Atlanta and Cousin Camp

Our summer travels have not ended yet! While the Bakewell beach trip usually marks the last vacation, this year Boomer and I squeezed in one more weekend getaway. On Friday, we went to Atlanta for a fun two days with a Braves game and a Luke Combs' concert. Our plans came about after going to Merlefest in April, and we realized that we had never gone to a concert together. We both have always liked Luke Combs, and it was just too perfect that he was coming to Atlanta during a Braves home stand. Boomer bought tickets for both, while I scoped out hotels and restaurants. We made our way south on Friday for the five hour drive and stopped along the way for a late brunch. We thought we were going to a mom-and-pops diner in Gastonia, but in fact, it was actually a small family owned Mexican restaurant that recently opened in the same location. We had to quickly change our appetites from waffles and pancakes to tacos and rice. Just a funny little travel mishap!

Back on the road, we finished the rest of the drive and arrived in Atlanta around 4PM. We checked into our hotel, which was within walking distance to the ballpark, and then we quickly made our way to the Battery ahead of a pretty scary looking storm. Luckily we beat the rain by just a few minutes, and we enjoyed dinner indoors at Fox Bros., a restaurant we went to back in 2019 at our last Braves game. The storm clouds moved out in time for the first pitch, and it was a beautiful (but also humid!) night for baseball. It was alumni weekend, so before the game, there was a parade of some of the Braves greats, like Dale Murphy, Andruw Jones, and many others. The Braves pulled off an exciting 5-2 win against the Diamondbacks, and there were even Friday night fireworks afterwards. Of course we always pull for the home team with our Kennedy Ballpark Tour, but we especially love our Braves!

On Saturday, we hung around the hotel until around 2PM, and then we made our way into downtown Atlanta. Our hotel was very close to the ballpark, but it was about 20 minutes outside of the city. With some traffic and a little confusion in finding the lot we had purchased a pass for, we were finally parked around 3:15PM. We passed through Olympic Park and then ate dinner at No Mas Cantina. I made a 3:45PM reservation, and even though it seemed early, the restaurant was packed with lots of other people going to the concert. Not five minutes after we were seated at our table, another summer thunderstorm came through. Once again, we had just beat the rain. We enjoyed our dinner while staying nice and dry. Around 5:30PM and once the rain passed, we headed to the concert, which was close-by at the Mercedes Benz arena. Boomer got tickets in the lower level, and they were great seats. Before Luke came on, there were a few opening acts: Morgan Wade, Zack Bryan, and Cody Johnson. Luke came on around 9PM and played a solid two hours. He played all of the songs we love, and we sang along to every single one. Between the game on Friday night and the concert on Saturday, it's surprising we had our voices in the morning!  

Today we made the drive back home to Kernersville to our kiddos. While we were away, Emmy and Eli were at Cousin Camp with the Houstons! Both sets of grandparents were not able to watch them, so there was a moment we did not know if the trip to Atlanta would happen. But thank goodness for Aunt Megan and Uncle Zack, they offered to watch our babies. Judging from the photos, they had as much fun as we did. Aunt Megan outfitted her car with the extra car seats and set up the pack-n-play for Eli. On Friday, after donuts for breakfast, she took the cousins to the splash pad. It was a great activity for a hot summer day. The rest of the weekend included pizza, funfetti pancakes, movie night, nerf battles, batting practice in the backyard, and church on Sunday. Both kiddos had big smiles on their faces in all the photos. They sure love Aunt Megan, Uncle Zack, and the cousins!

With August just around the corner, there's always a little bit of sadness when my two favorite months are over. There are so many great things about the fall: football, birthdays, cooler weather. But there's something about summer that makes it hard to see it end. Here's hoping we can soak up as much as we can out of these last summer days!

