NC TRIP: DATE NIGHT & ATLANTA + MORE EATING

(This is the last of the NC Trip Post - here are Part One and Part Two if you missed them.)

On our last night in Charlotte, Jessee's mom and aunt and friend took on babysitting our whole crew plus cousin Shane.  Bless their hearts.  It was so nice to get a night out with just Jessee and Becka and get to talk and see more of their life in their new home town.  We ate at The Peculiar Rabbit, which was delicious and had a great view of downtown.  I had Shrimp and Grits with goat cheese, and you all know how I feel about goat cheese.

After dinner, we hit up Amelie's bakery, which was whimsical, kitsch French fun with tons of tasty treats.  What's not to love?




We loved our time in the Queen's City with the Eppleys!  We are looking forward to our first niece joining the family later in the summer.



Tuesday morning we got up and headed to Atlanta.  John and I have both spent a fair amount of time in Atlanta, because the CFA corporate office is there.  It's the kind of city that is a destination all it's own, but we didn't do any of the touristy stuff.  We saw friends - John's best friend from elementary school in particular.  They have amazingly kept in touch.  The Marvels have three girls about a year behind the ages of our kiddos, so it was great fun to spend the day with them.

We picnicked at a park and fed the ducks, which is always a crowd favorite.



We swam at the pool at our hotel.

We ate dinner out with all of our children, and they actually did pretty well.  We managed to get a pic of all the children in age order with an ice cream bribe on the line.



I failed to get a pic of John and Bryan together, which is a shame - next time!  We woke up on Wednesday morning ready to drive home.  If we need to stay in a hotel and have the option, we usually try to stay in a Residence Inn suite with extra bedrooms.  It makes hotel stays with little ones much more comfortable.

Our drive back to the Rock was pretty uneventful, which is one of the best things you can say on a road trip.  We ate lunch at the Original Pancake House in Birmingham - this pic cracks me up.  Lily loves carrying Violet.

As we drove through Tupelo, we stopped to see more friends, which was a great break in the afternoon.  Plus, we got more ice cream.  We love the Flowers!

Seeing so many dear friends and family made this a special trip.  We are so thankful and blessed to have the friends that we do and to have gotten to see so many of them as we traversed the country.  But, we were also glad to be heading home!