Nightmare on Baker St. and more

This past weekend, Michael and I set out on a vacation to Atlanta. I know what you're thinking, "You live 30 minutes from Atlanta. How is that a vacation?" When baby Avery isn't involved, and there are babysitters at home called grandparents, and there's no Boppy, feedings, car seat, diaper bag, bibs, Baby Motrin, baths, and waking up at 11:30p.m. to put a crying baby in your bed,....then yes, IT IS A VACATION!

My mom and dad came up and braved a six hour drive in a blizzard, literally, to watch Avery so we could celebrate Valentine's Day and my birthday, which was the 15th for those of you who forgot to buy me a present:). Here are some pictures of Avery in the snow.

Well, she's not really IN the snow, but in front of it. And yes, there is a creepy glare over her face because I did some bad editing.
Every picture I took of her, the flash wouldn't take....so her face was realllllly dark. I brightened it in Lightroom and even though it doesn't look natural, I say.....WHATEVER!
She was loving the snow falling on her head. My driveway is behind her somewhere. My dad couldn't even get his SUV up the driveway and had to park in the street!

This picture is taken in front of the W Hotel the next morning. It was soooo beautiful.
We look bright and happy here, but that was before the scare of my life!
Michael prides himself on having a 4-Wheel drive pick up truck...that can handle any terrain. Since it had snowed the night before, many of the roads were still very icy and slippery.
However, we had plans to see the famous Georgia Aquarium that morning, and proceeded to downtown Atlanta. The interstate was fine and some of the ramps where still a little icy, but so far...so good.
This picture below represents the exact opposite of my face once we neared BAKER STREET! We had to drive up a slight hill to reach the red light, then turn right onto Baker Street, which was all downhill. A taxi van's tires next to us were spinning on the ice and he couldn't make it UP the hill at the red light. My very arrogant and overly confident husband LAUGHED at him because he didn't have 4WD like we did to make it up the hill.
I told him, "You better stop laughing at him, because that could be us!" It wasn't even one minute later that we turned right onto Baker Street, remember all downhill with another red light at the bottom of the hill, and Michael said to me, "Paige, we're sliding!" He gently pressed the brakes, but that just made us start turning sideways and continue sliding down this icy road, with cars in front of us, and a RED light at the bottom...which means we were supposed to STOP! The only problem was, we couldn't. (Below is a picture of my husband "pre-humbling" experience.)
I was scared to death because being the passenger in this slippery ride, I couldn't do anything but watch us slowly slide sideways towards cars, light poles, and that still RED light at the bottom of the hill. My thought process was that if we go through that light, we're going to get hit. I instructed Michael with fear in my voice, "Just run into the cars in front of us! It'll stop us from going through the light!" By the grace of God, and Michael popping his truck into 4WD, we stopped...wheeewww! The light turned green and I said, "Go! Take the green light! We can make it UP that next hill." Thankfully, we were safe and his precious little truck didn't even get a scratch on it. My "Nightmare on Baker Street" was the highlight of Michael's day as he said, "HAHAHA! That was awesome! I gotta call Sherm!" (a nickname for our friend Rob). That experience was much scarier for me than seeing this shark at the aquarium.

My heart was still racing when we arrived at the aquarium and Michael just couldn't stop laughing. After a $30 trip to the food court for "breakfast", and an argument that I hope to forget soon, we finally saw the fish...and stingrays!
Jellyfish....look much prettier here than they do wrapped around your leg in Florida.
Great Barrier Reef exhibit. Oh how I wish I was snorkeling above that right now in 85 degree weather:)
Horsefish...I just don't remember what kind.
Coolfish (my name for it since I didn't read the plaques)
I know what these are called!
Our next stop was to the World of Coke!
Of course, everybody's favorite part is tasting the different flavors of drinks from around the world. They even give you a bottle of coke fresh off the assembly line to take home with you.
The rest of the day consisted of Sushi for lunch, a couple's massage, and dinner at Dante's Down the Hatch (a fondue restaurant). No pictures were taken that night because we were running late and I wasn't in the mood. (Imagine that!) We couldn't wait to get home on Valentine's Day to share it with our sweetheart at home!


Vacationing without your children is a Catch 22. You are so excited not to have any responsibility and just be on YOUR OWN schedule...but you miss the heck out of them and can't wait to get home!