Trip report: Labor Day weekend
September 22nd, 2009We went to Atlanta for Labor Day weekend to visit family. I didn’t take nearly enough photos, which I’m sure some of you find shocking.
We left after work on Friday and headed to Greenville, SC where we stayed at an Embassy Suites. This was the first time that we had stayed at an Embassy Suites, and I was impressed! We were sad that we were not able to take advantage of the two separate rooms since we arrived at the hotel at 11pm. We knew that this was an iffy plan, and sure enough Maddie refused to sleep in the pack-n-play. She refused to sleep at all for a while, despite the fact that her parents were very tired and ready for bed! We finally got her settled, but it was not the most restful night. I find it amazing that such a small girl can hog an entire king sized bed. Breakfast in the morning was great. I had read mixed reviews about the breakfasts at Embassy Suites, and I found it to be quite tasty. Maddie ate a great breakfast as well.
We headed to my Aunt Laura’s house to see Laura, Nik, Rob, and Mary Katherine. My mom and dad were in Atlanta as well, and my mom joined us. We chatted, watched Maddie and Snowy (their dog) play, and had lunch together. Maddie had slept in the car between Greenville and Lawrenceville, so she was in a pretty good mood until around 3pm when we left. She took another nap in the car on the way to the hotel for about 45 minutes. We checked into the hotel and headed to my grandparents’ house.
Frances, Bill, John Thomas, Joseph, and my parents were all at my grandparents house when we arrived. My grandma always makes sure that we have plenty to eat! Frances and my grandma had prepared a variety of foods for our dinner feast. Maddie even tried a few things that she wouldn’t normally try. We had a great dinner followed by a tasty (and gluten-free) birthday cake! We were celebrating John Thomas’s birthday (almost a month late) in addition to my mom’s (just a few days late), mine (about a week or so early), Bill’s (a month early), and Gabe’s (a month early). Whew! That’s a lot of celebrating!
We played for a while after dinner, and the men watched the first several innings of the baseball game. It just so happened that the Reds were in town playing the Braves, so my Grandpa and Gabe had some friendly competition. Shockingly, the Reds won all 3 games in the series. Both teams really suck this year.
My parents left at the same time that we did to get Maddie to bed at her usual time. Gabe put Maddie to bed in the pack-n-play, and I hung out in Mom and Dad’s room with them until we got the call that Maddie was sleeping. We all went down to our room to play Tichu while the baby slumbered. It’s still surprising to me that we can do things like this as a year ago it would not have been possible!
My parents played bridge bright and early in the morning on the next day, and we had breakfast at the hotel. This is the first time that we had tried the breakfast at the hotel (we have been staying here for all of our visits in the past 2 years). It was pretty good! Maddie and I certainly got our money’s worth! We collectively had waffles, omelets, bacon, cereal, oatmeal, fruit, donuts, juice, and milk. YUM! Maddie especially enjoyed the powdered donuts. I believe that this is the first time that she has experienced such a thing.
We made it over to Grandma and Grandpa’s house where Maddie played with some toys that my Grandma had provided for her, including a tea set that I remember playing with when I was a kid. Parts of it were originally Aunt Frances’s (and other parts were purchased when John Thomas and Joseph were little). Maddie loved handing out plates of play food to everyone. She was a little fooled by the fake cheese, potato chips, and cookies. They looked real, but she quickly learned that they were not.
Today was a crazy day of falls. Maddie fell on the floor while trying to get off the bed when we were playing in the hotel in the morning. She also took a few other tumbles in the morning, but most of that was normal toddler behavior. She’s a bit clumsy – takes after her mom, I suppose. Perhaps she takes after her grandmother as well. My mom tripped over a parking thingy in the parking garage at the mall when we went shopping that afternoon. Scary! She had a few bruises afterward but was otherwise fine. And then, when we were leaving Grandma and Grandpa’s house that evening, I stepped in a deep, narrow hole in my grandparents’ yard and took a tumble. What’s up with all of us falling that day? Fortunately, nobody took any serious spills. We just had a few ‘yikes’ moments.
My parents joined us in the afternoon, and Mom and I went shopping at Perimeter Mall while Maddie took her nap. We had a fun mother/daughter outing! I realized that it had been quite some time since I went shopping with my mom. We were hoping to find more sales, but I did find a pair of maternity jeans and a maternity sweater that I hoped would come in handy for the cruise and later this fall and winter. I have found that maternity jeans aren’t exactly designed to make it through too many pregnancies. The elastic is worn out on several pairs that I wore the first time around. Mom bought a cute owl shirt for Miss Maddie. She couldn’t resist, and I don’t blame her!
We went back for dinner at my grandparents house and some more play time until Maddie’s bedtime. Mom went back with us to the hotel. After Maddie went to sleep, the three of us played 3-handed Tichu. It worked pretty well, though I definitely prefer the four person version. Dad arrived at the hotel when our game was wrapping up, and Mom and Dad headed back to the bridge hotel to help with cleaning up the hospitality suite.
We met my parents for breakfast at the hotel in the morning before hitting the road. The trip back was very long, longer than I think we have ever taken to get home. We stopped at the first outlet mall in Commerce and found some shoes for both Maddie and me. Maddie was in heaven in the shoe store. She LOVED it. We found three “pairs” of shoes for her (actually 6, if you’re counting real pairs instead of Maddie-pairs). We ended up returning one pair once we were back in town, but the other two should work for just about anything this fall. I found some Sketchers to replace my worn out pair. We had to make stops for lunch and dinner as well as several stops for refueling, snacks, and rest areas. It was a very long day, and we didn’t arrive at home until after Maddie’s bedtime. Of course, this means that she fell asleep in the car and we had another rough night. She refused to go to sleep for quite some time and ended up sleeping in the bed for the entire night. We’re going to have to make sure that we don’t travel at bedtime for quite some time!
It was a quick whirlwind trip, as usual, but we had a great time! I wish that I had taken more photos, but it’s hard sometimes to get the energy to take photos and chase Maddie and keep her safe at the same time.
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