Nothing

Nothing made me happier than to find out the week of Spring Break, Scott would be in Alpharetta, Georgia - a suburb about 15 to 20 minutes outside of Atlanta. Finally a school break where I would not feel the need to explore. Past places have stirred up the history buff in me which leaves the need for an addition vacation after our holiday. But not this time! Scott and I have been to the Atlanta area many times; for Mason and Morgan their second. So the need to explore was not ever an issue. Since we wanted to use free airline tickets, we flew Southwest which does not go into Georgia. Instead we flew to Birmingham, Alabama and then drove about two and a half hours to our destination. Even though I dread Southwest’s cattle call and first come, first serve seating arrangements, they more than make up for it with their customer service. M & M’s favorite part of flying is the landing, with its bumps and unpredictable sudden drops. This particular time really felt like a roller coaster ride, and the kids just had to tell the pilot how much the enjoyed the thrill. In return, they let our monkeys into the cockpit and say goodbye on the intercom to all the travelers exiting the plane. We were off to a great start, and it got even better when we were able to meet up with my “cousin-in-law”, Kevin. Unfortunately for us, Dana (my cousin) was actually visiting friends and family in Florida, but we had a great time at lunch with Kevin! I have to note one important thing I noticed with my meal that afternoon, one that should have been a warning for the rest of the trip… the food portions were HUGE! This theme continued throughout our journey and am happy to say I did hit the 24/7 hotel gym to compensate.

Nothing made me guiltier than to pull up at The Varsity off of I-95. The world’s largest drive-in has been asking customers their trademark question, “What’ll Ya Have?” for over 80 years, and now we finally had a chance to answer back with a HUGE order. Even though lunch was not even fully digested yet, here we were eating hamburgers, onion rings, hot dogs, and French fries. And of course our Varsity experience would not be complete without dessert: chocolate milkshake, ice cream and fried peach pie. My Word; and day one is not even over yet!! Thankfully we were able do a little better managing our meals for the rest of the week, but not by much. Scott’s Marriott status allows us to utilize the concierge’s lounge which would immediately erase any efforts to stay healthy. Every night they had huge, soft and chewy, fresh baked chocolate chip cookies… if you ask the kids what their favorite part of the vacation was… that was it!

Nothing made me more relaxed than to spend quality time with my two children. During the week the schedule is insane with homework, projects and after school activities. By the end of the day as I stare at my sleeping cherubs, I think about all of the missed bonding opportunities. I get caught up with what needs to be completed, I often forget to stop and enjoy the wonderful boy and girl the good Lord has blessed me with. We spent hours at the pool, lunches with Daddy, exploring the hotel, writing comic books and watching TV. My two favorite things we did together was watch How to Train Your Dragon and Alice in Wonderland in 3D (Two Thumbs up for the Dragon, One for Alice) and teaching M & M how to play Uno. I was not happy though when my own kids banned me from playing with them stating I win too much! LOL!

Nothing made me more at peace than when Scott could finally join us on our Spring Break. This officially commenced on Thursday night when we had the honor and privilege of eating dinner at The Marks’ house. Thomas Marks has been Scott’s friend since childhood, and he knew Tosha from high school as well. It was the first time in over 15 years that I had seen them and the first for all of our kids to be together. What incredible food, friendship and fun! Friday the goal was to take it easy and relax. We ended up at Chattahoochee Nature Center. To my surprise, it was then that I realized my Nikon never came out of its bag the entire trip except for that day. Beautiful weather greeted us as we ventured out on the trails, gardens and aviaries. And it was nothing more than a perfect family time together!