Weekend Trip to Atlanta + Lego Land

Whew, what a weekend!  I was off Thursday and Friday since Jacob was on spring break, and at the last minute B decided to take off Friday as well so we could have a little weekend getaway in ATL.

Thursday Jacob and I had the day together, so we kicked it off the same way that we always kick off our days o fun with breakfast at Panera!  He loves their cinnamon rolls and I love their cinnamon crunch bagels!  After Panera, we ran a few errands – Hobby Lobby, Marshall’s, Pier One, and Bath and Body Works, and then we went to the new entertainment center that he loves so much to play some arcade games.  He ended up winning the jackpot on two different games and he got first place in one of the racing games, so he had loads of tickets… more than he’s ever had at any place like this!  When we checked his balance, he had 299, so I bought a few more credits so he could break 300.  He ended up with nearly 400 at the end, and he was able to get a dart gun off of the wall of prizes.  It was a pretty big deal considering he usually only has enough for candy or rinky dink plastic junk.  Haha.  Needless to say, he was really happy.

We spent the rest of the day getting a few things done around the house, and then we picked Olivia up early to surprise her since she had a major withdrawal freak out when she had to leave me that morning.  I took them both to get frozen yogurt, which was so. flipping. hard. since I gave up desserts during the week for Lent.  We spent the rest of the evening packing for our trip and wrangling two extremely hyper kids… I think the combination of the froyo and the fact that we were leaving for Atlanta the next morning was just too much for them.  They were ca-razy.

We got up bright and early Friday morning and headed out for ATL… but not before stopping for… donuts.  Because #roadtrip.  #duh  The kids started laying across the chairs in DD and B and I were cracking up because it looked like they were planking.  Do y’all remember that trend a few years ago?  So strange.

Since we had gotten such an early start, we arrived early in ATL and had the whole day.  Our first stop was Ponce City Market.  It was our first time there, and it was a really cool place… they basically took an old super massive building and turned it into a cool indoor market with a sort of hipster vibe.  They had lots of shops (Anthro, Lululemon, Sugarboo, West Elm, Williams-Sonoma, etc.), high-end boutiques, a winery, and lots of unique eateries.  The kids weren’t too crazy about it since it was basically a mall, but they did love the candy shop!  We let them each pick out something.  Olivia picked out some Hello Kitty candy Easter Eggs, and Jacob picked out Watermelon Sour Patch Kids… he is his mother’s son.  :o)

The market also connects to “The Beltline” which is a 22 mile walking trail that weaves through ATL.  The coolest part about The Beltline is that they let local artists paint huge murals on old buildings/underpasses/bridges all along the trail.  There were a few that I really wanted to see, but unfortunately they are just too spread out.  After about a mile, we were all miserable – the kids were whining that they were tired and it was super windy and cold which was miserable to me – so we headed back to Ponce City Market without seeing any of the main murals that I wanted to see.  We did get to see a couple of cool ones, though.

By the time we got back to the market everyone was hungry, but the kids were whining that they didn’t want anything there, and they also didn’t have much to offer in the way of meatless stuff (we’re Catholic and don’t eat meat on Fridays during Lent) so we headed out to find something else. 

What do you do when everyone is hangry and everyone wants something different to eat?  Why, you head straight to Cheesecake Factory, of course!  Their menu is like a freaking book, and they offer anything you could ever want to eat.  It was the perfect choice and everyone left full and happy.  After we left, we stopped by the Nike store in the mall and the Sprinkles cupcakes ATM because I just HAD to get a picture!

The next stop was the hotel.  Olivia still has to have a nap every day and she refuses to nap in the car or stroller, so we settled in for a couple of hours so everyone could rest.

When she got up, we googled playgrounds near us so we could let the kids run off some energy.  We ended up finding the nicest public playground in the swankiest area of town (we were staying in Buckhead) and we let the kids play with all of the rich kids of ATL.  LOL.  Seriously, the playground was in a neighborhood with houses that had to have been at least 8,000 square feet.  They were huge.  The one right next to the playground was four stories.  I mean, what?!

