy and Jim

Waking up and playing with our cousin Jim

Playtime inside 

out to eat at the Fish House

story time before bed

golf in the wind and rain of Isaac

Wish we had many more days of this.....

at the pool in Birmingham- unfortunately the rain followed us here too 

Honey and her babies before we went home

Going Home

visiting with Honey!

I am in disbelief that it is already the middle of August.  Summer is over.  I swear June barely existed, July was a blur, and I don't know how we are already gearing up for September.  I was really feeling a longing to go home to Arkansas to see family.  We hadn't been there since May, and I knew by looking at the next few months that I didn't know when we could go back.  Spence and I had ~5 days off together randomly this month, and we got a GREAT deal by Priceline for tickets to fly home 48 hours later.  So that's what we did.

playing in the airport

Parker, again, was an awesome traveler.  He was so happy on the flights, and I was so grateful for an easy time of traveling with a 7 month old.  So many fellow travelers kept complimenting what a great disposition he had, how well he did on the plane, how adorable he is.....all comments that made for proud parents!

What did we do for 5 days?  Very little, except eat, swim, and relax.  It was the perfect visit home.  And Parker as usual was smiling and playing delightfully the entire time.  I love watching our family with him.  I tell him daily how lucky he is to have so many wonderful people that love him.  We pray for our Arkansas family every night, and with Facetime, we can start seeing them on a more regular basis.

Mama was in Heaven!

Parker giving kisses

Parker LOVED Mitchell- and he was so great with him

we could get used to daily pool time

we got a lot of time to visit with Aunt Margaret

Mama held P at any and every opportunity

Love time with our KK