Southern Vaca Day 2: Relaxin' with Friends

As I mentioned in my previous post, Eric, the boys and I headed over to Varsity for lunch on Day 2 after our fun at the World of Coca-Cola.  We had heard it was an Atlanta staple, but had no idea what to expect.  When we walked in, it didn't seem very busy so we found a table and sat down while Eric went off to figure out where to order.  Little did the boys and I know that at the counter there was a huge crowd all waiting to order and get their food.  The boys and I sat at the table for over an hour waiting for Daddy to return.  We did everything we could to keep busy and pass the time, but at one point we had to leave our table for an emergency potty break and when we had returned our table was taken.  We found another table to sit at and soon after Eric returned so that we could scarf down our lunch before heading back to the Wohlers' residence for naps and a relaxing afternoon with friends.

My little walrus.  This was shortly before I had to take the spice containers away from him because I found him licking the top of the salt shaker!  Super Gross!  

Video: Asher Version of the World of Coca-Cola

Asher telling me all about the highs and lows of the Atlanta attraction.

To pass the time, I let Asher take pictures on my phone.  This is one of the MANY that he took.

...and another Asher special.

After lunch we returned to Jen and Stephen's house.  The boys and I laid down for afternoon naps, while Eric sacrificed the nap to work out the situation with our flat-tired rental car.  First Avis sent someone out from road-side assistance to help, but all they did was put the spare on the car.  Eric called around, but the two closest rental offices where already closed for the day so he was told the only other option was to go back to the airport to trade in the Enclave, and that is what he did.  We ended up getting a Ford Flex for the week, which was a major downgrade from the Buick.  It got us where we needed to go, but was not nearly as comfortable and full of painfully annoying warning sounds and beeps.  Every time we would go in reverse, the backup camera would turn on and warning sounds would start blaring in the car.  I thoroughly researched a way to turn them off, but concluded there was nothing other than a button that would have to be pushed EVERY.SINGLE.TIME we went in reverse.  It was a pain...especially when the kids were sleeping and we would have to stop somewhere and then they were woken up when it was time to use reverse and leave our parking space.  By the end of the week we were both certain that we will never purchase a Ford.

Eric sent me this picture teasing that we were getting a Chevy Camaro to replace the Buick.  I joked that we could leave the kids at Jen and Stephen's place for the week since there would be no room for carseats and all of our stuff!

After the kids woke from their naps we enjoyed some fun playing in the house and then Asher finally got to do what he'd been begging for since we left the house on Friday: Swim in the Pool!  All of the kids enjoyed a popsicle treat, a warm-up in the Warm Tub (not-so-Hot-Tub) and then some full-on swimming, splashing and jumping in the awesome pool.  It was a great time and Asher was completely thrilled!

Popsicles in the Hot Tub 

Asher giving Avery a ride in the pirate ship tube.

Video: Asher, Eric & Avery Jump!

Video: Look Out Uncle Rob!!!

...Asher does a 180!

Video: Catie Jumps!

Catie braved up enough to jump like Asher and Avery, but William wasn't quite ready yet.

2 Videos: Our Wild Man

I've mentioned in the past that Avery LOVES to jump into water, but on this vacation that love turned to shear craziness.  Rather than simply jumping from the pool edge into our waiting arms in the pool, he would back up as far as he could and then take a running start to the pool edge to launch himself as far as possible, and you had to pay attention because he would jump (or try to) even if you weren't paying attention, and later we learned even if no one else was in the pool!

Shortly after our fun in the pool, it started to rain (hard) and the rain continued into the night.  The kids all played inside for a while as we figured out what to do with dinner (grilled chicken had become a little more difficult), but when Eric and Stephen decided to put the grill just outside the garage we all relocated to that area to cook and play.  The rain wasn't going to keep us from having fun and enjoying a nice dinner!

Asher loved William's Jeep.  He is kind of a wild man driving git though.

Catie pushing Avery around the garage.

Video: Fun in the Garage

That evening the kids were exhausted and went to bed pretty easily while us adults stayed up talking until late into the night.  It was a perfect end to a great day.

Southern Vaca Day 2: World of Coca-Cola

The World of Coca-Cola

Day two of our vacation started off early for me.  I had a lot of things going through my mind the night before and the morning of, so when I woke up way-too-early I was unfortunately unable to go back to sleep.  Instead, I grabbed my laptop and headed into the kitchen.  Jen was having a painter come to paint her kitchen the next weekend and needed to select a paint color.  She had pinned it down to two options and wanted me to pick one of them, but I didn't really feel either were right for the space.  Instead, I worked on creating some other possible options for her and Stephen to look through.  By the time they were up, I was ready to show them what I had.

Wohlers' Kitchen Before Photoshopping.

Wohlers' Kitchen After Photoshopping.  They both thought they wanted a lighter, less bold color but when I showed them this (among several other options) they both really liked it and wanted to go for it.  I thought it would work well since there is very little actual wall to be painted and they have all white cabinetry.

When they decided on the bold color, I shared an even bolder option with them.  My personal favorite! :)

Once everyone was up and had enjoyed some delicious Mickey Mouse, train, truck, plane and butterfly pancakes made by Stephen we had to decide what to do for the day.  My request was the World of Coca-Cola, a very touristy Atlanta thing to do.  I'm not sure that anyone else was very interested in this option, but they were willing to go for me so that is what we decided on.

I knew that Avery would LOVE William's train set.  Jen always used to say that Asher had the best toys but between their pool, William's Jeep and William's train set I was pretty sure that the boys might refuse to go back home with us.

