Gone a-Visitin.

We all had so much fun in Atlanta this weekend. I wanted to spend some time with my sister before her baby arrives this August and before all the pre-baby festivities begin and we are separated forever by diaper cakes, shower games, and mountains of baby blue onesies.

Not really.

But it was fun to spend some time with her and her hubby all the same. We drove up on Friday after a morning doctors appointment for Gracie (her ears were fine, by the way… she was just cutting four molars at once!). We got into town around 8:00 that night, just in time to give the kids a bath and put them down for bedtime before the big kids moved out to the back porch for a low country boil! Ginny and John Michael had a few friends over and we all sat out on the back porch eating shrimp, potatoes, corn, and sausage with our hands and drinking beer – though, I had to cut it short after a beer because of my race the next morning. It was the perfect ending to a long day of driving.

The next morning, we all headed out for the MamaBear 5k race, followed by breakfast with friends at this super cute place called J. Christopher’s. After the race, we were all exhausted and so we headed home to put the kiddos down for a nap. Which then meant that the adults all took naps, too. I laid down with Bean, thinking I’d maybe read a bit while he slept, but I ended up taking almost a three hour nap! Blissful!

After we all came back to life later that afternoon, we got ready to head downtown for a Braves baseball game. We had so much fun! Our seats were in a perfect spot, and the new stadium is fantastic!

(Excuse Gracie. She was not camera ready.)

I spent most of the game in the air conditioned area letting Gracie walk around. She has a short attention span and a new hobby of walking, so she was more interested in cruising than cheering. Which was fine with me. We ate pizza and covered our ears when the fireworks went off after home runs and did the wave. It was pretty awesome.

That night we came home and put the kids to bed, while we all stayed up watching basketball. It was great to get to spend some real time chatting with my sister and John Michael.

The next morning, we planned to take it easy. Ginny bought sidewalk chalk, bubbles, and a blow up pool for us to play with all day. I figured we would ease into the activities, but by 9:00 that morning, Bean was already out on the front sidewalk with Aunt Ginny. They’d gone through all the chalk…

…and they’d blown all the bubbles…

…and we’d watered all the plants.

So, we for the rest of the afternoon, we sat in chairs on the front lawn and watched Bean run through the sprinkler and play in the blow up pool.

We tried to get Gracie to play with Bean, but she wasn’t too keen on the water sports. Instead, she preferred to be held and sit pretty in the sunshine.

Sunday afternoon, my parents and aunt and uncle came by to have lunch with us. It was great to have a house full of family. (So great that I got so excited that I forgot to take any pictures!)

After they all left, we put the kids down for naps and we rested for a while. When everyone woke back up around 4:00, we headed up to the local park near my sister’s house. It was the most amazing park ever! There were all these toys and bikes and things for the kids to play with just laying around! Ginny said the neighborhood just sort of donated things to the park as kids outgrew them, and no one ever took anything. It was really amazing. Bean and Gracie had a blast!

In the past couple years, every time I’ve seen my sister it has been because something crazy is going on.  Someone’s getting married or having a baby or graduating or moving or fixing a holiday meal.  It’s the nature of family gatherings, I guess.  Going, going, going… until the time is gone.  I’m realizing that those things aren’t going to stop.  We’re blessed with an active, constantly changing, always on the go family.  And I can’t see anytime in the near future when any of our lives are going to slow down.  But I’m also realizing that just because things are active and busy doesn’t mean we can’t make time to be together and to really appreciate each other.  Ginny and I laid around, talked, laughed, and shared baby ideas.  In the midst of a busy, fun weekend, there was still time to be still and enjoy each other.  I think I’d been missing that from my relationship with Ginny.  I’d really been missing those face-to-face talks about absolutely nothing and about the most important somethings.

My mom saw a saying on Pinterest the other day that said, “God made us sisters.  Mom made us be friends.”  We laughed and laughed about that because, for a long time, that was true.  But that hasn’t been the case for a long, long time.  And I’m really glad.