Trip to Georgia

To any friends or family in Georgia that are reading this that did not see us during our visit or were not even aware that we were going to Georgia, I apologize.  I hope that as you read this post  you will understand why we didn't make time to visit everyone we know...

All of my family still lives in Georgia.  Since we moved to Michigan, I haven't had the opportunity to visit as often as I would like.  In fact, since we moved I have only been able to return to Georgia 2 times - once for the baby showers and once last Thanksgiving (2011). 

I only work part time (3 days per week) and I don't have any paid vacation.  My boss has been wonderful about letting me shift my days off to accommodate visiting my family when they have come to Michigan.  But, it is a GREAT job and I hate to take advantage of them by asking for too much shifting or days off (or else I may not have a job at all...)  So, travel for me has been quite rare.

Plus, driving to Georgia takes 15 or so hours each way and the thought of driving with our son (who protests at riding for an hour in the car) was not something that delighted me.  Plane tickets are expensive (and did I mention that I only work part time???) and the thought of flying with all of the necessary garb was giving me nightmares.

In recent months, the health of my Grandma has been deteriorating.  I got a call not too long ago that she was admitted to the hospital in renal failure and with a blood pressure of 70/40 (or something equally as low and scary).  She has been recovering and has full kidney function back, but is having to go through physical therapy to be able to gain enough strength to walk again.  And then she broke another vertebrae in her back.  I knew it was time to make the trip.

So, we were able to shift our schedules around a bit so that we could drive to Georgia and split the trip over 2 days each way.  But, this meant that even though we were able to be away from work for 7 days, we still only got a little over 3 days of visiting time and we had to make the most of it.

On our last trip to GA, I tried to cram in seeing everyone we used to work with and be friends with (after all, we had to show off this bundle of joy we worked so hard to have!!) - and it resulted in having very little time to spend with my family.  It is hard enough on them as it is to only see Carder a few times a year.

So, with all of that in mind, we headed to Georgia.  Travelling with our 16 month old? Not nearly as difficult as I had expected. All things considered, he was an ANGEL.  We packed plenty of snacks, plenty of his favorite toys, a cookie sheet for coloring and play doh (which - BONUS - doubled as an eating surface while driving), our iPad (armed with an aquarium app and 2 Yo Gabba Gabba videos that he may or may not have watched for hour after  hour...), and a couple of new/wrapped toys for any possible meltdowns.

We drove directly to Carrollton to visit with Grandma.  We left around 2:30 pm on Wednesday and arrived at my Grandma's at around 5:00 pm on Thursday.  There was no food in her house (and since fast food had not been too much a hit with Carder in transit), we stopped by the grocery store and picked up the ingredients for spaghetti.  Dinner and a quick bath later, we headed to the facility where Grandma is staying while she recuperates.  We stayed the night at her house and then headed back to see her the next morning - but only after dealing with the termite inspection at Grandma's house.*  We got to spend a few quality hours with Grandma and took her to lunch at Chick-Fil-A.  All things considered, Grandma was doing much better than I had hoped she would be - she was walking with a walker and no longer in the wheelchair.  She has lost a ton of weight and is still very weak, so I am very glad that we made the trip and got to spend some time with just her.

We left my Grandma's and headed to my parents late in the afternoon on Friday (and this allowed for a nap in the car while driving).  We got to my parents house in time for dinner and some play and relaxing there.

My dad is a farmer of sorts - he has cows and tractors and such and he has been DYING to get Carder into the family business. 

Saturday morning, Carder got to feed some adult cows.  And then we went to visit some calves (which Carder hugged) and a HUGE bull licked his hand.  Carder LOVED it.  Carder also got to pet some little pigs.  We went to a BBQ hosted by some friends of ours. 

On Sunday, I got to spend a little time with my BFF and her family at the highest point in Georgia for a hike.  When we got back, Carder got to ride on the lawn mower with my dad.

Monday morning we went to my Dad's office.  They have built a new office building and he wanted to show us around.  While we were in the new warehouse, Carder and I got to drive a forklift. 

After the tour, we let Carder see some more cows. And then he got to ride a tractor with my dad.  He was so excited when he saw the tractor - I wish I had gotten that reaction on video...

Tuesday morning we stopped by my mom's office to let her show off her grandson.  Then we fed Carder lunch and hit the road to go back home.  The return trip home was just as smooth as the trip down.  We got home on Wednesday late in the afternoon.  We took a short walk to stretch our legs and let Carder play at the park a little bit to stretch his legs.  After our normal nightly routine, we headed back to work on Thursday.

*  This was not part of the plan and was a huge source of contention while on our trip.  Not only did they inspect, but they also sprayed inside and out and the man said that once it "dried" it should be safe.  This was NOT good as this was supposed to be our safe haven for Carder while I visited with Grandma.