good friends, good times!

our time in georgia got cut short... so we only stayed a week. it was hard to leave kelvin behind, but i guess that's how it goes. at least he has work! we also had to leave behind some awesome friends, both new ones and ones we've reconnected with.

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outside "pizza joint" on thursday night, waiting for some special friends to show up!!

here they are!
the griffins (most of them, anyway)
when they were in wisconsin so many years ago (anna was just a baby), we got to spend some time with them. they had thanksgiving dinner at my grandparents' house with us.
those are some awesome memories!

friday we went to the park by the locks and met cheryl. she'd suggested meeting up somewhere so of course i jumped at the chance. after all, it had been YEARS so there was some catching up to do!
big boy on the slide!

and (little) big girl managing the steps.
(amazing how she can maneuver her little legs around the play equipment... there's no stopping her, that's for sure)

the kids were more interested in the puddle at the lookout point than the actual view itself.

(photo credit goes to cheryl)

spanish moss... it makes things seem almost magical!

the kids took a liking to cheryl, or "showull", as cole calls her!

checking out the river...

and the kids with mommy!
(again, photo credit to cheryl...)

this park is just beautiful...

miss madi

(and her wet shoes)
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i can't put into words how much i appreciate these wonderful people who have made kelvin feel at home while he's away, and who showed us the same kindness while we were visiting. thank you for the meals, the conversations, the laughter- we leave part of our hearts with you there!

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the trip back went well, fairly uneventful. the tomtom decided to "forget" to follow the same route coming home as we took going to georgia, so there was one time where we got a little turned around. luckily, we didn't go far from our route, so we didn't really lose any time. the kids did so well again- i'm lucky to have such wonderful travel companions!

we discovered a store called "earth fare" while we were in evans... there i found the gummy bears i haven't been able to find anywhere here. we stopped at the earth fare in chattanooga on our way back to get more gummy bears... normally i'd never dream of spending more than a few bucks on candy, but this is what cole can have, so we got a nice big supply! now we're set for awhile...

i've discovered that this trip will be the last (definitely the last one by myself) until after the baby comes; i must've overdone it. yesterday afternoon i started cramping and having some pretty intense braxton-hicks. the braxton-hicks are nothing new for me- they started around 18 weeks with cole and 16 weeks with madi. or thereabouts. this one's no different, they started VERY early, but were mild. i called the on-call nurse, who recommended that i make an appointment. i told her my next appointment was less than a week away, so could we just wait till then if it's not an immediate emergency and she said that was fine. i do have to take it REALLY easy though: off my feet as much as possible, minimal activity, watch for warning signs and go in to the e.r. immediately should anything get worse. as long as i'm sitting still, everything feels fine... once i get up and start moving around, then the contractions start. normally i'd be happy for an excuse to be lazy, but i'm no good at that- i feel like i should be doing SOMEthing. hopefully things will be back to normal in a few days and i can ease back into daily life. thankfully, cole can go potty all on his own, madi's diaper changes are pretty infrequent and both kids play well without me having to chase them all over. a few strategically placed baby gates and we're good to go. er, sit. whatever.

sigh.