Michelle Smiles

Teaching my children to question authority, except mine.

Guatoberfest – Have a seat

October8

Lots of photos to follow so get your coffee and have a seat. First I should say that we arrived a day later than everyone else and left a day earlier – we were only there for just over 24 hours. Because of this, I didn’t get a meet a good number of families. I did get to meet Kelly and Alleen – the 2 I most looked forward to finally meeting in person. (Hey P – where were you girl? I’ve met you but haven’t had the pleasure of meeting M and missed you guys!) We even had a couple of lovely non-Guat adoptive families (hi Muriel! hi Dorie!).  But Atlanta seemed like a lovely city with a lively downtown area. Our hotel was next to the aquarium and across the street from the Bicentennial Olympic Park.

Self Portrait:

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At one point we took over a very large portion of the park with strollers and beautiful Guatemalan babies. This was the last wave of strollers arriving:

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Kelly and Kathlyn:

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Alleen chasing after Gabriella:

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Sabrina thought it was all kind of cool for a while but then started to get a little tired and overwhelmed:

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So we grabbed some dinner and went back to the hotel. The beds sucked so no one slept well except Miss Sabrina (and that is what counts, right?). The next morning we wandered down to breakfast and it felt like very familiar – it was like going down to breakfast at the Westin and looking around for other families, asking how the night went, etc.

Sabrina and Gabriella made friends during breakfast – Gabriella even let mommy sit down for a little while and chat!
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After breakfast, we returned to the room so Sabrina could nap before the aquarium. Unfortunately, she fought the nap so we had to wake her early to check out. For those who think my child smiles all of the time – I give you the result of waking her early from her nap:

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On to the aquarium – which was very cool but very crowded.

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I loved the beluga whales

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Sea lions swimming by:

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We left after the aquarium. Thanks to Julia and Kerry for organizing this (and anyone else who was involved)!

After our 4 hour ride home, Sabrina, who had spent 90% of her day in the stroller or the car seat, proceeded to go insane. She crawled all over the apartment like a mad woman and played with every single toy that she could get her hands on until we put her to bed and she passed out.

posted under adoption, travel
18 Comments to

“Guatoberfest – Have a seat”

  1. On October 8th, 2007 at 9:48 am Lori Says:

    So cool! Thanks for sharing!! I have beens stalking blogs to hear how it went!! I wish we could have been there!

  2. On October 8th, 2007 at 11:43 am Julie P Says:

    Thanks for the report. We just could not make the trip from Boston but I so wondered how it went. Glad you had a good time.

  3. On October 8th, 2007 at 11:52 am Bobbi Says:

    Sounds like tons of fun!! If they have it next year we hope to go!!

    Reese likes coming home and going crazy too!!

  4. On October 8th, 2007 at 12:07 pm Lisa Says:

    I think I only got to say hi to Sabrina and you for a quick second! She is a little doll!! The Aquarium pictures were great! We didnt’ get to go, we left Sunday morning! We had to get home for the big kids!
    Hugs,
    Lisa & Sophia

  5. On October 8th, 2007 at 1:23 pm Sarah Says:

    Michelle:

    Me too… only got to say hi to you a few times but got a couple of great pictures of Sabrina out on the lawn… she was crawling towards me until I put the camera down and she realized it was not her mommy! Your hubby had to scoop her up because she started to cry upon that realization!

    Wasn’t it great to see all those amazingly beautiful babies in person? It felt almost surreal after watching them in blogland all this time!!

    Glad you made it home safe! Sophie~Bug felt the same way as Sabrina after our 7 hour drive home… was giddy with excitement to see her own things.

    I haven’t posted any pictures yet, but hope to soon!

    Sarah and Sophie~Bug

  6. On October 8th, 2007 at 2:02 pm carla Says:

    THANKS FOR SHARING!

  7. On October 8th, 2007 at 2:02 pm Muriel Says:

    It was great meeting you too! Sabrina is a doll. Such a cute little peanut!

  8. On October 8th, 2007 at 2:33 pm Mary Jo Says:

    It sounds like you guys had a fun time, and the pictures from the acquarium are incredible!

  9. On October 8th, 2007 at 3:12 pm tonya Says:

    Those are fantastic pictures! Theres someone in your pics that looks a lot like Kim D. from BBBS.

  10. On October 8th, 2007 at 6:49 pm Kerri Says:

    Love the pics!
    Hoping we can be there next year.
    Kerri and Ruby

  11. On October 8th, 2007 at 8:09 pm kelly Says:

    So good to finally meet you guys…wish we could have hung out more…but…hanging out can be challenging amidst wild Guatlings on the run (or on the crawl…). Your pics are GREAT…I am so jealous…we have like 5 decent ones from the whole darn weekend!

  12. On October 8th, 2007 at 8:27 pm Kim Says:

    It was also nice to finally meet you! Sabrina is even cuter in person if that’s even possible.

    Great pictures – I also didn’t get very many pictures!

  13. On October 8th, 2007 at 9:41 pm Julia Says:

    Thanks for coming – you have a beautiful family! Sabrina – she is such a sweet and beautiful baby girl:)

  14. On October 9th, 2007 at 8:18 am Jenny Says:

    Sounds like a good time!

  15. On October 9th, 2007 at 8:31 am Nancy Says:

    We really had no time to chat, but it was great to see you guys! We had a great time too. I loved the park with all the kids running around playing too.
    Little missy went crazy with her toys when we got home, kept running after the dogs like she was possessed!
    ditto on the beds in the hotel, my hips and shoulders still hurt.

  16. On October 9th, 2007 at 10:25 am Alleen Says:

    It was so great to meet you guys!!!! Sabrina is a doll and such a good baby!!!!

    Your aquarium pictures are amazing!

  17. On October 9th, 2007 at 8:12 pm Gail Says:

    What a wonderful time you all had. I would love to meet so many families with Guatemalan children. Maybe the next time.
    Gail

  18. On October 10th, 2007 at 10:41 am Kelly Says:

    Your pictures are wonderful!!! I am so glad I got to meet you all. Sabrina is a doll!!!!