Trip to GA and TN

This past weekend we went to north Georgia for a family wedding.  Jimmy's cousin, Whitney, got married at a beautiful plantation house.  Whenever we are invited to a wedding we feel quite honored, as our family increases the guest list, the need for food, and totally changes the electricity of the dance floor.  The kids lit it up.

I took some shots of them as soon as we got there...I worked hard on their outfits and wanted to get them before their clothes got messed up.  It wasn't really that golden hour but I didn't want to risk waiting.

Before we left on the trip Jimmy and I were talking about the kids clothes and I told him I needed to buy a few more things and he wasn't really happy about spending more money.  I said, "I'm just trying to work it so we don't look like white trash."  And Jackson, standing across the kitchen playing with his yo-yo says, "That's going to be pretty hard, Mom."  It was, actually.

Later on, it arrived.  The perfect time of day.  The amazing natural light.  As a photographer when you see what my good friend and I used to call "the Rumpelstiltskin hour" you just can help taking some photos.  So I pulled them off the dance floor, cupcakes in hand, and had them pose for a few more.  They'd thrown back a few by then (unlimited lemonade) and were feeling loose and good.  So the expressions were rich.

We also saw little Henry, who we hadn't seen in nearly a year.  He is second cousins with our kids and he had a blast being pulled around the dance floor by Libby.

After the wedding we drove to Nashville and stayed with our friends Stacy and Josh Phillips.  Stacy and I were in each others weddings and generally pick up where we've left off no matter how much time has passed.  We are sisters.

We had a blast with them but of course I took next to no pictures because I was too busy having a good time.  Talking, playing outside, playing games, and talking.  And talking a lot.

After we left Stacy's on Monday morning we met another friend, Danielle Peters, who is Eric Peters wife.  I have written about Eric and Danielle before here.

Eric was out of town but Danielle (and one of their boys, the other was at school) was nice enough to meet us at Centennial Park downtown.  We saw the Parthenon and Jackson posed with his yo-yo in a couple different places for Jimmy.   Then Danielle indulged the boys by taking us to "Hot Diggity Dog" a hot dog stand also downtown.  It was great to see Danielle, I had not seen her in over 10 years.  Yet we are friends, because sometimes people you know are like that.  She was and is super.
 

And then, we started for home.  500 miles back to Tally which went very well, considering the crazy weekend we had endured.

I have been married to my husband for nearly 13 years.  Since then, he has never been in a car accident.  He has only gotten one speeding ticket.  He has driven us safely on numerous trips.  I am thankful for his driving abilities.

That said, with nothing else to do but ponder the road for hours on end, I often begin to wonder if Jimmy was given a different Driver's Ed manual than the rest of the entire American population.  Because it seems as if no one is following the rules he believes they should be following.

So move over, America.  The J Train is coming through.  Sometimes we bend the rules a little (do not climb on locomotive), sometimes we pass on the right, sometimes we eat too many cupcakes, but we always run on a full tank of gas!  (That one was for you, Stace.)