A Visit with Mom and Pops Stalvey

My parents came to visit Paul and I last week. They were parked in their car waiting for me when I got home from work on Tuesday night. And it was pretty non-stop from then on. Let's see...I need to try to remember everything we did. On Wednesday, Paul had to work, but Mom, Dad, and I went to an exhibit at the Atlanta Civic Center about King Tut and some other great pharaohs of Egypt. It was actually very interesting and all three of us really enjoyed it. I just wish we could've taken pictures of some of the stuff. That night, the three of us ate at a restaurant called Mimi's Cafe.

On Thursday morning, we all went out to brunch at The Original Pancake House, which is the BEST place to get breakfast. It was soooooo yummy! We were all stuffed to the max when we left. After we ate, we drove around and looked at some of the houses in the area. There are some enormous homes around here...too big if you ask me...but fun to look at. We went out to eat at The Cheesecake Factory for dinner. I have never been to one before and have been dying to go for a while now...and now I went! And it was worth it! The entrees were good and the cheesecake was fabulous! My recommendation for anyone going there is to get a small entree so you can have room to load up on the dessert! The four of us each got a different kind of cheesecake and then tasted each others. Mmmmm....just thinking about it makes me want to go there right now.

Friday was a fun day. We went downtown to go to an exhibit called Bodies and ended up going to Dialogue in the Dark as well for only 6 more dollars! Bodies is an exhibit featuring bodies of real humans to show us the inside of our body and inform us of how it works. It was pretty fascinating...we learned some pretty interesting facts about ourselves. It's so amazing how complex our bodies are. We actually did Dialogue in the Dark before Bodies and it was so awesome. Everyone is given a walking stick (like blind people use) and you are led into pitch black darkness for an hour. Your group is guided by someone who is actually blind...you follow his voice. There are five different rooms you are led into where you are free to explore your surroundings and feel what it's like to be blind. This was a great experience. It really put into perspective what a visually-imparied person has to go through everyday of his life. I don't know how they do it, I was so nervous moving around and not being able to see...and yet I see visually-imparied people walking the streets of busy Atlanta like it's nothing. Those are some amazing people. I am so glad we experienced Dialogue in the Dark and I highly recommend it to everyone. That night, we went to the dollar theater in Marietta and saw Bedtime Stories.....very cute movie! Everyone in the family can enjoy it.

The weather was absolutely beautiful on Saturday. We drove into Roswell, checked out the Chattahoochie River, some beautiful old homes, a dam, and a few other historic places. We all really enjoyed being outside and saw some beautiful scenery. Roswell was a lot of fun and Paul and I plan on going back to do a little hiking through the woods by the dam. Today was pretty much the only day we took any pictures...shame on us for not taking more throughout the week! Oh well. We got some good ones, though. The pictures of us are at the Vickery Creek River & Dam and Barrington Hall. The last picture is of Mom in front of the big, southern home..."Oh, I think I'm gettin' the vapahs" (in a southern belle accent).

On Sunday, we went to church, came home, ate lunch, hung out for just a bit, then said our goodbyes to Mom and Dad. We thoroughly enjoyed their visit. I had a blast doing all the "touristy" things we did, but enjoyed playing all the games we did each evening just as much.