In November we took our annual trip back to Atlanta to visit family. It is always a busy trip since we have so many people to see.
We flew out on the Thursday before Thanksgiving on a redeye flight - which was completely Joey's idea. He thought Jack would sleep the entire way and it would be easier than trying to confine a mobile toddler during daytime hours. I thought it was risky but worth a try. I just made Joey agree that he would be the one to deal with a cranky baby (and get all the mean looks from other travelers) if it all went awry.
We got to the airport early and were able to get Jack to fall asleep in the stroller at the gate. He easily slept on Joey's shoulder during boarding and continued to sleep awhile. Joey and I both dozed off. About half way into the flight Jack woke up, smiley and cute, and just wanted to play with daddy. He wasn't cranky or crying but he surely wouldn't let Joey sleep.
We arrived in Atlanta around 5am and Joey was tired but considered it a success. However, we certainly paid for it the next few days as Jack recovered from a night where he only really got like 3-5 hours of sleep. So I'm not sure I would recommend it!
HEITHAUS FAMILY AT THE LAKE
We immediately rented a car and headed up to South Carolina to see Joey's family at the lake house. As always, it was a full house. Almost all of Joey's siblings were there with their families - making about 11 kids and 9 adults!
Jack loves playing with other kids so he jumped right in with his cousins. Unfortunately though, he was slightly crippled because he had recently started limping apparently because of a virus that had settled in his hip. He had a little bit of a hard time keeping up but he tried not to let that hold him back. Here are a few highlights from the weekend.
Grandpa, the ultimate big kid, led the kids in playing in a pile of raked leaves. Jack was having an absolute blast since he's never even seen fallen leaves!
Grandpa always had a lapful during story time!
Jack enjoyed playing with Claire, one of the 2012/2013 fab five.
Grandma was also very popular this trip. Jack asked for "Gan-ma" for days after leaving the lake!
Several of the kids practiced their sharing abilities while doing a shape sorter together. Good thing older cousins Brianna and Katelyn were there to help facilitate.
I spent a couple hours one night exercising my inner kid and my love of drawing and coloring. I sat down with Brianna and Kate and drew several silly animal pictures - a kangaroo surfing, a giraffe and an elephant sharing an ice cream cone, a panda on a tight rope - you know, the usual.
Jack LOVED eating at the little kids table - especially because it had a "mouse" on it (he doesn't really know Mickey.)
Brianna and Kate buddied up with the little ones. Brianna was Jack's buddy and Kate was Robert's buddy. They are such sweet girls.
Jack really loved playing with Brianna.
We managed to get a pretty good picture of all the kids. We were only missing Zachary and new baby Jonah - who weren't able to join us this time.
It turned out to be a beautiful and warm sunny afternoon on our last day so we took a little boat ride. Jack was a little terrified at first but warmed up eventually.
Beth with Brianna and Luke.
Joey got a chance to sit with Jack and let him drive the boat. I think this was a very special father moment for him. :)
Little Robert was loving the wind in his hair and hanging out with Grandpa.
Of course, Jack wanted to sit with Grandpa too. He's one popular guy!
We said our good byes to everyone and hit the road to go back down to Atlanta to spend a few days with my dad.
FEW DAYS WITH MY DAD
We arrived at my dad's on Monday night but pretty much went straight to bed. On Tuesday, my brother Kenny and his family came over and all went down to Centennial Olympic park for the afternoon.
We had a quick lunch at the CNN center and then let Jack and Jude play at the super cool playgrounds.
Jude is much more adventurous than Jack and really enjoyed this crazy slide with a bunch of rollers.
Jack tried it but never quite got the hang of it.
After the playground, we explored the park a little more and posed for some photos in the giant Christmas ornaments by the Coke museum.
Jack refused to cooperate in the photos.
But we got a nice Collett family picture.
We spent the next day or two just hanging around my dad's house. My dad gave the boys a ride in a wagon.
And introduced us to his chickens. He has a coop with about 5 chickens or so in it but one had been injured and was getting special treatment.
Jack enjoyed chasing the other chickens around the yard but was almost attacked a couple times by a particularly aggressive one. Luckily Joey was there and started kicking the chicken to protect him - or provoke him futher. I'm not sure.
