family birmingham getaway: day 1

Dathan's mom wanted to do something fun with his whole family while we were here, so she planned a little overnight trip to Birmingham with everyone- his dad, all 4 of us, his sister Stephani & her 2 daughters, his other sister Staci & her fiancee Randy.  So much fun!

We left on Friday.  Dathan, the boys, & I left a little earlier than the rest of his family.  We wanted to get there and start having fun!  Dathan worked a half day and I came to pick him up on our way out of town.  I passed this house while heading to Dathan's job, and I just had to take a picture.  Dathan told me about it & where to look for it, but it still surprised me.  There are literally hundreds of different chairs sitting in front of this house, all pointing the same direction.  It's hilarious!  I guess this is their decorating style ;)  This is the best picture I could get because I didn't want to be a creeper and park my car, get out, & walk into their yard! Ha!

Of course Dathan had to show me the project he has been working on.  Isn't this deck/sunroom just amazing?  It's pretty much doubling the size of this house, and it is gorgeous!  They have a view of the river, so it is perfect for this house!  We had to make this a "working vacation" so we could stay as long as we have.

We got to Birmingham, checked into the hotel, and then decided to walk to dinner.  The hotel was downtown so there were many places within walking distance.  We were SO glad that we decided to walk because there was some sort of marathon or half-marathon going on (in downtown at 6:00pm on a very busy street... not sure who planned that?) and the traffic was backed up forever!  They were making all the cars wait for all the runners to come by.  We had to wait awhile to even cross the street.  There were lots of unhappy people, especially nurses trying to get to their shift at the hospital :/  Oh well, it was interesting for us to watch! 

We ate dinner at Pizza Hut.  When we were almost there the boys found a random rear view mirror.  It was so funny & they carried it around like treasure the rest of the night.

When we were finished eating we took our time walking back to the hotel, just enjoying the beautiful weather & each other's company.

We found a pretty waterfall in front of some building and stopped to take pictures.  I had a lot of fun playing with camera settings & shutter speed.

The hotel we stayed at: so much fun!

We swam for a bit when we got back to the hotel.  The pool was outside and even though it was hot outside the pool was FREEZING.  Like, seriously one of the coldest pools I have ever swam in.  But we promised the boys they could swim so we did.  They didn't even have a hot tub for us to warm up in, but we made the best of it.  The rest of Dathan's family got there and swam with us for a little while, then we headed back up to our rooms.

We got the kiddos into their pj's and all gathered in Mimi & Papa's room to hang out for a bit, and of course the kids were able to acquire some snacks from their grandparents.  We just had to snap some pictures of the cousins on the hotel bed in their pj's eating chips.  Nolan (27 months), Sean (almost 5), Maddie (16 months), and Kaelyn (32 months).

The view of downtown Birmingham

Then we all had to get to bed.  The kids were tired & we had a fun day planned for the next day....