Thanksgiving 2018

We decided to get out of town for Thanksgiving this year. Our goal-- to spend Thanksgiving with Jeff's grandparents. Since the girls had the entire week off of school, we stretched out the drive and had some adventures along the way. 

Day 1-On our Southern Road Trip! Saturday we drive to Vicksburg, MS. We spent a long time touring the battle grounds and learning about the Civil War. We ate lots of gumbo & pot boys too. We spent the night in Jackson and ate at “Fine & Dandy” 😋. 

  

 Day 2- After a day of touring the battle grounds in Vicksburg, we drove to Birmingham. We toured the Vulcan museum, explored the Sloss Furnace, got ice cream at Railroad Park, and ran through rainbow tunnels. Our digs at the Elyton Hotel are so pretty- my girls love “hotel living” 🤣

Day 3- Started the day in Birmingham, we had breakfast and entertained ourselves by climbing up and down the stairs at the Elyton Hotel while Jeff worked. Then we drove to Atlanta and checked into our hotel, where the girls and I rode the elevator up and down 🤣 while Jeff worked. We played at Olympic Park, rode the SkyView, and had dinner at the historic Buckhead Diner.

Day 4- Total tourists in Atlanta. We spent the morning at the Georgia Aquarium. Maisy has decided she now wants to be a marine biologist and train dolphins 🐬. We had lunch at Park Bar, then Jeff worked while the girls rode the elevator 🤣 and played. We had dinner at Superica- such a cool restaurant with really good Tex Mex.

Day 5- Today was not a tourist day, it was a family day. We left Atlanta and drove to Peachtree City. And it is why we planned our ‘Southern Road Trip’. We visited Jeff’s grandparents. His Papa has Alzheimer’s and his Mama is navigating their new life in a retirement home— which means Papa is in the ‘memory care’ building and Mama is in ‘independent living’ building. Alzheimer’s is utterly brutal. But today -we are choosing to focus on beautiful memories, years of love and the opportunity for our girls to spend Thanksgiving with their great-grandparents. After our visit, we swam in the hotel pool, ate pizza, watched ‘Charlie Brown Thanksgiving’, and played games in the hotel. “If you want to turn your life around, try thankfulness. It will change your life mightily."

Day 6-Thanksgiving Lunch with Mama! Her home served a delicious thanksgiving meal, then we went over to visit with Papa. So glad we got to spend this special time with them. ❤️

Day 6- Continued....We NEVER shop on Thanksgiving Thursday or Black Friday— but we were feeling adventurous tonight 🤣. Our big purchases included family Christmas jammies (aka ‘fam jams’), adult beverages, and m&ms. 

Day 7-We couldn’t pass through Louisiana without stopping to see our friends! We have known this crew since college, stood in each other’s weddings, had our first babies together (see cute baby pic of Afton and Painter) and have made lots of fun memories throughout the years. So great catching up and seeing how much all the kids have grown. 

 

 Day 8- Home again, home again jiggidy jig.