Bakewell Beach Week 2022

We have just returned from our favorite week of the year! Seven days of sun, sand, and seafood at Ocean Isle Beach. Last Saturday, we rode along with Grammy and Grandpa, and it was a tight squeeze with six of us, all of our stuff, and our supplies for the beach. The picture in the car cracks me up because it looks like I am wearing my dad's hat, when in fact, it is propped up behind me on all the other stuff! Emmy had the worst seat of all, but she was a good sport, especially when she was given an iPad. On our way down, we took a detour to Surf City to meet up with Aunt Carlin, Uncle Matt, and Uncle Kyle. We stretched our legs for a bit and had lunch at Coastal Wings. Matt will be deploying soon to Africa for over six months, and we were so glad to see him one more time before then. After eating, it was back in the car for the final leg of the journey. Both kids took naps, which was great since there was the usual beach traffic going over the bridge to Ocean Isle. We arrived around 4PM, and Boomer took the kids to the beach while I helped Mom makes beds, stock the bathrooms, and settle in. Then, after a slight mix-up ordering the pizza for dinner (we meant to do delivery, but accidentally selected pick-up), the moms set off for our usual grocery run and to retrieve the pizza. We were back at the house around 7:30PM and excited about the week ahead. 

For the next six days, our mornings started usually around 7AM. Eli was in a pack-in-play in our room again this year, so Boomer and I were greeted by his happy smiles telling us he was ready to take on the day. Meg, Mom, and I would then fit in some exercise while the dads kept the kids occupied with books, race cars...and devices. 

One morning, Grammy took the oldest three for a walk along the marsh. It was a fun adventure, even with the "itchies and the ouchies" (Emmy's name for the tall grass). They walked along the boardwalk and posed for pictures on a big pile of rocks. 

Preparations would begin around 9AM to make our way to the beach: "scunscreen" (according to Eli), bathing suits, sandwiches, and all the other gear. We would get to the beach around 10:30AM. This year we borrowed two Shibumis, which provided a good amount of shade for Grandpa and for everyone else after we got tired of the sun. The kids had endless energy for jumping in the waves and playing baseball in the sand. Emmy especially loved boogie boarding, and she was so brave venturing out to the waist-deep water. Eli was a little more hesitant. He wanted to be held when we walked down to the water's edge. He put his feet in, but then he would hightail it back to the sand for more baseball. Hopefully next year he will join his cousins in the water. On the last two days, Grandpa brought money out to the beach for the some Italian ice. It was a special treat for the grandkids!

Around 1PM, we would usually head back to the house to spend the afternoon poolside. Eli is the only one of the four cousins still napping, so after some splashing around, he would nap inside while everyone else stayed outside for a few more hours. 

Boomer and I escaped for some small mini-dates throughout the week. We fit in an afternoon movie on Monday, the only day of the week that had rain. Boomer was very excited to see the new Marvel movie, Thor: Love & Thunder. And I was excited about popcorn! We also had our traditional run and breakfast at the Drift Coffee Shop on the island, and we had our evening pier walks after the kids were in bed. 

We followed our same rotation from last year of eating in and going out to dinner. Zack grilled hamburgers and hotdogs on Monday, the Kennedys made tacos on Tuesday, and then Grammy made her famous shrimp and grits (with fresh shrimp from Doug's Seafood Market) on Thursday night. We went out to Inlet View on Sunday, Dockside on Wednesday, and then take-out from the Ocean Isle Fish Company on Friday. After dinner at Dockside, we managed to find just enough room in our stomachs for ice cream from Calabash Creamery. We tried many of the flavors: Bubble Gum, Sunset Peach, Salty Dog, Cow-a-bash Crunch, Cappuccino Crunch...pretty much the whole menu! After dinner, we would sit on the deck or watch tv. We also had a few epic games of Uno. 

Saturday came too soon, and our favorite week of the year came to an end. We took our time coming home with a stop at Kalawi Farms for ice cream and fresh produce. Emmy, Eli, and Daddy shared a scoop of blueberry and a scoop of peach. I got my usual banana pudding. Delicious!

We are already counting down to next year's trip! We are so thankful for our memories each year at Ocean Isle!