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Hot-lanta! It’s not just a name

True Story!

Atlanta is very hot.  and humid.  and hot.  and it feels worse when it rains.

But when you are visiting your cousins for a month (the longest time they have ever been together) the kids don't seem to mind at all.

We arrived on the evening of one niece's birthday at the beginning of September and the fun began!  I will let the pictures tell most of the stories!

Esther's birthday party!

Six years old!!!

Thys and Esther are best buddy/cousins. "I just love Esther best" is heard often from our 5 year old.

Big boys chillin' in the kiddie pool.  We played often at the neighborhood pool by the cousins house.

Timmy loves other people's shoes! And other people just love Timmy no matter whose shoes he is wearing!

I think the kiddie pool capacity was 4. But since we were the only two families at the pool...yeah, we sorta broke that rule...frequently.

A downpour while we were at the pool one day. The kids kept right on playing though it!

Karen is the manager of the storage facility that graciously allowed us to park on the property for a month.  We SOOOO appreciate being able to stay with her.  She randomly found our blog one day and contacted us to offer us a place to stay since she saw on our itinerary that we  would be in Atlanta.  She happened to live in the suburb next the one where my sister lives.  It worked out so well.

One day she asked us we could help her son and daughter-in-law load up their moving truck from some of the storage units.  Of course, we were happy to help!

Luke and Rita's moving van.

Paul helping carry things to the moving truck.

One of 4 storage units that we got things out of.

Becky packing up a vehicle as efficiently as possible.

Our hostess, Karen (up in the truck with white shirt) and her son Luke (sitting on bumper with blue tank top), his wife Rita (green tank top), Luke and Rita's girls Natalie (Rita is holding) and Madison (blue tee). Other are friends of Luke and Rita's who also helped pack them up.

While in Atlanta we were able to get some modifications done on Gracie as well (some were un-planned modifications!)

New decor in the RV (yes, I know we need to do a "finished" walkthrough video).  Alia and Thys helping me sand down the bathroom door before painting.  They had their protective eye-wear on for the job (their idea not mine!)! ;)

Finished project!

Airport fun! Even MooMoo got in this blurry shot!

We picked up Paul from the airport after a 2-day business trip to Detroit.  We surprised him by having the whole crew there not just the kids and me.  Then we went to the viewing area to watch the planes.

Having a blast watching the BIG jets take off so close to us.

A shot of school time in the RV from Thys' perspective.

Miss Karen gave rides around the storage property!

Alia loves matching clothes with mom. One this day she chose to "match opposites". I love my girl!

A geocache find with the cousins!

We taught the cousins about geocaching.  It was so fun to go out searching all together.  It was SUPER hot though and would be a lot more enjoyable for the adults if we stuck to winter time geocaching.

Even while geocaching Thys and Ester are inseparable!

Everyone else in the van had had a turn to hold Moo on their laps while riding and Zander wanted a turn too.  He put Moo in a death hold so she couldn't get off from his lap.

Zander's death grip on MooMoo.

MooMoo gave in and fell asleep.

Playing at the park with the cousins.

Fishing at Luke and Rita's house.

Alia's first catch.

Si's first catch.

Thys' first and only fish!

Alia was so sweetly helping Z with his pole.

Love these cute little fisher-kids!

Z's first catch!

Z was rockin' it old school with a cane pole!

Oh, the concentration on that sweet face!

Daddy helping Z.

He's got one on the line.

Way to go, Buddy!

Si caught the smallest fish of the morning!

Karen and her granddaughter, Natalie.



This is the only picture we have of Sam.  He was really camera shy and adept at avoiding photos. Paul snuck this shot while Sam wasn't looking :) Sam was a friend of Karen's who was staying in an RV right next to Gracie in the storage facility.  Sam is a master electrician and helped us get electricity hooked up for Gracie so we could use the A/C.  So, for the month we were in Atlanta, Karen was a neighbor on one side of us and Sam was on the other. If you're also experiencing electrical concerns, check out the Big Family site if they can cater to your location.

Mr. Sam

The Kortmans with Karen right before we left.

Thank you for hosting us, Karen and allowing us to stay rent free for the month.  We were blessed by your willingness to share your life with us.  You are an amazing lady!  We are so glad we got to meet and get to know you!

So, have you ever met a random "stranger" that ended up being a blessing to you?  Who was it?  What happened?

We're looking forward to meeting our followers on the road, are you in California, Mexico, or points south from there? Let us know!