Just like clockwork almost every year, 3 weeks starting in mid-October, it happens--this time from October 16-November 4, and in these following 3 phases:
1. At Amy's in Roswell, October 16-23:
First of all, Nacho is now a year older and totally in charge...and just as adorable.
As you'll see later, with Nicholas now gone (as I write this), he (the cat) will be The Companion.
Speaking of g'son Nicholas, age 25, he's off to work here in his last Atlanta days...
off to Phoenix, AZ, by the end of our visit (while we're in stage 3 with Mark).
Not that any of this is confusing, of course.
We arrived in Atlanta on Thursday and, on Saturday, during our stay with Amy, son Mark and Melissa stopped by to pick Astrid and me up for the Oct. 18th NO KINGS protest in nearby Marietta:
That's Melissa and Mark with Astrid and me, top-right!
These are Astrid's 2 collages:
Needless to say, it was HUGE, country-wide, with 7 million protesting!
We were thrilled to be part of the resistance to what's happening in America right now!
And then that evening, still Saturday, all 6 of us, including Amy and Nicholas, gathered at J. Alexander's (where Nicholas works as a manager) to celebrate my 80th birthday (June 13)--their treat to both Astrid and me:
No one, including me, once thought to take photos of Astrid and me enjoying it all!
On Sunday, the next day, Amy treated Astrid and me to her new favorite Japanese restaurant:
Man alive. Talk about feeling wined and dined!
On Monday, October 20, Amy found a new "best-kept secret" to visit, this time in Calhoun, GA, an hour's drive north of Roswell at The Rock Garden:
Totally worth the experience (reminding me of Barcelona's Gaudí)...
including the therapeutic 1-mile walk through the woods nearby:
Tuesday the 21st was our repeat-visit to the Six Feet Under restaurant in Atlanta...
so we could enjoy our shrimp-boil (Astrid and me) and king crab legs (Amy)...
followed by another walk in the Oakland Cemetery, Atlanta's oldest public park across the street.
It's become an annual tradition.
ALL OF THAT in our first phase with Amy, with lots of Five Crowns (cards) interspersed throughout, as well as walks by Astrid and me throughout her neighborhood ('tis the season!):
2. At the Cabin in the North Georgia Mountains near Blue Ridge, October 23-27:
YES. THIS PLACE. OUR HAPPY PLACE!
Within an hour of arriving that Thursday afternoon, Nicholas joined Astrid and me on a walk.
He was very aware this might be our last time to see each other for a while, following
his move to Phoenix the following week and perhaps no cabin for him next year?
Even though (or because!) it's the same-ol', same ol' every year, it truly is our Happy Place.
And we love THIS cabin (the same as last year) of all the ones we've rented since 2009.
Perfect for all our needs!
And yes, don't forget the annual tradition of Waffle House for breakfast when we leave on Monday!
3. At Mark's and Melissa's in Marietta, October 27-November 4:
That breakfast at Waffle House is the segue from phase 2 to phase 3 each year, but this time to the new house where Mark now lives with his girlfriend Melissa (whom we're freely calling our daughter-in-law!), less than a half-hour's drive from Amy's.
With their FIVE (5) cats!
Mark's aged-lady Piper (top-left) is still figuring out how to navigate the house, with/without the others.
Melissa's aged-ladies, Pixel and Lulu, do just fine with Piper, but the 2 young lads,
Nova and Tundra, are way too frisky for Piper. Let's just say it's taking time!
(That's Pixel and Lulu in my lap, center right.)
While Mark worked on Tuesday, October 28, just that one day, Melissa took the day off for a girls' day out:
First up was lunch at a favorite hangout in her former neighborhood...
in Whittier Mill Village and Park, a place I didn't even know existed in Atlanta!
Then it was a brief drive to the Constitution Lakes Park to walk the Doll's Head Trail:
The park itself is quite large, with the Doll's Head Trail being a small loop in the middle,
approximately 1.5 miles total for our walk that day.
OMG. Who thinks these things up??!!
Talk about another photographer's paradise!
The interesting part is that ALL the "displays" are from objects found in the park!
By Wednesday on, it was all Mark and Astrid and me, just BEING together and playing lots of games while Melissa worked most of the time, except for fixing lovely vegetarian meals for us, watching the Great British Bake Off in the evening, and stopping by to chat a few minutes whenever possible:
And, yes, Amy joined us on Saturday for football, wings and Swoop (bottom-right).
Oh, and don't forget the lunch out with Mark the Thursday before.
We really did a lot of eating out, didn't we!
In between all of that, Mark and Astrid helped prep the basement for finishing,
which work has now begun since we left, not only for Mark's remote office
but for the master home theater he plans to set up, like he did in his last house.
When we visit next year, it'll be a sight to behold, I'm sure!
(And, yes, those are the NO KINGS shirts Melissa bought for Astrid and me, bottom-left.)
Now back to Nicholas! That Saturday, November 1, he arrived at Mark and Melissa's, with his dad, to pick up some last things on his move to Phoenix, AZ:
By 9:30 a.m. they were on their way (arriving at his new apt. on Monday evening).
A tear and a smile, as the Big Boy helps manage a new J. Alexander's in Chandler, a Phoenix suburb.
We're all so proud of him!
The next day, Sunday, while Melissa mastered a Dungeons and Dragons campaign, the 3 of us took a therapeutic walk at the nearby Cochran Shoals Trail:
We all needed it!
And so, just like that, another year with My Kids came and went.
We left Atlanta late afternoon on Tuesday the 4th and arrived in Amsterdam at 7 a.m. Wednesday.
Amy is already booked to be with us the week after Xmas, as well as next Easter,
and Mark & Melissa (M&M) are planning their own trip by May...
all before we go back to America again in October of 2026!
This is apparently what happens after you turn 80???
