The Stewarts' Staycation

Every year the GHSA mandates a "dead week" from all sports, clubs, and activities. It is always the week leading into the 4th of July, and no team, club, or organization can have any contact at all... no practice, no weight lifting, no meetings, no anything at all. It is so nice because it gives the families of the kids (and coaches) a set week every year that they know they can take vacation and not miss anything.

Well, we debated going to the beach for the week, but finally decided against it for a couple of reasons. One, we weren't sure if Addison would be able to handle it yet... I mean, she might be able to go out for an hour in the morning, and then another hour in the late afternoon, but what do you do the other time - sit in the condo and stare out at the ocean? Take turns going down to the beach alone? We weren't quite sure... Also, we are still really hopeful that we will be moving on up to Dahlonega here in the near future, and I can think of a million things I will want to have for the new house. So we decided to save the money we would have spent on a beach vacation, and have our own "staycation" right here in Atlanta. So, we planned fun things to do all week while Kevin was home, and we had a blast! Here is a breakdown, complete with some pictures! :)

Monday

We went to the Gwinnett Braves game. We hadn't been over to the stadium to see a game yet, and we were very excited about it. It's pretty cool having the stadium so close! We had a great time. We got there a little early and "tailgated" in the parking lot with Subway sandwiches, and then went on into the park. We brought a blanket and paid $5 for berm tickets. We found a great little spot right out in left-center field by the bullpen. It was so nice to spread our blanket out in the grass and let Addison crawl around and enjoy the game. Clint Sammons is the catcher in Gwinnett. He was a good friend of mine at UGA, and Kevin happened to coach him at Parkview his senior year, so we were excited to get to see him for a minute before the game started. We were sitting right by the bullpen, so we were able to see him warming up the starting pitcher. Also, during the game I got a phone call from another great college friend who said she was at the game, so we were able to catch up for a little bit, and she got to meet Addison for the first time. All-in-all, it was a great night!

Tuesday

We didn't do a whole lot on Tuesday. Luke's Daddy came over and talked to us about some of our financial planning, and then Kevin went to play some golf with his brother, Uncle Todd. Addison and I hung out at the house and played in the yard for a while, before coming in and getting dinner ready. After Addison was tucked away, Kevin and I watched a movie, ate ice cream, and relaxed... so nice!

Wednesday

I loved Wednesday! We left here after Addison's nap and drove up to Athens. Our first stop was this little blueberry picking place. It's really someone's house, but they have hundreds of blueberry bushes, and they let people come and pick their own blueberries. So, we put Addie in her stroller and found a couple of really full bushes just waiting to be picked. We had a lot of fun picking berries and Addison stayed pretty content in her stroller for about 45 minutes before she just got too hot. So we finished up with about 3/4 of a gallon. So, we now have enough berries for about a year's worth of pancakes, waffles, homemade ice cream, you name it!

THEN, we went over to my cousin Kathryn's house in Athens (she's a senior at UGA). Addison was lucky enough to get to stay there and play for a couple of hours while Mommy and Daddy had a date night! Kevin had made reservations at this little Italian place downtown (it's on the second floor over Bourbon Street if you are familiar with downtown Athens) called La Dolce Vita. We had a great dinner and dessert, but even better adult conversation! Sadly, I don't have any pictures of our date night. :(

Thursday

We had a great day Thursday. Kevin had to meet with a lady about his dissertation over in Norcross at 10:00, so we loaded up early and headed out for the day. He happened to be meeting her at the Forum, so Addison and I were able to do a little bit of shopping while we waited... we didn't mind! Then, we were off for Atlanta. Kevin had to meet with one more person whose office is at the Professional Standards Commission in Atlanta, so we dropped him at the door to the building and drove around for a little while before going back to pick him up. Once we left there, he was finished with school stuff for the day, so we decided to take advantage of a day in the big city. We went over to Atlantic Station to have lunch at Rosa Mexicano, a great little Mexican restaurant where the food is delicious, and they make fresh guacamole at your table - loved it! Then we went to Ikea- mainly because Kevin had never been, and wanted to see what it was all about. We tooled around in there for a few hours - I mean really, the place is insane, and everyone should experience it at least once. After that, the little one was well past ready to be home, so we headed on this way. Again, sadly no pictures from the day.

Friday

We had a very lazy morning Friday. We enjoyed sleeping in, getting up and having breakfast, and then we all went back down for a "family nap". Does it get any better?! When we finally got our lazy behinds going, we packed up and headed for Powder Springs to spend the night with Pops. Mops was gone to Illinois for a family reunion that we missed out on, so it was just us there with Pops and the animals. I cooked dinner for all of us and we had a great little visit.

Saturday

HAPPY 4th OF JULY! Kevin and I got up extra early Saturday morning, and we were off for the big city again. We, along with 55,000 other crazy people, enjoyed 6.2 miles of 4th of July fun! I ran the Peachtree Road Race for the very first time!! It was so much fun... well MOST of it! It was great people watching if nothing else! Kevin was so sweet to stay "behind" and run the whole thing with me. He probably could have finished about 30 minutes ahead of me, but he said he wanted to experience it together, so we went at my pace... which... was... slow. But, I finished, and got the t-shirt to prove it! I'm so proud of my shirt - I have it on right now! We finished in 1:18:05 and 1:18:06... guess who finished first?! ME! I timed us on my watch, but we didn't know our official times until we got home, and we realized I must have crossed the finish line just ahead of Kevin, which I think is hilarious! So, for at least the next year, I have bragging rights! :) After the race, we went back to Pops' house to grill hamburgers and celebrate the 4th... and by celebrate I mean shower and take a LONG nap. We got home last night, put the little one to bed, watched the few fireworks we could see from our backyard, and crashed out. I forgot to take the camera with us downtown (and really, what would we have done with it while we were running?), so we took a couple of pictures when we got back to my parents' house. My first Peachtree:

Sunday

Our Staycation comes to an end... We've had a great day today... just resting up and letting our bodies recover from our run yesterday. Sadly, Kevin has to be in Dahlonega bright and early tomorrow morning for a week of kids' camp and practice, and I have one more week of the online summer school class that I'm teaching. So, it's back to the real world.

This is Addison "helping" me cook dinner tonight... she fell fast asleep sitting straight up in her walker... poor thing.

We had a wonderful week. Addison and I loved having our Daddy home with us the whole week, and we are now more excited than ever to get our house sold so we can be up in Dahlonega with him all the time. I hope everyone had a great long holiday weekend! Happy 4th!