Atlanta with Grandma and Grandpa

We had so much fun with Grandma and Grandpa Johnson this weekend. It was fun to have them meet little Luke and enjoy a second Christmas with them. Thanks again for all the fun presents!

The Coke Factory
We did a few fun things in Atlanta while they were here. The Coca Cola Factory is downtown. We watched a movie on the new campaign, met the Coca Cola Bear, watched some drinks being bottled, went to a 4-D movie and drank all the Coke products we could handle. They had booths with Coke drinks from every continent. North America's drinks were the sweetest... and best! Emily said they were all 'spicy'! Most of them were such weird flavors... Fanta Apple Kiwi from Hong Kong and some weird berry juice from Indonesia... Fun to try a few but I'll stick with Sprite and Fanta Orange.

Stone Mountain
We spent a full day at Stone Mountain Park, just east of Atlanta. Stone Mountain is said to be the largest exposed granite 'stone' in the world. The carving is three confederate heroes of the Civil War, President Jefferson Davis, and Generals Robert E. Lee and Thomas J. ‘Stonewall’ Jackson. The entire surface measures three acres… larger than a football field. It measures 90 by 190 feet, and is recessed 42 feet into the mountain. The carving is actually much larger than it appears. It says workers could easily stand on a horse's ear or inside a horse's mouth to escape a sudden rain shower. Amazing.

Interesting Stone Mountain history for my Dad and any History buffs…
The carving was started in 1916. Borglum was hired as the main sculptor but was not able to start until 1923 due to funding problems and WWI. Borglum finished the head of Lee in 1924. In 1925 Borglum left, with all his sketches and models, after a conflict with the managing association and went on to carve the Mount Rushmore sculpture in South Dakota. A second sculptor resumed but soon funds were depleted and the mountain remained untouched for 36 years. In 1958 the state of Georgia purchased the mountain and a competition was held where nine world-renowned sculptors submitted designs for a new sculpture. Work on the sculpture resumed and was finished in 1970. Even more fascinating and a little creepy is the fact that Ku Klux Klan held many ‘celebrations’ on top of the mountain and even helped raise money for the “explicitly Confederate memorial”.


(These two photos were taken from the same place... I love my zoom!)

We had fun walking around the Stone Mountain park. Every building, restaurant and store was twinkling with Christmas lights and decorations. We took a train ride around the mountain and sang songs, played mini-golf, went on a tram up the mountain, walked around on top, ate yummy soup and fabulous sweet potato souffle, and let the kids play in a playground with seperate girls and boys forts. We also explored an old antebellum plantation with slave quarters and checked out the petting zoo. We really had a fun day.

On the Train



Miniature Golf
Mini-golf was fun. Grandma,Grandpa, Ryan and Katie played together and Emily, Megan, Chris and I followed. Emily was so cute and really stayed focused the whole time. Megan started out focused but by the end was placing her ball just inches from the hole for her 'hole in one shot' that took at least four tries and had everyone giggling. She was a riot. I took my mini golf game quite seriously in hopes to beat Chris... but ended up one stroke behind.

Animals at the Antebellum Farm