The Tello's came to town!

I've been missing my dear family and so guess what...they came to visit me! Hooray family! I think I sort of pressured them into leaving a little sooner which may or may not have thrown off their sleeping patterns for a while...oops. But they're such champs and drove through the night to get here. When they arrived they rested and we had set up everything for a bit because in the morning we were driving more-to the Atlantic! Hilton Head, SC. They've never been to the Atlantic and I went for the first time with Alex's family last year. It was so fun! I'll do a breakdown of the days they were here:

Friday:
Alex's family had already headed to the beach-his dad had a convention there for work so we were meeting up with them. But, one of Alex's brothers refused to go so the other (Will) stayed with him and headed out with us. **side-note: Will has an outstanding record of "ruining gatherings/events" for example-my very first visit to Georgia to meet Alex's family, the day after Christmas in '09, Will at dinner spilled lemonade all over the table and unfortunately on the cat after he threw a fit about getting a guitar stand for Christmas but no guitar. It was hilarious and now a big joke and we really love him because he's got a great sense of humor about it and has the best intentions.** Ok, back to our beach trip...so we all got up early, showered (in our two separate bathrooms now-thank goodness!) and packed up all our gear and waited for Will to get dropped off by his friend so we could all head out. The night before we talked about what time we wanted to leave and that I would call or text him to wake him up just in case. He responded to my text early that morning and then to our total calls of probably 30 he did not so we waited and waited until he showed up. And of course we all gave him a hard time about it, laughed and went on our merry way! When we got to Hilton Head we went straight to the beach where Alex's family was and hung out. Ron, Alex's dad, taught everyone how to find sand dollars and so the crew caught about 100 all together! I'm not joking, it was a lot and they put some back and kept a few.

the coolest sand formation you ever did see in the hotel lobby

Saturday:
Alex's grandfather, Bill, and his new wife and her daughter decided to come to the beach too and we were all in the same hotel just off the beach so of course they brought their golf clubs and went out for an early tee time. So all the boys (my Dad, brother, husband and Bill) headed out to play. The Tello men were nervous because my dad has never golfed a whole 18 holes and my brother wasn't very experienced either. But they wanted to go and try it out.
Alex hates being away from the beach when we're at the beach and wanted to do 9 holes but they did it all and played young vs old. When they finally got to the beach with the rest of us the "old men" were beaming and "youngins" were not. I couldn't believe it! Alex and my brother Steve had lost to my dad and grandpa! It was definitely funny to hear them bragging about beating them because they are all so competitive.
While they were gone I got lots of sun and time to play with Hannah and Maggie (the sisters in law) in the water-it was so fun! See, they're still young and don't like to go too far out and neither do I, it was awesome. We jumped waves and played some games and met new people.
That night we decided to go out, all 14 of us, to the Salty Dog Cafe. It's apparently a sensation because everywhere in the South people have Salty Dog shirts and I wanted one so we went. It was crowded and the tide had gone way out so the dock it was on was bare and very smelly-not good for pregnant me. But inside the smell was extinguished and the food fantastic! I had shrimp-which is my favorite! and ok to eat in my condition. I think everyone enjoyed their food.
We had to drive a ways back to the part of the island where we stayed and across from our hotel were these amazing Pirate, putt putt places. And we all played! It was so fun, we broke up into 3 groups and if I'm not mistaken, I think Bill won between all of us and even had a hole in one!

Right in front of the Pirate Putt Putt, looking good.

Sunday:
Early that morning Bill and his crew left and we found the ward that meets in Hilton Head was at 10 so we all got dressed and went. It was probably the smallest church building I've ever been in but the people were so nice and half were visitors! It must happen a lot in that ward. After Sacrament meeting everyone left but my parents and Alex. My mom plays the piano and was quickly swept away to the primary where she was needed-it really is a good skill to have, I wish I never gave up when she tried to teach me. So it was funny how the 4 of us stayed but we were all separated.
After church we had lunch and headed, you guessed it, to the beach. I was feeling tired from all the sun I got in the day before so I didn't bring my swim suit and just sat and chatted under the umbrellas and watched everyone play. My mom brought horseshoes and the men played. In the evening we decided to go for a stroll and found a few hermit crabs and a giant horseshoe crab! It was crazy and attracted a huge crowd! My dad kept flipping it over and showing people but I kept a good distance because it had so many legs and a big tail. After taking a few pictures we left him alone.
Ron and Stephanie skipped out the night before on putt putt and bought a little grill, some hot dogs, chips and s'mores ingredients! So that night we dug a little hole in the sand and grilled on the beach! It got dark and cool but it was so fun and the s'mores were what I've been dying for all summer! It was the best to just sit around as a family and talk and share stories. We even played a game where we went around our circle and created a story one sentence at a time-pretty comical.

