We headed to Atlanta for a week at the end of July. The kids absolutely LOVE going to Atlanta and we are so thankful that we are able to make the trip multiple times a year. We feel so fortunate that even though we don't live close to the Ducote cousins and extended family that when we are together we all just have the best time and it really is like no time has passed in between visits.
This was the first time that we flew Frontier Airlines and we were pleasantly surprised. This was also the first time that we have flown with a layover and we were also pleasantly surprised as to how well that went (minus the almost missing the plane out of the Atlanta airport on the way home but that wasn't due to a layover!)
The kids were amazing on the plane! Seriously, so good! They look forward to flying all year long and are at such great ages now for it (and to think it will only get even easier still!) Since we flew Frontier and didn't have choices with our seats we were split up for all of the flights but we made it work and everyone's tablets were charged so everyone was happy!
Pre plane craziness!
We landed late on Saturday, July 20th and almost all of the cousins (minus Max and Annabelle) arrived by lunchtime on Sunday which was perfect! They have SO much fun together and all get along so well. Highlights from this trip were: Old Town Road on repeat, building lots of forts in the backyard, meeting baby Margaux, the zip line and water slide on the last day and of course a puke fest thrown in there in the middle! After celebrating Nonna's birthday on Monday night Michael and John woke up in the middle of the night not feeling well and it all went downhill from there. Pretty much everyone was hit-some worse than others but thankfully the bug was short lived and despite it runnings its course there was still always someone to play with and everyone still had such a great time.
On Sunday afternoon the boys were playing outside and the adults were inside talking and from a distance I hear Joseph yelling, "Mommmm, Mommmm"-I jumped up and ran outside and he had bees all over him! He stepped in a nest and had about 10 bites on him. It could have been so much worse so we were so thankful that's all it was and gave him some Benadryl to be safe but he was back out playing within 15 minutes. Rich and Moon took care of the bee's nest so everyone else was safe for the rest of the week and Joseph kind of relished in the attention how he was so brave and didn't even cry from all of the stings. Tough kiddo!
After the bee incident we decided to take the kids out for a bit so went to the Chattahooche river for a bit. I wasn't sure what to expect, and I don't think Rich nor Moon remembered it quite as how it was either, but we shoed up to a pretty strong current and a spot that said, "No swimming, boat docking only." Well, it is hard to keep 9 kids out of the water so Rich and Moon were taking them in one by one. At one point, Sam lost his balance and Michael tried to grab him but then they both lost their balance so Rich jumped in to grab them both. In all of that confusion, they lost one of Sam's brand new water shoes but thankfully that was the only thing lost. I stayed on shore and tried to keep the kids away from the broken glass and keeping Charlotte and Joey from dunking their entire faces underwater and drinking who knows what. The kids had a blast though! Ha.
Julia totally passed out on the ride there but rallied and joined everyone for the fun!
The following day was Nonna's birthday so we celebrated by exploring a new park, which was awesome! It didn't seem too hot with all of the shade so we were there for a few good hours and then hit up Mello Mushroom for some birthday pizza after.
That night we celebrated Nonna with ice cream pies and gifts. We love being able to be there for her birthday celebrations!
Everyone is smitten with baby Margaux, but the girls especially loved all of the quality time with her. Anne Marie is amazing-she travelled by car over 6 hours to come with all 4 kids by herself. Did I mention that Margaux is only 5 weeks old?!? See, amazing!!!
Some love for Brody, too!
And, Charlotte's favorite place to hang out all week long
Joey helping Rich work on the front yard.
My dad was able to set us up with a tour of the Mercedes Benz stadium for the Atlanta Falcons. They had a private tour and got to see it all! Rich took the older boys and Ella and everyone enjoyed it!
While they were at the stadium, Anne Marie and I took Charlotte, Joey and Stella to Jump Jump (a favorite tradition while we are there) for the morning. Julia still wasn't feeling well so she hung back with Nonna.
Charlotte was totally fine all morning and had a blast but by the afternoon she had gotten a taste of the bug and looked like this for the rest of the day.
By Thursday both girls were feeling better (as evidenced by pictures below) so we made the trip to Florida. It was a fast trip but we are so glad that we went. It took us about 6 1/2 hours each way but the kids were great and it went by relatively fast (other than Chalrotte having to poop exactly 5 minutes after we got back in the car from a previous bathroom break...every single time!).
Saying bye to the cousins as we left for Florida. Anne Marie and her gang were having to leave to go back home so wouldn't still be there when we returned.
We arrived in Florida around 5 and went straight to Aunt Kathy's. We visited with Aunt Kathy, Uncle Bill and Gram and young Bill stopped by for a bit later that night. It was so nice to catch up with everyone and the kids managed to keep themselves entertained, although I was extremely nervous the entire time since Aunt Kathy and Uncle Bill's beautiful home is somewhat of an antique exhibit! The ring toss game in the backyard kept us busy enough outside until the bugs had eaten us alive and then thankfully the kids were all exhausted so crashed somewhat early. The next morning we took Gram out to breakfast at a great little diner in downtown Jacksonville. It's such a treat to spend time with Gram and she is doing incredible for having just turned 99 in June!
Jules hanging out in Aunt Kathy's foyer.
After saying our goodbyes to her we hopped in the car and made our way to surprise the Bestafka kids!! They had literally just arrived at their new home (the movers were there the day we were there!) and it was so fun to see them and their new home. We are going to miss them in San Diego but this made it a little bit sweeter that we got to see them again.
After surprising the Bestafka kids at their home we took them to a trampoline park to meet up with the Hoffmans, too! So fun that we get to connect with them when we are in Florida, too!
We were back in Georgia by 8:00 that night so it was a super quick trip but we are so glad that we made it. We love that we can fit so much quality time in with family and friends in such a short visit...really makes us grateful for all of these people in our lives.
Our last day was epic as Joseph would say. The kids dint' want to go anywhere today but just wanted to build a zipline and play in the backyard all day which is exactly what they did. Pop Pop surprised them all with a slip and slide which was a great way to beat the afternoon heat and everyone just had the best day. So cool to watch them all build the biplane together-they were so proud!
Now slip and slide time!
Everyone (that was in town) came over that night and it is always such a great time together. So many things going on and definitely a bit chaotic but such special memories.
Our kids were so sad to leave. Thankfully we already have our next trip planned since we'll be back in January for Katelyn and Trey's wedding and although that seems so far away right now we know it will be here before we know it!
