Lesson 2.3: Babies create an entire new threshold for normal

Or, in other words, there is no such thing as a quick get away when you have a baby.

Living in New England was great for quick weekend get aways. Everything we could want was within in five hours, from Philadelphia to Rhode Island to Boston to the coast of Maine. Steve and I took full advantage of this (and his Marriott discount) to take nice little vacations with just two bags of clothes and a phone ready to take pictures with (who uses a plain old camera anymore?). I started my new job at the beginning of July, and on my first day my boss asked me if I could attend a four day conference in Atlanta, a five hour drive away. Since Steve hasn't started his program yet, it was an option for him of watching the baby at home and not see me for four days or watch the baby in Atlanta and be able to see me during the evening. It seems like the older Jonah gets, the longer it takes to get places. What could have been a five hour drive took nine hours on the way there (with a two hour pit stop because Jonah decided he was done with the car) and then seven hours on the way back. It might have also taken that long considering the trunk was full of baby stuff..... Despite all of this, the conference was great and Atlanta is a fantastic city. It's got a lot of great family friendly activities and I'd really like to visit again when Jonah is a bit older and I'm not spending my day at a conference.

Time for pictures!

Jonah has recently discovered how much he likes his teddy bear.

We've been giving Jonah different flavors to try. At Steak 'n Shake, Steve gave him some ketchup. You can tell he's not an Ohio boy because he doesn't seem to thrilled by it.

We took an evening trip to the Atlanta Botanical Garden. It was super fun!

Steve said he needed a snack along the way. The baby just laughs and laughs when Steve does this.

Me and the baby along one of the paths.

There was a special kids' area, complete with a splash pool. Jonah was a little small for everything but the edge of the splash pool.

I have no idea what he's thinking, but I bet it's funny.

My handsome man.

We wore him out at the gardens.

An evening view of midtown (I think...)

We stopped by the Centennial Olympic Park since it was right across the street from my conference. 

We could not get Jonah to look at the camera for the life of us.

Baby, you're not going to stay in a hotel that nice for a LONG time. Don't get used to it!