Atlanta: Shopping, Fishing, and the Masters

Back in April, Nathan and I took a long weekend getaway to Atlanta to visit his family!  When we were booking the tickets, we had no idea that it coincided with The Masters, but a few weeks before we left, Nathan's dad called and told us he had two tickets for Saturday!!  Nathan pretty much screamed with joy and bragged about it every day before we left.

We got to Atlanta really late Friday night and since Saturday Nathan and Randall were headed to The Masters, Sue Ellen and I had a girl's day!  We started out at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens and watched the exotic frogs eat crickets and fruit flies (it was fascinating!!) and enjoyed the orchid exhibit.  The yellow bellied frogs literally climbed onto the tongs holding the crickets so they could enjoy their dinner.  

The orchids were gorgeous!  I loved the slipper orchids that were planted in heels.  So clever!

That's my kind of tree!

We had a great time (even more so because our tickets were free thanks to our Arboretum membership)-- It was SO different than the Dallas Arboretum -- These gardens didn't have as many flowers, but they had a great orchid exhibit, frog exhibit, and a huge tropical greenhouse.

We had sushi for lunch then shopped and piddled around Dallas.  Love this little green jacket that matched mine-- Perfect for Kinsley!

We also went and saw the movie The Great and Powerful Oz then met Ryan up for dinner at Chipotle.  It was so fun hanging out with Sue Ellen and doing our own thing :)

After we got back, the boys finally got in (two strawberries thanks to no sunscreen) and told us about their fun day including cheap egg salad and pimento cheese sandwiches and loads of sweet tea.  They both had a blast and Nathan said it was one of his favorite days.  He came up with some Masters gear and lots of memories, but no pictures because of the strict Masters rules.  

Sunday we drove to Northern Georgia and had brunch at a delicious little place before heading to the river so the boys could fish. Our Sunday School teacher recommended a very specific river for Nathan to fish because of the huge trout, so of course Nathan scheduled an afternoon for him, Ryan, and his dad to fly fish that river.  They had an absolute blast and Nathan caught some of the biggest trout of his life.

Randall ended up just watching because Ryan was having so much fun, so he took on the role of official encourager and photographer while Sue Ellen and I went to a couple of nearby towns to shop.  One town looked like a little European village!

Nathan's a happy little angler.

We had dinner at OK Cafe, one of our favorite Atlanta spots, after our day of fishing/watching and hit the sack!

Monday Sue Ellen and Ryan went to work so Randall, Nathan, and I piddled around... We visited Robins Brothers so they could clean my ring, Goodwill (duh we're in Buckhead!), and a few other places.  We met up with the other two at a great barbeque place where we had to say our goodbyes :(

We had such a fun time in Atlanta and look forward to spending more time together soon!!