McClendon, Party of Five: Labor Day in ATL

We took our Labor Day celebration on the road this year and ended up in Atlanta for a little baseball and aquarium action. I've been wanting to make the aquarium trip for a while now. The last time we stepped foot in an aquarium was when I was nine months pregnant with Towns and we took Bethany to Chattanooga for a Spring Break get away. While we enjoyed it, it wasn't quite what we had envisioned. From seeing pictures of the one in Atlanta, I knew Bebs would be in heaven because she's always wanted to walk through a tunnel with sea life swimming all around her. She makes me laugh. Towns and Cate have asked questions (without ceasing) ever since our beach trip in August which also happened to be Shark Week on Discovery Channel. They want to know anything and everything about sharks, whales, and dolphins. They want to know how big they are in comparison to our car or house, what they eat, if they'd eat them, how they get around, how they sleep, and everything in between. Thank the Lord, their questions have finally been answered!

On our way into Atlanta, we were desperate to find a good meal to remedy our starvation. We ended up at the original Chick-Fil-A in the middle of what seemed like nowhere. How we got there I'll never know. We stumbled upon it and I probably couldn't get there again. Which would actually be fine, because we thought we were in for a treat and it turned out to be the exact opposite. I love Chick-Fil-A, but I wouldn't be distraught if I never went to that particular one again. However, Bethany loved the waffle she ordered. A waffle? At Chick-Fil-A? It was a safe bet in such an environment. The girls loved it because they had a door just their size...

Once we got settled into our hotel, we were right back out and on the road again. On our way to Turner Field we spotted the cutest thing we've ever laid eyes on...

Towns and Cate decided that they'd be proud to drive that little piece of cotton candy when they're 16. Bethany....not so much! For some reason, I couldn't quit staring. I'm sure the two very masculine women inside would have tackled me if they knew I had been stalking them with my camera for at least five straight minutes. Sort of odd that such women would be driving a baby pink Hummer.

It was a bit of a wild ride to get to the field, and we were so glad to finally be there...

Repeat picture...

Now I've been to a few Braves games in my day, but obviously I haven't been in a while because I hardly recognized the place. Turner Field isn't what it used to be! When I was younger, you only went to watch a baseball game because that's all there was to it. I was amazed at how much more they had to offer this go 'round. Is this what all MLB games are like now? I've missed something along the way. Live music, batting cages, an area just for kids, and everything else you can imagine.

The girls were excited to get their face glammed up for the occasion...

My dad handled the tickets for the Braves game, and when we got to our seats I understood what he meant when he said, "if we're going, we're doing it right." This was our view...

I'm used to the nose bleed section, so this was a major treat!

These were all around us...

We saw ourselves on the jumbo tron a time or two...some people might enjoy that, but I'm not one of them!

There was a lot of fun...

And a lot of laughs...

Towns might want the pink hummer, but Cate found something more her speed (and her size)...

A mini car turned airplane...does it get any better than that?!

Bobby Cox was sitting not too far from us, and this guy on the row in front of us had our children totally captivated...

We sang our hearts out during the 7th inning stretch, and might or might not have danced on our seats during a certain song...

Rest assured that the McClendon girls knew what to do when they heard, "shake, shake, shake - shake, shake, shake - shake your booty" and followed the instructions precisely!

We were close enough to watch Chipper kick some dirt around near 3rd base...

He's been my favorite since his 1995 rookie year...

By the end of the 8th inning, the girls had almost had all they could take but we stayed until the 9th to see a Decatur boy close it out...

We were merely feet from Matt Kemp who's a celebrity in my book because he's dated one (Rihanna). And then there's the All Star player...

Cate couldn't understand why PawPaw's baseball boys weren't the ones playing. She couldn't have cared less about the Braves. She wanted to see the Post 12 players. So she spent most of the game in her daddy's lap or pretending like she was the ticket lady...

Sunday we had a date with some very large sea creatures, but not before we waited for 45 minutes in the rain for what we thought would be a quick bite to eat. Cate's resourceful for her age and found a way to keep from getting wet...

Once we were at the aquarium we had to decide what to do first. Cate was all about the whales, Towns wanted to see sharks, and Bethany just wanted to stand somewhere where there would be fish swimming around and above her. Mission accomplished for Bebs...

They couldn't get over how colorful the fish were. I think we would have put a few hot pink ones in our purse if they would have been able to make the trip. Bethany loved the Dory fish...as in Dory from Nemo.

When we found the whales, the little ones were in awe...

There's something so peaceful about watching them. They would swim right up to the them and touch their bellies to the glass which would send Buggy into fits of laughter. She thought they were so neat.

I loved watching these little guys...

I don't know what these were officially called, but they looked like snakes and totally freaked me out. They'd go in and out of their holes in the sand and I wanted no part of it...