The Big 3-0!

I know it's been over a month since my last post but I've been all-kinds-of busy lately starting with Ry's BIG birthday. We knew we wanted to do something cool for the big 3-0...maybe bungee jumping or sky diving or something crazy. But once I started looking at prices for things, I got the idea to take a road trip to Atlanta to see Ryan's favorite team THE BRAVES - because after only a short 12 hour drive in the Saturn, we could be in Ryan's own personal heaven! So while the hubs was working away in the exciting town of Sulphur Springs, Texas, I was secretly conspiring to make his dreams come true and planning our ROAD TRIP TO ATLANTA! As soon as he got back from his business trip, my mom came up to watch the kiddies and we loaded up the car and took off at the crack of dawn to take a trip all by ourselves, something we haven't done since our honeymoon. Our trip was SO busy and SO much fun that I'm giving a complete run down so I don't forget a thing!

Day 1: With the caffeine in the cooler, the CD's and DVD's packed, and the laptop charged, we were ready for some serious road trippin'. We decided to stop at every state's welcome center to check things out, something we would've never done with the kiddies in tow...

Here's where we crossed the Mississippi River out of Louisiana and into Mississippi...An original cannon used in the Civil War...While driving we passed G.W. Carver High School so I had to snap a pic...We made a short detour to go see the Birmingham Temple. It was really beautiful and reminded us a lot of the Columbus Temple...Finally we made it to Georgia...After checking in to our hotel, we made our way to midtown Atlanta to visit Atlantic Station - an outdoor shopping area with tons of restaurants. We ate at the Atlantic Grill, home of the best blue cheese burgers either of us had ever tasted...I fell in LOVE with this 2 story Target, it even had an escalator for shopping carts...Next we did some exploring. We were surprised to find a national monument -The Millennium Monument, built to commemorate all peaceful accomplishment since the birth of Christ. It was really pretty at night...Day 2: We started out the day by taking a private tour of Turner Field. This turned out to be one of the coolest things we did on the trip...We started out at the Braves Hall of Fame. They had SO many cool displays there, including Hank Aaron's home run record breaking bat and ball...Ryan turned into a 3rd grader as soon as we entered the place, he wanted his picture taken by everything, it was so funny. I'm just lucky I didn't bring my camcorder or he would've wanted me to get the whole day on tape! Gotta love Dale Murphy and all of his awards...Yep, the World Series trophy...Next we made our way through the entire ballpark. We learned a ton of fun facts, especially about the 1996 Olympics which were kicked off at the stadium. Here's our view from the top, I couldn't believe the ballpark was right in the middle of the city...My view from the press box...Chillin' in the dugout...Ryan getting comfortable in Bobby Cox's usual spot...They let us go absolutely everywhere, except behind these doors where some of the players were already prepping for the game. So close...Next we saw the gold platted Georgia State Capitol...In my search for the best "soul food" in Georgia I came across this hole-in-the wall called Carver's Country Kitchen and I was sold...Yep, I took pictures of our food (not that we could ever forget it). Deep fried southern goodness...I even met the owners, Robert and Sharon Carver who gave me a free t-shirt just for being a Carver. "Carver's country cookin' makes you good lookin'" ain't that the truth...

After a quick stop at Centennial Olympic Park...We were off to the World of Coca Cola...If all Coke bottles looked like this I'd probably drink it more often...The best part by far was the end of the tour, where we got to sample 60 some odd different coke products from around the world. Cheers...Then we headed back to the ballpark early so we could catch batting practice. Ryan was SO close to catching a bunch of balls...but no such luck. It was still fun to watch. The field was so quiet in the morning but it turned into party central as it got closer to the game. They had an awesome kids play area, and we did some serious souvenir shopping (thanks to stephen and spencer). Here's a pic of the drum line gettin' loud before the game...Finally time to take our seats, we were in the 17th row above the dugout, not too bad...Here's our view of the field, if you look closely you can see Chipper hanging out of the dugout...Day 3: We went out to Stone Mountain Adventure Park. The theme park is centered around the granite Stone Mountain and the Confederate Memorial carving of General Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, and Jefferson Davis. History plus fun...right up our alley...This sky hike was so much fun. You get in a harness and make your way through the obstacle course...We started at the bottom level and made our way all the way to the tippity top...This park had everything. We rode a train all around the mountain, played a game of mini golf (which I let ryan win), then made our way to the scenic lake to paddle boat...Then we took a cable car to the top of the Mountain to check out the views of Atlanta...Here's a closer look at the carving, it's larger than Mt. Rushmore...Here's a replica of the horses mouth, it's HUGE...We were busy the whole day going from one thing to the next. We finished off the night by watching the laser show they do facing the mountain.

Day 4: After a quick look at the Atlanta Temple (which is under major renovation for like 18 months) we headed straight home. Being without the kids was fun, but we were both really starting to miss them.Though our trip was full of fun it wasn't without problems. If somebody would've given us a tip that the public transportation in Atlanta (i.e. marta) is TERRIBLE, than our trip would've gone a lot smoother. Still, it turned out to be the perfect way to celebrate my hubbies 30 great years of being alive!

As soon as we got home we dove straight in to our kitchen remodel. Here is a sneak peak of the new floor, counter, and backsplash (the red on the wall is just an anti-fracture membrane for the backsplash, not a paint color). I'll post more pics if we EVER finish!