My dad likes to keep busy and has lots of games and activities around the house. Joey and Jack enjoyed quite a few games of bean bag toss.
It was nice to just relax and enjoy my dad's new house which is pretty secluded in a wooded area.
EVENING WITH BILL AND JULIE
On Wednesday evening, or Thanksgiving Eve as you could call it, we drove up to Alpharetta to see my mom's cousin Bill and his wife Julie. We stopped on the way to say hi to Pradeep and Sarah and meet their new twin babies but forgot to take a picture.
We had an easy dinner with Bill and Julie and then Jack spent the evening jumping on a pillow on the floor like a crazy man. He was crazy about Julie. She's very lovable. It didn't hurt that she gave him ice cream. ;)
THANKSGIVING DAY AT THE GARDNERS
The next day was Thanksgiving so we met up with my mom and went to her cousin Kelly's house south of Atlanta.
Jack found another pile of leaves and enjoyed another crazy leaf throwing session.
We had a nice meal and enjoyed spending some time with my mom's extended family - Earlene, Kelly, Danny, Twila, Shaun and their kids. Jack also enjoyed the dogs.
THANKSGIVING PART 2 - BACK AT DAD'S
We left Kelly's around 4pm and went back to my dad's for a second Thanksgiving - which is never a good idea. Dawn and Macy had been hard at work in the kitchen and had prepared a very ambitious meal - especially for two people! I wasn't super hungry but I had to find some room to try some of their dishes.
The boys (big and little) played a little pool and ping pong and it was a very relaxing evening.
Jude was quite the little pool shark. He even knew how to chalk his stick.
And he was a little ham.
That night we drove up to Cartersville to spend the next few days with my mom.
WEEKEND WITH MOM
We didn't take too many pictures at my mom's house for some reason. Maybe it was because we mostly just hung around and ran some errands. Plus we were nearing the end of the trip and were starting to get a little burnt out. One day Kenny, Macy, and Jude came up to spend the day with us and Jack and Jude had fun playing together as always.
Here they are covered in stickers. I actually think it was Kenny that started this.
That afternoon we went to a nearby park that has a duck pond where you can feed the ducks. Jack LOVED this. We must've spent $10 in 25 cent increments getting duck food out of the feeder between the two of them. Jack has been a little obsessed with ducks ever since.
We tried to get a picture of me and Macy with the boys but they would never both look at the camera at the same time. Oh well.
The park also had a little playground that the boys enjoyed. Jude is much braver than Jack and it encouraged him to
Unfortunately Jack was a little bit of a mess by this time in the trip and wasn't super friendly to his Grandma, who he usually loves. He was very clingy and only wanted mommy - not even daddy. My mom did get a few special moments with him though. He loves puzzles.
On Sunday morning, we said goodbye to my mom and headed back down to ATL to see some friends.
FRIEND VISITS
First stop was Joey's friend Erica's house who had just had twin boys. We met Joey's other childhood friend Eric there with his two little girls. Here is Jack with Erica and one of her boys.
And Jack with Eric's oldest Evie. Jack is saying "cheese" - can you hear him?
Jack also had fun playing with Eric's youngest Maggie. I think he is going to like having a little sister!
Maggie was adorable and I had to get some snuggle time. I'm definitely getting excited for our little girl!
It was fun to see everyone and funny to think about how much their lives had changed since they met in grade school.
From there we went to Ryan and Lainey's house to meet their new little one Paige (so many babies this trip!) We spent the night with them and hung out a bit the next day with Ryan - a new stay at home dad! It was fun to see him in that role.
At this point we were beat and very ready to get home. We spent the afternoon back at my dad's before heading to the airport to catch our flight. Our flight was delayed so we got back to San Diego pretty late - and had to work the next day - but we were happy to get back to normal.
It was a great but exhausting trip. Always so many people to see - especially since we can only get back that way about once a year or so. We'll have to keep trying to convince people to come visit us out in San Diego. It shouldn't be THAT hard - SD is a great vacation spot and we have a spare room ready for any visitors!
Next up, Christmas!!!
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