No one has probably noticed but Zach and I haven’t been on an Aflac trip in a LONG time. In fact the last Aflac trip we got to go on was in April 2012 to Canada. We had high hopes that things would work out for us to be in NYC in Oct. Jordan and Casey got to go on their first Aflac trip, and Mrs. Charlotte and Mr. Rusty got to go too. But us? Nope. Zach and I were both SUPER, mega bummed about it and getting the texts and hearing all the stories from all of them didn’t help make it any easier on us!
I get a “travel itch” where I need to get out of town. Zach agreed and we decided to go away for the weekend as a family. I debated where to go and what to do and finally decided to go to Stone Mountain to see the Laser Show. I grew up loving it and wanted the kids to get to see it too. My sweet friend Kelly offered for us to stay with her! It worked out great but, at the last minute, we decided not to do the laser show. I heard from a lot of people that it is VERY loud and lasts very late and that it probably wouldn’t be the best thing for our age of children. We weren’t exactly sure what our plans for the weekend would be, but it meant getting away together which was all I needed 😉
On the way we stopped at one of those KFC/Taco Bell combo places. Zach and I enjoy Taco Bell (cheap and we assume better for us than a lot of other fast food options?) but the kids don’t like it so it worked out having the KFC attached!
We got to Kelly’s after bed time but let the kids meet their new friends for a few minutes before putting them down. Jeff and Kelly are some of THE nicest people i know. Literally! I felt so bad invading their home with our craziness but they were totally okay with it and welcomed us in with open arms! Kelly made muffins the next morning that my kids went CRAZY over!
Awesome face Britt
Rhyan!
Cutie Mack
After breakfast we all took our time getting ready and the kids enjoyed playing together. Then my crew loaded up and met MY DAD for brunch. Can I just tell yall how crazy excited I was about this?!?! Dad hasn’t seen Britt since his visit right after she was born! I’ve tried to make plans to see them but with his crazy work schedule it never works out and when I called this trip I assumed the same would happen. I was SO happy that he and Audrey were able to meet up with us.
As you all know I’ve had a lot of heartbreak over my family and being able to see my dad was priceless to me. Being able to have my kids visit with him and being able to see them together melted my heart. Having someone who loves me for me and supports me in all I do is something I needed to be reminded that I still have. I’m blessed to have Zach’s family…but they can never replace my own. My own blood. My own memories. MY family. I soaked it all up and savored every second of that brunch.
When we walked in and Kye ran into Dad’s arms I seriously had to hold back tears. Hearing them talk about the things they have in common was so special to me. Our visit made me realize how much Britt does take after my Sedgley side. She makes so many faces that totally remind me of my dad and her big ole bottom lip looks just like his 🙂
We ate and visited and never wanted the time to end. I am truly just SO thankful. Even if we aren’t able to see each other again for awhile this visit filled my heart with so much joy and happiness that I think will hold me over 😉 I am especially thankful for Audrey. Our relationship didn’t start off very smoothly but she is such an anchor for my dad and is such a strong support system for me. I am blessed. Truly blessed to have them both!!!
I am hopeful that Dad’s schedule will allow us to get together again soon! We’d love to go up for a visit and get to spend more quality time together!
Haha
When we left that brunch Zach and I were talking about God and his timing in things. We knew there was a reason we didn’t get to go to NY. We always try to find God’s reasoning in things. And we BOTH felt like it was so we’d get to be at that brunch with my dad. If we had made NYC then we wouldn’t have gone on that trip. So, SO many things lined up just perfectly to allow that to happen and it was something I really needed. I’m just very thankful that it all worked out exactly how it did 🙂
We headed back to Kelly’s for naps (during naps Kelly and I had some girl time doing some shopping!) and afterwards went out to Corn Dawgs. Basically we went there because we couldn’t think of anything else to do since we’d decided not to do the Laser Show. SO many of my Atl area friends had said it was awesome so we figured it’d be a good thing to check out. Zach kept saying it in a super country accent and so I kept doing it too and even now when writing it I keep thinking it in my head sounding that way haha. I was worried we were offending people by saying it in our hick accents haha!
