Happy Tuesday!
Today is the big kiddo’s first day back in 2018-I’ve got a list of all kinds of things to do to get us settled into regular life. And I’m looking forward to it. 🙂
I’ve shared before about Tab’s part-time side job-football officiating. When it comes to post season assignments, the guys usually hear the first or second week of December if they got a bowl game and which one they received. They have to wait for all the bowl games to be decided and then all the conferences split up the officiating side of the bowl games. Since Tab officiates in the Big 12 conference during the year, he’s not allowed to officiate a bowl game with any Big 12 team. And that’s the same for any other conference. As you can imagine there’s really no way to possibly guess where you’ll be prior to getting the official call. So, the first full week of December Tab got the call that he’d be working the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl in Atlanta, Georgia, with the University of Central Florida and Auburn University.
During football season, our family sacrifices a lot while Tab is gone so Tab and I wanted the bowl game to be a fun celebration for us all-kiddos included. {We’ve been taking our kiddos every other year. We’ll see what 2018 holds!}
Since he heard just about three weeks prior to travel time the flights were pricey considering we’d need six so we decided to turn it into a FAMILY ROAD TRIP!
On December 28th, we packed our car to it’s full capacity and drove halfway before stopping in Jackson, Mississippi, for the night. {In the picture, we were waiting patiently for Tab to complete the packing.}
We were STOKED to be out of the car on Thursday night!
This cutie says the funniest things. I need to start writing them down so I can share them with you.
We tried to take a family selfie before bed but WHERE’S BOWEN?!
Friday, our plan was to drive the remaining sixish hours to Atlanta.
We rolled into Tuscaloosa, Alabama, right at lunch time so we decided to hit up Rama Jama’s for lunch.
It was a cute little diner style joint located directly across from Bryant-Denny Stadium.
Britt and I took a selfie with Nick.
While the big kiddos posed for a few pictures of their own.
The front of the stadium…another football officiating family was driving to the bowl game as well. The wife was telling me they stopped to see the stadium too and the gate was open so her and her boys went in to see the field. Then the gate accidentally closed and they were locked in! EEK!
Just a few hours later…WE MADE IT TO ATLANTA!
Thanks to the World of Coke and Emily {when I blogged asking for Atlanta must-do ideas, Emily at World of Coke reached out and offered us tickets} we had reservations for a Friday afternoon tour at The World of Coke.
These two were SO EXCITED about being out of the car!
Selfie in line 🙂
When you enter the tour, the first stop is an area where you get a Coke of your choice…Diet Coke, Coca-Cola, Coke Zero, etc. The tour could have ended here and my kiddos would have given it two thumbs up! ha!
And wouldn’t you know we were THAT family. THAT family that spills an entire drink on the floor!
The kiddos were invited to sit in the floor and someone thought they were big too.
We watched a little video and this cutie was sitting beside me.
We walked through and saw bottles of Coca-Cola being filled, watched a film highlighting a variety of Coca-Cola commercials through the years, and saw all kinds of Coca-Cola memorabilia.
Can you spot our family’s FAVORITE Coke product? {It’s front and center. ;)}
Here’s a hint.
The TAB drink!
Tab and I remembered different soda machines like this, but of course, our kiddos were like WHAT?!
The taste-testing room was hands-down their favorite part. You could try a variety of flavors from all over the world. Some were delicious and others were ICK!
Again, a big thank you to World of Coke and Emily!
One of the coolest things about Atlanta was this downtown area where there were tons of tourist things in one little location…the World of Coke, Georgia Aquarium, CNN, and College Football Hall of Fame. It made seeing all the sights easy for us tourists. ha!
Saturday our big plan for the day was to visit the College Football Hall of Fame.
From pretty much the second we entered this building, my kiddos were PUMPED. Notice those tags around their necks? When you entered, you chose a college football team to link to your account. Then throughout the museum, the computers would pick up your RFD tag and randomly say your name on the screen or start playing your team’s fight song. Super cool! We all picked a different Big 12 team and were representing {Except Tab-he chose our alma mater.}!
See the all the football helmets behind them? When someone selected a team, that helmet would light up to show it was being represented.
The Peach Bowl was celebrating their 50th year.
Our first stop was the Skill Zone and we pretty much could have stayed all day.
They took turns kicking field goals.
They threw passes.
And they performed drills…
ending in some catches.
We arrived around 10:30 and the lines were short. They got in line to do things over and over again.