We let them play for a good hour and then we headed to dinner.  Last year on one of our trips to ATL we ate at a Mexican place called Tin Lizzy’s and we LOVED it.  They have three different locations in ATL, so we tried a different location (in Buckhead) this time, and it was ah-mazing again.  I was worried that I had hyped it up too much in my head and that it wasn’t going to be as good as I remembered, but I was happy that wasn’t the case at all.  If you’re ever in ATL – GOOOO!  And make sure you order their trio of salsa, queso, and guac.  BEST EVER.  And their chips are like crack… they sprinkle some kind of spices on them that taste like heaven and you won’t be able to stop eating.  They also have an extensive specialty margarita menu, so B and I decided to partake.  I had the Blood Orange and he had the Ginger Marg… both were so yummy!

The vibe there is great, too.  It’s open air and they had live music.  Olivia ate her weight in queso and chips and Jacob had a blast drawing different things on his kids menu.  It was a nice and laid back dinner… perfect for vacay.

Afterward, we went in search of ice cream, and we ended up going to Jeni’s (another place that we had gone on one of our trips last year) and it was as delicious as we remembered, as well.  Their Brown Butter Almond Brittle is one of the best ice creams I’ve ever had in my entire life.  Divine.

After ice cream, we called it a night and headed back to the hotel.  The kiddos watched a little TV to wind down, and then it was lights out.

Saturday we got up and decided to eat breakfast at the hotel since it was convenient and free.  We were not impressed.  The service wasn’t great, we had to wait forever for plates, and they were struggling keeping food out, so we definitely won’t be doing that again!

After breakfast we headed to the main attraction of our weekend – Lego Land!  Jacob is completely obsessed with Legos right now so we knew it would be the perfect place. 

We arrived right when they opened and we toured the entire thing.  We discovered our weight in Lego bricks, we saw a Lego rocket blast off, and we saw the big Lego city.  It was a whole room full of buildings from Atlanta (The capitol building, The Westin, The Georgia Dome, the Braves stadium, The Conservatory, The Varsity, The Georgia Aquarium, etc.)  They had the lights up some of the time so it looked like daytime, and then the lights would go low so you could see the city at nighttime.  They also had a fireworks show at night.  It was awesome and it was definitely my favorite part.  We also rode both rides, we watched the 4D movie (it’s 3D and it also includes wind and rain and snow, hence the 4D), let the kids play on the playground, and then we ended the trip at the Lego Shop where each kid picked out something to take home.  Jacob chose a Batman vehicle from The Lego Batman movie and Olivia chose a Moana Lego Boat.

Lego Land is in Phipps Plaza which is a high-end mall, so we stopped for lunch there and then did a little browsing.  I love browsing places like Lily Pullitzer and Kate Spade since we don’t have them here at home.

After that we hit the road and headed home.  Olivia thankfully fell asleep and was able to get in a good nap before we arrived back at home.  We had a low-key evening unpacking, getting Carrabba’s takeout and catching up on some shows.  I did bring home a souvenir for myself… a Volcano Candle from Anthro!  I’ve been wanting to get my hands on one forever, and since they had one there, I was finally able to smell one.  I was thrilled because it smells almost exactly like my favorite candle of all time that was discontinued by Yankee Candle a few years ago – I can’t even remember what it was called now because it’s been so long, but it smelled like vanilla and orange and something else?  So so wonderful.

We also found Olivia some of the cutest Nikes I’ve ever seen and I’m so jealous that they don’t have them in my size!  These are exactly what I’ve been looking for for myself but they don’t have anything like that!  How cute are these?!

Sunday was a day to spend with family.  We had lunch with B’s fam and the kiddos played in the garden, and then we had dinner with my family.

It was such a great weekend, and now unfortunately it’s back to work we go.  Why is it always extra hard going back to work after a long weekend?  Sigh.  Happy Monday!

 Atlanta - January 2016

Atlanta - February 2016

*Linking up with B Loved Boston for Weekending, My Glittery Heart for Hello Monday,  More Pieces of Me for Hello Monday Linkup, and HoHo Runs for Weekly Wrap.