I was so so so so so beyond excited to surprise Honey and the littles with a little holiday getaway for Christmas. I drove downtown and, try as they might, nobody guessed correctly. When we pulled off the exit, Honey said “Motel 6?” and it made me even more excited for what would unfold in the next few minutes. The look on his face when we pulled in at the Ritz Carlton Atlanta was pretty priceless. We checked in right around lunch time for their Holiday Dreams package.
When we got to the room I finally told them the loose agenda for the two days and let them choose what we did first. Predictably, they wanted to sprint right over to Centennial Olympic Park for ice skating first! We grabbed to go hot apple ciders and vanilla jelly beans from the lobby and headed out in the cold. It was the littles first time ice skating (or any sort of skating come to think of it) and they absolutely adored it. There were plenty of tumbles and spills, but they were fearless and just kept trying until they got it! It was no small miracle that we left with all bones intact.
It was cold and raining after our session, so the littles were thrilled for their first cab ride. Granted, it was all of two blocks, but they still thought it was awesome.
We warmed up back at the Ritz with a pitcher of hot chocolate and a couple of hours worth of card games and cartoons.
We cleaned up and walked the block over to Hard Rock Cafe for supper. There were loads more tempting places cuisine wise, but Honey and I both remembered going to Hard Rock as kids and thinking it was pretty fab. When we walked in to find them rocking out to YMCA, the littles were sold.
When we got back to the Ritz, the littles picked up caramel apples and cookies (the former of which Honey and I have since swiped and eaten).
We were all out by nine and luxuriously slept in until eight the next morning. There’s just something about a nice quiet hotel room with blackout curtains (and the fact that there is no den to clean, dishes to do or laundry to fold). I surprised the crew with breakfast in bed and nearly squealed with delight when they rolled in the table of food. Another first for the littles and something I don’t think they will soon forget. I mean, gourmet pancakes in bed with Sponge Bob on the tele doesn’t happen often. (Or ever around these parts.)
After showering and dressing, we walked over to The World of Coke. The baby has been begging to go ever since I took the PCP earlier this fall, and it was everything he dreamed and more. I mean, what five year old doesn’t love an unlimited supply of sugary beverages, a friendly polar bear and TWO movies?!?!
After the World of Coke, we walked over to SkyView Atlanta. It was really neat, and you can see so much of Atlanta – we spied the Tech Tower, Grant Field, Kennesaw Mountain and loads of other landmarks!! I would love to do it again at night – this time of year would be especially pretty with all the holiday lights in Centennial Park.
We wrapped up our little getaway with a gigantic Mexican lunch, and then we all crashed at home for the rest of the afternoon.
I’d venture to say many memories were made this weekend. It was such a sweet and relaxed (sounds crazy since we did so much) way to make the most of the time between Christmas and New Years.
Merry merry, y’all.
xoxo
