Thanksgiving 2012 Part 1

Our Thanksgiving plans were to go to Atlanta and spend the night with some of our very best friends. This was our first Thanksgiving not spent with Alex's family since we have been married. The drive to Columbia, SC was just a bit too far with two kids under two for us to just go for the first part of the day and beginning of the afternoon. (Alex got off of work at 8 pm the night before Thanksgiving and had to be there the morning after Thanksgiving at 9 am. Not alot of time for travel.)

The day before Thanksgiving, me and the kiddos got up, got packed up, and we were ready to head to Atlanta. I had wanted both kids to sleep while I drove so they could get a good nap in. We got the car loaded up and both kids got placed in their carseats. I got in the Tahoe, went to start it up, annnndddd NOTHING. Wouldn't start. We have a CRAP battery in our Tahoe and it goes dead if the doors are left open without the engine on. I had the doors open for about 6 minutes while I quickly loaded the Tahoe. Apparently it was 6 minutes too long. So, here we sit, all loaded up, fed, tired, crabby, and all of us not being able to stand each other... It was the perfect start to a holiday.

So we sat around the house. Sometimes when this happens the battery will recharge itself. Sometimes it doesn't. So we sat and hoped it would recharge itself. Nope. Nothing. Sawyer cried a lot. Charlotte yelled. I yelled back. BAD DAY.

After two hours of communication back and forth with Alex, I insisted he call our landlord and see if he could come over and get it jumped for me. THANK THE LORD he wasn't busy. He was here within 15 minutes and we were on our way. What a good man! He helped me get the kids loaded up and everything. To say I was a bit discouraged as we started the 1 hour and a half drive would be an understatement.

But we were finally on our way. I apologized to both kids for being a horrible person and yelling. They loved me just the same. We made it to Atlanta to the hotel in good time. We stayed at the Omni Hotel connected to CNN center. Drew, Kate and Ella (who live in Camp Pendleton, CA) and Daniel was in route from Fort Bragg, NC.  We found our way (without any GPS or anything bc my cell phone was broken and I was using a 4 year old blackberry).

We were in the room with all of our luggage by 5 pm.  

Charlotte was so excited to Ella!!!

They really love each other!!

After the kids played awhile and Kate and Drew bonded with little Sawyer man, we decided to walk the 8 blocks to Hard Rock Cafe. We figured it would be loud there so it would be ok if our kids threw fits. The food was delicious and all of the kids were really good. It was a nice walk and we only felt like we might get mugged on 2 different occasions as we walked. Alex was on his way from Columbus and we were due to get back to the hotel the same time he checked in. However... his car had a different plan...

Alex was driving up I 85 in the not so nice part of Altanta (a very dangerous part) when his car started shaking badly. He pulled off to a gas station and realized all of the oil had leaked out of his car. To make a long story short, he ended up needing a new oil filter (at 9 pm the night before Thanksgiving) and a repair man in a van came and fixed it in a scary gas station parking lot. Thankfully Drew drove to get him and to be of assistance. So thankful he got the car fixed and wasn't hurt by the scary people out there. Alex, Drew, and Daniel all got to the hotel around 10:30/11 ish.

While they changed the world and Alex's oil filter, us girls and little Sawyer man stayed at the hotel and played. These two were 2 peas in a pod.

Sawyer loves his time with the ladies...

It's like they were never apart from each other.

CHEES! Look at all of those teeth!!!

Kisses :) So happy to be reunited.

 Kate wanted to steal my baby. She is one of those :)

Holding hands. They were adorable.

All of the kids were in bed by the time the boys got to the hotel. So all of the adults got to hang out, talk, make fun of each other, tell college stories, drink adult beverages, and eat pizza. It was was wonderful. It had been forever since we had done something like that. We stayed up until 3 am talking and hanging out. We knew 8 am would come VERY shortly so we headed to bed finally. So good to see great friends...