Celebrating Summer!!

The Saturday after the last day of school (which was also Memorial Day weekend), we decided to kick off summer and celebrate the end of school in downtown Atlanta! We checked in early at the Marriott Marquis so we could pack in as much FUN as we could in one day. The girls were amazed by our hotel and our room with great views of the city:

Heading out through the tunnels to see what we can find!!

The "magical tunnels" led us to the Peachtree Mall. So, of course, we hit up the Dairy Queen at the food court!!

Sharing with Daddy. He's such a mooch for ice cream. 

After the DQ, we headed back to take some dips in the indoor/outdoor pool :)

HANDSTAND!!

Nora swimming from the indoor to the outdoor. :)

When the girls need me, they always know where to find me....in the hot tub!!

Daddy playing ball with all the kids. He's the biggest kid around!!

Such cool views from the pools:

All that swimming made us work up another appetite, so we got dried off, dressed, and walked through another "magical tunnel"........

.....and winded up at Beni Hana!!!! Yummo!!

Wherever we go, we pattycake. 

Meow.

While we waited on a table, Daddy found me a little something. Look at him back there smiling. ;)

TIME TO EAT!!!

Clairy was so very tired. She asked if she could sit in my lap. She was going....

.....going....

....GONE!!!

Ella practiced her chopstick skills:

Sweet little napkins the girls made for Daddy:

Hibachi Heaven:

Finally Clairy woke up, and we were off to our next adventure:

After walking a block or so, we spotted a Cinderella-ish horse and carriage!! There was no way we could pass that up!!!

The girls were extra excited because our chauffeur let the girls hold his little dog during the ride. He was the sweetest little fella named "Tex." :)

Carriages all around. SO NEAT!!

One last pet of the horsie:

And, since the SkyView ferris wheel was RIGHT THERE, we couldn't pass that up either!!

Daddy was flattered that his ticket said "Precious Cargo." I'm pretty sure he accidentally got Claira's ticket. He's more "Regular Cargo." :)

While this side of the ride was uber-excited.....

.....THIS side was about to barf. Nora and Daddy are not fans of heights. At all. :)

While they needed a minute to warm up to the experience....

....Ella loved every minute of it!!

Claira loved it, too!! She rode that ferris wheel like a boss!!

Once we got up in the air and could see all the sights, everyone became more relaxed and enjoyed the views:

(Centennial Olympic Park)

Daddy started enjoying it a little too much.....he is so not right.

We got to take a groovy little family photo when we got off:

I don't think I've seen these two so happy to walk on land. Big wimps!!

Clairy was just ready to "DO IT AGAIN!!" (excuse the panties)

We headed back to our hotel to do a little night swimming. Here's what happens when I take Claira and Ella to the bathroom in the lobby. Nora and Daddy have a dance party. Barefoot. In a public lobby. I can't deal.

Evening view from our room. So lovely.

Heading down for some night swimming. Once again, Nora and Daddy can't handle the glass elevators descending 26 floors. 

More beautiful views while swimming:

I'll leave you with this little comparison: One of the girls' favorite movies is Enchanted. Now that Ella is missing so many teeth, she does her best impersonation of the which (Susan Sarandon) from the movie. See how she's doing her tongue??

She's trying to look like this....YIKES!!

Such a wonderful way to kick off summer, and we've been enjoying every minute ever since!! So blessed to spend the summer with my girls.

Cheers to the A-town!!!