Good Times in Georgia

We packed a lot into two weeks during our trip back home. Because we were only in CA for two weeks before we went back, I told everyone it was our "Trial Run" at living in CA.
Back in GA, we got to spend time with Nana and Papa, Mimi and Paw-paw, Scott's sister and her family, Alex and Jess, my extended family (thanks to the wedding), and our friends.
After spending two day with Mom, dragging the kids through every mall and department store in the Metro-Atlanta area, we finally found Mom a dress she liked for the wedding. And, I must say, it worked well for her. Jess and I looked all over the South Side for flowers and found some that turned out beautifully in the bridesmaids bouquets. By Friday, the kids had to get out and swim with some friends. So we met up at by bff's neighborhood pool with a good group of friends. Will got to see Bryson (and Em- she thinks he's a brother still), Em got to see Ella, and they both got to play with Ariel (their favorite babysitter and one of our closest friends). We were at the pool for six hours...I miss my friends!!
Saturday was a treat, my childhood best friend, Kate, got married. It was so beautiful and perfect for her. As always, she was gorgeous. The only thing that I didn't like was the Rocky Top song at the reception... but, she's always loved to rub in our GA-TN rivalry! Will danced all night long..with everyone, including the groom's mother-slow dancing- he had no idea who she was, but she was willing to dance with him. Em is a dancer, too. Since Scott hadn't come in yet, the three of us danced in a circle all night! I was so looking forward to Will dancing at Alex's wedding the next Saturday.
Sunday morning Will, Em, Mom, and I drove up to TN to visit with Aunt Brenda and Nanny (my grandmother) for a night. The kids love going to Brenda's because they never know what they will get into and they love her dog, Princess. Plus, Nanny makes a good listener, and, you know, my kids love to talk...
Scott's sister, Debbie, and her family came into town that second week. They live in New Hampshire, so our visits aren't as often as we'd all like, but the kids always love seeing their cousins. Debbie and Brian have three kids: Cailyn, Evan, and Ally. What's crazy is they told us it's cheaper for them to fly to CA to visit us than to Atlanta! So, we're holding them to that...
Other things we did while in GA (in no particular order)...
- the kids rode around the yard on the tractor
- we helped Dad dam up the creek so he could build a water pool for his irrigation system (it was more like sloshing around, throwing stones on our part...)
- practiced tossing petals as a flower girl (there are no blooms left on one of Mom's hydrangeas..)
- cleaned, painted, and fixed up our house for our new leasers
- ate fried chicken and casseroles- squash, broccoli and cheese, macaroni... all our favorites!
- Got acquainted with Barbie- Em's new favorite pastime. Mom pulled out some huge box of my old Barbie's and their things. We didn't hear from Em one day from 9 AM until about 4 PM, with one small lunch break in between.