Hot-lanta

Oh Atlanta, I really thought I would hate you. I LOATHE going through the airport there and full expected the whole city to be as annoying and delayed. While the traffic was pretty heinous on our way through to the mountains, we didn't find getting around to be all that bad. I might have been blinded by the excitement of ethnic restaurants around every corner, an IKEA trip and pass through Trader Joe's to notice the bad stuff.

We got into Atlanta Monday afternoon and since it was predicted to rain both days we headed straight for the Georgia Aquarium (with a pit stop at The Varsity for lunch). It was the perfect size for Reid. We left just before a major meltdown could have started and don't feel like we missed anything. We were thrilled that both kids were seemingly impressed by the fish and the exhibits. Reid's favorite from the day was seeing Dory (from Nemo).

The Varsity signature hat

Piper was into the fish

In one of the looking windows

Large Manta Ray

Enamored - we have lots of shots of the back of his head

whale shark

a cupcake for being a good boy and listening - he was mid question asking if he could dig in

Piper is always watching to see what Reid is doing

He loves the jellyfish

In front of the "Dory" tank

We were blown away by the number of foreign restaurants in the area of our hotel. Basically we could pick country and find their cuisine. We went with Indian and were not disappointed. It was not like the typical Indian food we have eaten in the past, but good in its own way. The restaurant itself lacked character and ambiance (ie - a Bollywood film was blasting at full volume right next to our table) but the food was tasty. After dinner we threw the kids in the pool to thoroughly wear them out. Check out miss P - she loved it!

First time in the pool

We saw this strange looking temple on our way home from dinner all lit up pink and blue and learned from the hotel manager that it is the largest Hindu temple outside of India. The mandir was initially constructed in India, disassembled and brought to Atlanta. Read the whole story here - it was quite an undertaking. I walked through the public space with both kids and they were silent in awe. Ben was wearing shorts and we did not see someone in the immediate area to get him a sarong. Both inside and out, this is a place anyone visiting Atlanta should visit.

As we set off for our day I had to stop in Walmart across from our hotel and grab a few things. We saw this large flock of pigeons just hanging out and we figured it would be entertaining to bowl through them and watch them scatter. Well, they didn't scatter. They flew up and landed on our car, giving us a look of discontent which gave us the impression they may just shit all over our car. Which they probably did. Doh.

post drive through - for the most part un-phased. Dumb birds.

We finished our visit with a trip to IKEA during which Reid got to play while we shopped, we indulged on some meatballs and mashed taters before moving on to Trader Joe's. I MISS Trader Joe's. I ended up liking Atlanta more than I thought I would and am actually looking forward to another trip sometime soon so we can take the kids to the Children's Museum and Stone Mountain, which was our initial reason for spending a night there but the weather was too dreary to bother.

Oh glorious IKEA!