Let me just go ahead and say this: I GET why all the Atl area people think it’s great. It gives them a taste of life down south. But for us? It was like paying money to go do things we can do all the time down here haha. I joked with Zach that we drove all the way to North Georgia just to be teleported back to South Georgia 😉
The kids really did enjoy it and there was a TON to do there! We could have stayed much longer but wanted to get back in time for dinner. We also got lost driving back so it was a bit of a crazy mess to get back to Kelly’s house!
THIS was our worst choice. This super tall rope climbing thing with a slide at the end. Ugh. Big regret! Kye wanted to do it so, of course, Britt wanted to as well. Zach attempted to help BOTH kids up that beast and it just was impossible so he brought Britt back down and helped Kye go up. Of course that caused Britt to have a HUGE fit. Probably her worst one in public ever. Spankings happened. Tears happened. And I was “that mom” who just let her cry and avoided the eyes of people starring!
It was a beast but they got it done!
We took a snack break and Britt FINALLY calmed down. We rode the hayride and she loved it and it totally switched her mood. But it’s like I told Kelly…I’d MUCH rather her be super mega embarrassing with a bunch of strangers like that than have acted up at brunch with Dad and Audrey. Both kids did GREAT all morning and that was the most important thing to me!!!
This girl loves her some corn. To eat or for play!
They even had a petting farm!
Britt enjoyed picking up all the rocks and carrying them around with her.
Grand Finale: the big slide!
It was a fun time but we totally should have gone counterclockwise around the place rather than clockwise. We missed out on the best stuff they had because it was time to leave. I highly doubt we’ll ever be up there to go again but if you’re a local to that area I’m sure your kids would love it! A great thing to do to get out of the house for sure! Pretty expensive so personally I’d probably take the kids on a school day if they are open as it’s more of a mommy playdate type place to me than a daddy-needs-to-be-there experience. We did miss out on going to a corn maze around here this year (it downpoured rain the day we planned to go) so I’m glad we got to do something fallish like this together!
Kelly’s fam had Rhyan’s soccer game while we went to Corn Dawgs so we all (minus Jeff who was chaperoning his school’s homecoming) met back up at the house for dinner and baths and playtime! My kids LOVED their kids. Rhyan and Kye had gotten along great last year when she and Kelly came for a visit so I knew they’d have a blast together. However, I never expected it to go as amazingly perfect as it did. We ended up letting Kye and Rhyan stay up until 9ish playing because they were having so much fun and we felt bad that they hadn’t gotten to play together more during our visit.
I’m not exaggerating when I say this: I have NEVER seen two kids play so well together. Not one time did they argue or annoy each other. They were precious and truly had so much fun!!! It was great because we were able to visit as adults and didn’t have to even worry about what they were up to!
For dinner Zach went to a local pizza place and got us calzones. Yum. Super good! Of course we all stayed up talking super late. Kelly and I out lasted the boys though 😉 I think we pretty much helped plan out our children’s entire lives during that talk haha I am SO blessed to have the friendship I have in Kelly! It’s so funny to me how we met through blogging and how the first time I met her in real life I spent the night at her house haha. We have such a great bond and I look up to her and admire her in so many ways. She’s a blessing in my life and I’m thankful God put her along my path 🙂
The next morning the kids all cuddled up watching tv before we had to leave. Tell me this isn’t SO precious!!! And Britt probably ate more than her weight in pancakes too haha. We def made ourselves at home and truly enjoyed our stay!
It was a short, quick weekend but we had a great time and it took care of my “travel itch” as well as blessed my life by getting to spend quality time with a good friend and getting to visit with my family! The kids both loved playing with Rhyan and Mack and I hope we all can get together again soon!
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The pictures of your dad with you and the kids are priceless. Glad you had some quality "family" time. It does the heart so good. 🙂
Your children are two of the cutest kids I have ever seen! They have such a great demeanor, and are just as beautiful inside as they are outside! You and Zach are such great parents as well. Don't ever let anyone tell you different!