And Then...

To continue the story of our lives...

I can’t remember what time we got to Sister Bishop's house Wednesday afternoon. We hadn’t been there too long when she loaded us up (all except for James, who stayed home to rest and study) and we went in search of peaches. She drove us through downtown Anniston and shared lots of interesting history. We eventually did find some peaches--and a watermelon with yellow innards instead of red. Somehow it disturbs my children much more to call it watermelon "meat" than it does to say watermelon innards. Weird-o's. We got back to the house and made quick work of the stew and cornbread Sister Bishop had made for dinner. Then it was time to get ready for church. We had planned on going home from Atlanta instead of Anniston for the night, but Sister Bishop called and schnookered James into preaching there that night. I'm so glad she did. :-) He felt a little strange not having a suit to wear, but it didn't seem to hinder his preaching.

We had a good service, then had a nice, relaxing night at Sister Bishop's house. I took a shower to cool off (it was sooooo hot that day!) while Sister Bishop and the kids sat on the front porch playing instruments and serenading the neighbors. We split open the watermelon and the kids thought the yellow "innards" were great, especially because they yielded a plethora of the most gigantic seeds they'd ever seen--PERFECT for their traditional seed shooting contest with Sister Bishop. So before long they were all on the front porch spitting what seemed like hundreds of seeds all over the place. Crazy kids. And crazy lady!

After the kids went to bed we worked on the new WMB logo for a while, then I stayed up way too late trying to catch up on some e-mails. The next morning Sister Bishop prepared a fantastic breakfast for us. I can't even remember what all we had (it was a bunch!), but it was all delicious. Then we all headed out for a little sight seeing...

But that will have to wait until next time. I ran out of steam again. I hate being behind like this. I'll catch up some day. Probably just in time to leave for the Assembly and get behind again. :-)

Before I go, I'll go through and narrate all of the pictures I've spent all evening uploading. You know, the ones that belong with my LAST post. The pictures that go with THIS post will be in the NEXT one. I'm amazing that way. :-)

Here we are, riding the Marta--the subway sort of thing in Atlanta. Looks thrilling, doesn't it?

And on the bus...

Finally at the aquarium. I had to take this picture because it reminded me of Joe screaming bloody murder at the Tennessee Aquarium a few years ago when he turned around and saw a scuba diver in one of the tanks. I'm not sure what was so terrifying, but he was firmly affixed to somebody's neck for the next several minutes. I'm glad he has gained control of himself since that time, at least to some degree. :-)

Petting the stingrays was the first thing we did and was the kids' favorite part of the entire aquarium. In fact, we went back again just before we left so they could do it again. It is pretty cool. And the rays actually seem to want to be petted--come right out of the water toward your hand sometimes.



James making friends with a lion fish...

Dad making use of the slide...

Katie posing with an albino alligator...

Okay, so the picture isn't exactly great. But I had to post it to remind me of one of the best parts of the day! We stood there for the longest time watching that one otter play with his little red ball and the other two wrestle and flop and flail all over the tank. Those are the greatest animals.

The tube! You stand on a moving walkway (which took Dad by surprise--ha!) and try to get cool pictures of all of the great fish. None of the pictures you REALLY want seem to turn out though. My favorite thing in the big tank was the huge manta rays. They had to be close to 15' across and they were just sooooo cool. But I didn't get a single picture of them worth sharing. Bummer.

There's Joe, taking pictures of it all...

Sister Krystal, I took this one for you. ;-) This is what we came to do, right???

There were four whale sharks in that tank. Very, very cool.

There seems to be no way to get a good picture through the glass, but I just love the colors of reef fish. Sooooo pretty.

Okay! Enter: Coca-Cola Museum!

I would LOVE to have some PJ pants like that... but the thought of somebody actually wearing them out and about in public just cracks me up. Oh, for the good 'ole days, I guess!

Check out this fancy-schmancy soda fountain. I've never seen anything like it before--it was so cool. If you look closely, you'll see some pretty good lookin' folks in the mirror up there, too.

I could drive one of those. :-)

There was so much neat stuff. Makes me wanna decorate a Coke kitchen again! Maybe some day.



This particular machine was amazing. It picked up dozens of bottles of Coke, inspected them, and performed several other varying functions, all quite quickly.

The Coca-Cola couch. Everybody needs one of those, right?!

We took this picture especially for Emily Wallace who advised, "Try the flavor 'Beverly.' You'll never be the same again!" She was right. ;-)

This is Katie, pointing out one of her favorite flavors.

Did I mention this part of the museum in my last post??? At the end of it, just before you leave, there are all of these kiosks with Coca-Cola products from all over the world. You could sample as many as you liked. I can't remember how many there were total, but I think it was 60 or more. I felt it my duty to try every one. :-) You only live once, you know! Strangely enough, one of my very favorite ones was an apple flavored soda from China. It was fantastic!

Beverly from Italy was not. Don't ever take advice from Emily Wallace. Some people just can't be trusted. ;-)

Just before you walk into the gift shop (which did NOT have any Coca-Cola socks--I was sorely disappointed... I should write a letter!) you get to take a coke off the belt that was made and bottled right there. It costs enough to visit this museum that it's only right for them to give you a "free" Coke at the end. The kids cracked theirs open the other day and I took a sip. It was one of the best I've ever had. Yum. :-)


And here we are taking the longest escalator known to man (or at least to us) down to the Marta at the end of the day.