Then we headed upstairs to the museum.
Tab chose Arkansas State as his team…so as he walked by these screens look what popped up.
And this too!
Super cool!
We watched a little film on all things college football.
We let the big kiddos take one more pass through the Skill Zone before we left.
And headed to Chick-Fil-A, which was right next door.
That evening the bowl treated us to a DELICIOUS dinner at Mary Mac’s Tea Room. Lots of you guys recommended this spot so when I heard where the bowl was taking us I was excited! The food here was AMAZING! I had chicken fried chicken {HOLY YUM!!}, steamed cabbage, cheese grits, and I ate a large portion of Britt’s macaroni and cheese. The food was absolutely delicious! I snuck over to the kid table to grab a picture and caught Nixon in the act. #oops
I’m not sure WHAT happened to this picture, BUT if you’re in Atlanta-EAT at Mary Mac’s!!
Don’t forget…if you’re planning to join Shay and I this year, tomorrow is the first post of the year!
Tomorrow is all about how we do new goals, resolutions, and themes for the NEW YEAR! I hope you join us!
I’ll be blogging the rest of our bowl trip later this week. 🙂
Erika!! I am going to be #oneofthosepeople… Out of all of this I want to comment on your hair! Seriously, so pretty! Is it all natural or do you have extensions?
Wishing you all the best for 2018! Thank you for sharing your life with us. – Sarah
Hi Sarah! Thank you! That’s just my natural hair Maybe because it’s straight in some of the pictures-I typically curl it more? Happy 2018!!
What an awesome trip!! On the way to our honeymoon {Costa Rica} several years ago e got stranded in Atlanta overnight due to plane troubles. The hotel they put us up in was downtown and we had SUCH a blast using public transit exploring downtown ATL. The Aquarium is a must. I wish we would have made it to the college football hall of fame. My husband would have loved it. I have a SUPER random question that you might have to ask Tab…..
Can refs hear the crazy people in the stands yelling at them when they make a call people disagree with etc? What about when a coach or player gets upset and starts screaming at them? I literally would curl up in a ball and die but the refs always seem to take it so well. How do they do that??? I told you it was random but I've always wanted to know. 🙂
Not random at all!! They can hear the overall mumble of the crowd but not single people yelling. But I think after doing it for a while they learn how to tune them all out. When it comes to coaches and players, I think it just goes with the territory. And again-over time they learn how to deal with it (or tune it out).
Please tell me your husband wasn’t named after that drink?! My sister used to drink Tab and I thought it was the worst stuff ever. LOL
Hahahaha!!! I don’t k ow that I’ve ever tasted one but no-Tab was named after his grandfather. 🙂
I can't wait to see more!! I love how interactive everything was!! Your kids look like they were having the BEST time! And now, I'm hungry…all the food looked delish!
Yes, they totally did!
What a fun trip!!! That world of coke looks like a blast!!
It was fun! Atlanta wasn’t on my list of places to visit anytime soon but I’m SO glad we made it there. A FUN town with lots to do! Highly recommend it for a trip!!
What a fun family trip! And man, it reminded me how my mom used to drink the heck out of some Tab!!!! 🙂
Roll Tide! Love that y’all stopped in Tuscaloosa. That’s where I went to college.
I agree! You definitely need to write down all the funny things Bowen says!! That kid is so funny!!! That Inspired Chick
I love that you all drove–so relatable and creates such great family memories! Looks like it was a blast!
Such a fun trip!! Can’t wait to hear more!!
So much fun seeing you in my neck of the woods! I can't wait to see more!
Looks like you all had a LOT of fun in Atlanta! So glad you made it to Mary Macs! I knew you would love it!
What a fun time you had :). We are Iowa State fans (our alma mater) so go BIG XII 🙂 xoxo ERIN
The college football hall of fame sounds like a blast! I love how interactive it is!!
It looks like you had a great trip! We went to World of Coke on a past vacation and it was a lot of fun.
Erica! I'm an A-State grad too! Class of 1987. I lived in Paragould and commuted to class. I was a Communications major (Radio & TV). What year did you graduate? I have just started following you, and I'm so glad I found you. Now I am back in my hometown in South Georgia. On our next trip to ATL, we'll have to check out the College Football HOF. I had no idea it was in Atlanta!
So glad y'all enjoyed your trip to Atlanta and that World of Coca-Cola could be a part of it! 🙂