When it was time to go we got all of our stuff packed up for the Coke outing and got the kids buckled up in their carseats.  Then just as we were about to head out we noticed that the right rear tire on our rental was flat...completely flat with the hubcap touching the ground!  At first we thought this put a damper on our plans but since Jen and Stephen have two vehicles outfitted with two car seats, we simply transferred the kids into their CRV and off we went.

Avery enjoying his first time forward-facing.  The entire trip to World of Coca-Cola he was saying "Ooooo, Ooooo".   :)  I was concerned that we would have a hard time changing him back to rear-facing (law in Wisconsin and Michigan until age 2), but thankfully it was not an issue.

At around 10:30 that morning we arrived at the Coke tourist attraction and immediately after walking through the doors into the Lobby we were given small aluminum bottles of the caffeine-loaded beverage.  Prior to coming here I had made an deal with Asher that I would allow him to have some pop where we were going, because he was not happy about having to leave the Wohlers' house and their awesome pool that he desperately wanted to try behind.  Little did I know that they would give us pop as soon as we entered though.  I had to keep my promise and since Avery wants to do everything that big brother does, I also had to let him have some as well to keep the boys happy long enough to get our moneys worth from our visit.  Jen (a dentist) and Stephen also let their kids enjoy the fizzy beverage, giving us four kids ages four and under that would soon be on caffeine/sugar highs!  When in Rome...

Avery anxiously awaiting a sip.  I chugged as much as I could from his Coke bottle knowing that once I gave it to him I wasn't getting it back without a fight.

Eric gives Avery a little taste.

The bubbles tickle!

Mmmm that's pretty good.

I want more!

No, we did not let him drink an entire bottle!

William and Catie try out Coke.  Catie was a BIG fan and didn't want to part with it!

Catie's crazy eyes in this picture make me laugh!

Just like Daddy. ;)

When we were done enjoying our free Coke samples, we were brought into another room (The Loft) full of Coke memorabilia and given a run down of the company's history.  Then we were brought into the Coca-Cola Theater to watch a short film about Coke around the world.

Jen, Stephen and I with the kiddos.

The boys and I ready for their first theater experience.

After the movie, we were brought into the lobby of the museum which then led to several others areas for exploration.  The older boys took some potty breaks before we continued while Jen and I stayed behind with Catie and Avery who were in awe of the Coke Polar Bear mascot.

"Mommy look...a polar bear!"

"Did you see him?"

Once the bigger boys got back, we headed upstairs to begin our museum tour...

First we headed into the Pop Culture Gallery to look at some Coke-related artwork.

After the Pop Culture Gallery, we headed over to the 4-D Theater to watch a sensory-overloaded movie on a search for the secret formula.  As we waiting in line for the movie, the sugar and caffeine buzz hit the kids pretty hard.  They were a little crazy and we hoped they would enjoy the movie.  I didn't prepare Asher for what was coming knowing he would be afraid of the unknown, but I thought if he gave it a shot he would have fun.  I was wrong.  All of the kids except Avery completely freaked out by the loud movie, moving seats, bursts of air and 3-D viewing.  Catie and William left with their parents right off the batt, while I hung around with Asher a bit longer.  At first he seemed ok, but as the movie continued he crawled into my lap and was shaking in fear.  I held him tight, but eventually we had to get up and leave as well and wait outside for when Eric and Avery were finished.  When we got back out into the main space Asher looked at me and said, "Momma, can we please not watch that movie when we get back home?"  :(  I fear we may never get to watch a 4D movie again (Sorry Bug's Life).

Avery Hanging Around outside the 4-D theatre.

Asher & William burning off some of their sugar/caffeine buzz.

Video: Asher & William Coke Buzzing'

William, Stephen, Catie & Jen waiting for the 4-D movie to start.

The youngest of the 4 and the only one who made it through the entire movie.

From the disastrous 4-D experience, we headed over to the Taste It! room to taste the multiple Coca-Cola flavors from around the world.  We tried flavors from all of the continents, including the discontinued North American flavor Surge, which was a high school favorite of mine (wasn't as good as I remembered it).  I didn't have the time or stomach to taste all of the flavors, but we did enjoy quite a few.  Asher's favorite was an Apple flavor and mine was a Blue Raspberry.

Avery's face desperately requesting more in this picture makes me laugh.

When we cut the kids off from their taste testing, the Wohlers family decided to head home as it was lunch time and the kids were starting to loose it.  Asher really wanted to see the Coca-Cola Polar Bear though, so we stuck around a little while longer to get our picture with the mascot and also get a little bit more of our money's worth at the museum by taking a quick tour of the Milestones of Refreshment room (to see the a bit more of Coke's history) and Bottle Works (which shows the equipment and processes used at the Coca-Cola bottling plants)...

Milestones of Refreshment.

Avery enjoyed pressing all the buttons at this Milestones of Refreshment display.

Avery & Asher in the Bottle Works tour.

Finally, it was time to go as our kids were starting to loose it too and getting hangry.  I would have liked to take a little more time in our tour to read things and check out a few exhibits that we had to skip (like the Vault of the Secret Formula which had a long line), but all in all we had a good time and enjoyed what we were able to see.

From the World of Coca-Cola we got back to our vehicle and then needed to find a place for lunch.  Jen told us that Varsity was a well-known Atlanta restaurant, and since it was very close we decided to check it out, but I will tell more on that another time.  It was only a mile or two away, but Avery didn't even make it out of the parking garage...