Monday:
Luckily our hotel had breakfast for us every morning so we were able to eat and pack up pretty quick. We hated to leave so soon so we drove down to Savannah, GA. It's historic, so we went to see it for a bit. On the way down (it's only like a 30 minute drive) we had some navigational problems that were just so silly we had to laugh. Once we got to Savannah it was hot and we all needed a restroom break and some food. We walked up and down the streets looking for a pizza place my brother had looked up and was considered the best. By the time we finally found it: it was, I swear, at the border of Savannah, closed and hotter than ever. So we tried to go to Paula Deen's restaurant but it had a 5 hour wait-pure madness. Finally we ended up just eating at Moe's, not a favorite from any of the Tello's but it was good enough! Making a stop at River Street Sweets we got our dessert fill and headed back to Atlanta. We thought we'd hit rush hour but luckily didn't. It was perfect timing.

In the courtyard in Savannah

Alex found something interesting!

We unloaded and found a gas leak so we had someone come out and fix it! Bill is a champion at ping pong-excuse me, table tennis and has gone to the senior olympics and won medals! He of course has his own set up and decided to challenge the men at yet another game. They all went over for games and pizza while my sister and I stayed and waited for the gas man to come.

Steve getting schooled by Bill

By the time we got there everyone had eaten and the games began. No one got close to beating Bill and so then they went outside to challenge each other at a game of cornhole (a typical tailgating game). They just don't stop, I know. They did old against young again and I think Alex and Steve actually won!
Bill had ordered us a stroller and car seat too that we picked up and put together-ok attached a wheel or two. It was awesome and weird having a stroller and car seat now!

Tuesday:
My mom wanted a day to do some shopping so while us girls went to the outlet the men, yes, went golfing-with Bill. Luckily they were prepared with so many golfing outfits! I guess their rivalry of age continued and Alex and Steve won for the day. Good job hubby!
At the brand new outlets in Woodstock, we got some precious baby clothes and some essential maternity shirts. Then got a quick bite and headed over to the Kjar's to visit with Stephanie and the girls and trade them cars so we could all fit for our trip to Turner Field that night. That's right, what would a trip to Atlanta be without a Braves game? We left early to avoid traffic and ate at Gladys Knight's Chicken and Waffles-so so tasty. Their peach cobbler is the best but I didn't get any-next time!

We had some pretty great seats!

When we got into the stadium we were ushered in by the best usher in Braves Country! He was so energetic and chopped better than anyone you've ever seen! We had a blast and the Braves beat the Rockies! The guys even did the pitching cages and almost missed the best part of the game. Successful day.

Wednesday:
We finally saw Wolverine with Stephanie, the girls and Drew (Alex's other brother)! My dad is the biggest Wolverine fan and has been since, forever! So we went to the movie which turned out to be a huge flop according to movie critics Alex and Steve but I didn't think it was too bad.
For dinner we ventured to Medieval Times in Lawernceville (a bucket list item for my mom) and ate with the king and princess of somewhere...it was actually super fun! We had our pictures taken, sat front row, I had our knight (he was green) throw me a carnation, cheered long and loud and ate with no utensils. Ok I brought my own and my favorite part was the tomato soup and bread-it was so tasty! Our wench was really cute too and served us very well, haha. When our knight lost (first round-that was lame) we cheered for the east side and lost. They had a "dungeon" where there were pictures of old torturings (is that a word?) and the various machines used to inflict pain-it was creepy and gross! We got a light up sword and got the knights signatures and pictures. I felt like a kid but it was so much fun and a lot better than I thought it would be.

we knew we had arrived when we saw the castle front

our knight!

where the king and princess sat

the king's right hand man

starting the tournament

The Ladies

Luckily, they had a club screen to take pictures with. Aren't we cool?

Thursday:
This was our last day with the family and Alex decided to go into work for the morning hours. While he was gone we kind of just rested. The family finished laundry and packed a bit and then we went shopping again! To Kohls, my sister got some shirts and I got a Curious George book for Baby Peach. Next to it is a Walmart where we were hoping to pick our crib that my parents ordered but it was having lots of shipping problems and wasn't there. It was a bummer because we wanted to put it together, together! And see the nursery as almost complete. We finished up with some shopping at the mall and got our fix of the Varsity. The boys loved shopping. We found some great pieces at Macy's and it was my parents treat-thanks so much!
That night we went to the Kjar's house and ate BBQ Street, which did not work with pregnant me-I think I had about five bites, and chatted all night. My dad, Alex, Maggie and Will went out to the tennis courts and played while the rest of us sat and talked with each other. It was a prefect way to end our visit.

Friday the family left and I wasn't as sad as I thought I'd be but now I sure do miss them. I wish they lived within a days drive at least. I just can't wait to move home. Yes, HOME, to Texas, where I belong. That is, of course, things all work out. We'll see, if not Georgia is second best. My parents did come bearing gifts-all things Texas. They're the best. We got a wonderful Texas flag blanket for Baby Peach that I just adore and is in her room. They also brought some Texas toast-mmMmmmm- Texas shaped tortilla chips (shout out to HEB-love you, miss you), a Native Texan bumper sticker, that is on the fridge and some other goodies. We love them!
We really have been so blessed living here. It's been nice to be around family and close to so many great things. We are still getting used to our ward. They have us in primary so we don't get to meet too many adults but our 5 year olds are very sweet.
Overall our trip with the Tello's was splendid! I was a little grumpy at times though, I'll blame hormones, and next time we meet (hopefully October) I'll be in a better mood and we'll have loads more fun! Family is the best and forever.