As I sit here looking at the photos below, I have decided it's time to upgrade to a new camera. Sorry the images are so poor. And since we're poor, I doubt I'll get that camera.......anyway, back to the vacation.....

On Monday morning of our final week, we bid goodbye to Aunt Nancy and Uncle Jim and heading north to Hotlanta. And boy was it hot alright. Atlanta is a different kind of hot than Florida. There is no ocean breeze. In fact, nothing even resembling a breeze exists in this region. But since it's home to Chick-Fil-A we won't hold a silly thing like a sweltering outdoors against them. Plus, it's also where my cousin and her family call home. As much as I loved seeing all of my hubby's family, I have to admit that I was looking forward to being with "my people." And meeting the newest member of their family, Mr. Ty.

We spent all day stopping at Trey's customers and got an hour south of Atlanta just before rush hour. Fortunately this was where our friends, Mike & Karen currently live. We wanted to try and see them if time allowed but were a little unsure since 12 years had lapsed since our last meeting. You just never know. I'm happy to report it was a wonderful reunion. The four of us became friends back in Charlotte in 1995 B.K. (before kids) Shortly after our firstborns arrived in 1997, they left for Iowa City and never looked back. We kept in touch through Christmas cards and now thanks to Facebook we communicate more frequently. Their three boys are pretty much in sync with ours in terms of age, personality and athletic interests. You'd think the six of them were separated at birth. We reminisced about our younger days and concurred that we were all clueless back then and at our current maturity level, we still don't know much more--we're just more willing to admit it. It was a gargantuan feat to tear our kids away but by 8:30 we were on the road again to Todd and Natalie's.

Tuesday we enjoyed getting to know sweet little Ty and his charming personality. We all loved being around a baby and everyone took their turn at feeding him his rice cereal and making him smile--which wasn't hard to do. Wednesday we got out of their hair and spent the day at Six Flags over Georgia. Their neighbor, Savannah, whom Ian met last summer during his stay, joined us and showed us the ropes like a true frequent visitor. (pictures are on Trey's phone and he hasn't downloaded them yet). After a full day of "high thrill rides" as they call them, we headed north to have dinner with a childhood friend of Trey's. The kids weren't thrilled about another 90 minutes in the car until we arrived to find a fellow middle school guy and a beautiful "Georgia Peach" the same age as Quinn. Let me just say that the 3,000 miles between them is probably a very good thing.

On Thursday morning, Natalie's younger sister Andrea came over to spend the day with us. She recently relocated to the Atlanta area after a recent mission trip to Cambodia. (Again, pictures are on Trey's phone since my lame camera's batteries died for the 10th time) We left in the late afternoon and made a pit stop back at the Koenig's. We enjoyed dinner and more reminiscing and got talked into staying overnight.

Friday we hit the road back to Amelia with some detours visiting Trey's customers and two Chick-fil-A stops. We arrived safe and sound after braving two hours of horrendous thunderstorms and turned in for the night.

On Saturday the boys hit the beach and Mimi and I hit the movie theater to see "The Help." We had both read the book and were crazy about it so it only seemed fitting to share a day watching it on the big screen. If you haven't seen it yet, plan to. One of the best screenplays adapted from a book I have ever seen. Uncle Mike and Jenn joined us for one last dinner together which was perfect.

Our last day found us parked at the beach and playing to our heart's content. By 3:00 a thunderstorm made its way overhead and we were forced to leave. We ended the day grilling burgers and playing a family game of Farkle.

We flew out the next day with very large pieces of our hearts left behind. They say you know it's a good vacation when you don't want to leave. Judging by the fact that no one said "I can't wait to go home" I'd say it was pretty fabulous.

We love our Iannuzzi family.