How I Spent My 8th Anniversary

"Happy Anniversary Baby"
"Same to you, want to go to the Waffle House for breakfast?"

Ok, that is not quite how the conversation went, but close.
Good thing I agreed because as soon as I got in the car with the kids Dan gave me a new PINK (la la LAAAAAAAAA!) Canon Power Shot camera.

All that whining and bitching about my camera being heavy and slow paid off. For me and my dad since I gave him my old one!
The first WH we pulled up to...oh hell no. I would not get out of the car.

Second one was a better location and my waffle loving kids were in heaven. Dan can now cross that off his bucket list.

Not sure why Graham is mad, Greg is cold (it was still raining in Atlanta) and LuLu looks like she is going to puke. Not our best family photo.

We waited until my niece got home from school and we did a kid trade, Lauren and my other niece stayed at home with Mike and the nanny. (Mike works HORRIFIC news hours and sleeps as soon as he gets home.) Dan and I took the three older children to the Georgia Aquarium.

I was really excited about this! We have an aquarium in South Salt Lake. It's in a old grocery store. Not kidding. It's junk. So since I like to show my kids that everything we have in Utah is crap (like the zoo) we headed here for the afternoon.

Greg LOVED touching all the sea creatures.

And the sting rays.

Dan making sure Greg didn't fall in. This picture is for my mom so she can see how Dan is really into making sure the kids stay safe. Ha!My niece liked looking but told me "I don't like slimy things." ME NEITHER sweetie! Me neither!

She did think these guys were fun.

They loved crawling in all the nooks and crannies. This place was fantastic.

Graham loved the tide pools.

Greg looks worried here - there was a indepth discussion of Finding Nemo and what part of the jellyfish is safe to touch.

One of the many cool places where the fish, sharks and whales swim around and over you! AMAZING!

We finally left since Mike called numerous times crying about Lauren being difficult. Even though we all know this is not possible, we decided it was time to leave. And thank goodness we did.

Who saw the pictures of Freedom Parkway in downtown Atlanta being flooded and traffic back up for miles?

We missed that by 10 minutes and the grace of our beloved GPS.
Can you imagine? I would've cried.

Instead we made it home safe and sound and I attempted to take a grandchildren photo with all five of them together, which sadly only happens about once a year....

Lauren looks cute, but was missing a shoe, K was NOT having it and started to cry, Graham wanted to get back to the drum set, Greg finds it difficult to look into a camera and just smile and M was insistent on showing off her toy dinosaur friend, D.
All of this made Mike, Kelly, Dan and I grateful to not be in a photo studio. WHEW!So I tried again. K went missing, Lauren now has no shoes, M is modeling the tutu I made her that weekend, and the boys are gigglie.

Oh well, I tried!

Kelly was so kind and as soon as we got the kids to bed she let Dan and I sneak out alone for a quick dessert at a place called Chocolate.

M jumping for joy.
I loved this room - I could have sat in here for hours, it was fascinating and so relaxing to watch. This picture shows maybe half the height of the room and 1/4 of the width - it was HUGE.

It was a perfect way to spend the day, I really could not have wished to have spent it any differently. The kids were so happy and fun to be with too. I think it's one of my favorite anniversaries so far!