Our time in Georgia

     This past weekend in Big Canoe, Georgia was a blast.  We went to Mario and Ashley's rehearsal dinner Friday night and the food was great.  They had some amazing BBQ and we needed that since our favorite restaurant, The BBQ Inn, closed. :(  Anyhow, it started at 7 and Marcus lasted until 9, but that's a good hour later than he normally lasts.  He didn't even give the first whimper as we put him to sleep.
     Saturday morning, he slept in until 8:30 and even then, I had to go wake him up!  Mark and TJ were adventurous and went on a run, while Mom cooked breakfast and Olivia and I played with Marcus.  He "walked" outside with her, then "walked" in his walker inside, and was just overall having fun exploring a new space.  After Marcus took his morning nap, all 7 of us (John, Mom,  TJ, Olivia, Mark, Marcus, and I) went to one of the pools on the property.  They had a precious baby pool that only went down a foot in the deepest part, but it was more shallow in others.  It had fountains, sprinklers, and other fun water toys.  Marcus really seemed to enjoy it.  We took turns playing with him in it while the rest of the adults went into the big salt water pool.  It, too, was amazing.
     After a long day at the pool, Marcus napped while we all got ready for the wedding.  When he woke up, we put on his tux (the best we could...he was definitely growing out of it), and headed to the wedding.  It was a gorgeous outdoor setting, overlooking the lake.  Mario and his groomsmen were dashing and Ashley looked stunning!  I loved her choice of blue bridesmaids dresses and how they were different styles.  It was definitely a classy affair.  We had the plan of feeding Marcus his bottle DURING the wedding, but I started right at the beginning of the wedding and he sucked it down before Ashely had even got to the end of the isle!  Luckily puffs were our next best friend, and we paced him by giving him only 2 at a time.  A good ol' fashioned water bottle was the last trick that made him happy and refreshed.  So he made very little sound during the wedding and I was RELIEVED about that!
     After the ceremony, we took pictures with Mario and Ashley, then headed to the reception.  It was one of the most beautifully decorated places I've even visited.  They had these enormous centerpieces that were just breathtaking.  I marveled over and over at how pretty they were.  This location was very accommodating to people with children, so they had a high chair for Marcus.  He happily ate his supper and then fed himself (what seemed like) a whole roll.  We broke it into pieces for him and he chowed down.  He and I danced a little bit, on the side, but just like the night before, it was getting late for him.  We took a large group picture of all the people who drove down from North Carolina, said our congratulations to the bride and groom, then headed home. 
     Yet again, Marcus went to sleep without a sound, and slept well.  We left Sunday morning at 5:30, arrived at church at 9:30, and when it was over, we all had a long family nap.  It's taken us a day to clean up, do laundry, and get back into our regular routine, but we are now.  We had a wonderful time in Georgia, but we're definitely glad to be home again, too.

Heading to the rehearsal dinner Friday night.

Walking with Aunt Liv Saturday morning.

Since we don't have stairs for him to climb at home, he had his first chance of doing that here.  He climbed all the way up to the top loft, all by himself (I was behind him of course) and thought it was GREAT up there!

Crawling around in the pool.

He LOVED the fountains and tried to catch them.

Daddy took Marcus for a dip in the saltwater pool with Uncle TJ, Aunt Liv, and Grandma.

Here's the beautiful bride with her new husband and the rest of her family.

Here's our sweet family.

Papa John, Grandma, Marcus, Daddy, Mama, Aunt Liv, and Uncle TJ.

Being a cutie at the reception.

He did this over and over because it made us laugh so much.  It's like he's saying, "where'd it go?" or "what's that?"  He would do it, we'd laugh, then he'd smile.  Priceless!