THE CALLAWAY KIDS - Then & Now

Evie's school was closed Friday for a teacher work day, so we decided to hit the road for a mini-vacation.  Dadda had some Marriott points to burn, so we booked a few nights at The Lodge & Spa at Callaway Gardens.

Some of you may remember Callaway Gardens was the scene of the crime: we held our wedding reception at the beautiful Sibley Center! Most of our wedding party and guests stayed on the Callaway property and the Lodge & Spa hosted us on our wedding night.

Although Callaway is just a quick drive to Momma's parents house - we thought staying at the resort would be fun.  With a toddler, it always seems your "day out" is cut short when you try to figure out where nap-time will fit into the schedule. This usually means we stop what we're doing and have to leave to find a bed or quiet place for Evie to zonk out for an hour or two. Not this time - we had a room to go back to, so we could quickly pick back up with the fun when nap time was over!

We started our Callaway vacation  by visiting the Sibley Center - which, sadly, Dadda and I haven't been back to together since our wedding reception. (I've visited a few times, but Dadda hasn't made the trip with me.)

"This one-of-a-kind garden/greenhouse encompasses five acres of native and exotic plants within its tropical conservatory, sub-Mediterranean Conservatory, sculpture garden, fern grotto, main conservatory, 22- foot waterfall and outdoor garden. Unlike most building projects, the principal architect for the Sibley Horticultural Center was a landscape architect.  The late Robert Marvin of Walterboro, South Carolina, was known for his pioneering environmental design concepts that provided maximum energy conservation." 

The gardens set up for our reception in 2007.

 

Momma's Cake & Dadda's Cake.
(at the time, better known as the Bride & Groom!)
Wish they were around for us to nibble on for this recent visit!

Who knew that exactly two years from the day
this was taken we'd be a family of THREE?!
Yup, Evie was born on our second wedding anniversary!

Fast forward almost four years....

Come on, Dadda. I saved you a spot on the bench!

Our little lady checking out some of the scenery.

Inspecting the wildlife..

... and lizards!

Following Dadda to the waterfall

Woah! This thing is cool!

Simply fascinated... And really wanting to jump in.
(Momma was really glad that big ol' noggin of hers can't fit through the railing.)

I gotta call somebody and tell them about this thing!
Waterfalls are awesome!

Just a few feet from the waterfall is an elevated platform where Momma and Dadda shared their first dance as a married couple...
 

Of course, you say the word "dance" to Evie
and she has to show you how she can shake her booty.

I'll just sit here and watch you guys dance now!

She took one last peek at the waterfall....

 

And then it was off to the races down the garden walkways... 

Until she saw the goldfish...
that she found could feed all by herself!

Sooooo cool, Dadda!

Here, fishy fishy fishy.

Contemplating life...  and goldfish.

And then more dancing!

After the Sibley Center, we grabbed lunch and checked out the Lodge's pool... where we discovered our little lady enjoys pina coladas, but loves strawberry daiquiris even more.

We went back to the room for a quick dry-off before nap time, but our exhibitionist had other plans..

Hmmm.. checking out the goods in the mini bar and fridge.

 

What's out here?

Giving other Callaway guests a free show! 
HELLO, world!

We also hit Callaway's Robin Lake and their beach activities for a few hours with Uncle Battle, but Momma didn't bring her camera, so no beach pics. (whoops)

However, the camera was on hand at the pool the next day when we had Gabba and Grandaddy meet us at the Lodge.
 

Practicing her jumping skills.

ONE!

TWO!

THREE!

Dadda and Grandaddy parked under the shade of the poolside bar -
and supplied Evie with an endless supply of her new addiction: strawberry daiquiris!

You wouldn't know the daiquiris were alcohol- free, since our little lady started stripping off her swimsuit after just a few sips. Watch out!
(We really do have an exhibitionist.)

After getting all dried off,
we decided to head out to dinner...

But stopped in for a quick round of
shopping at Chanticleer in Pine Mountain...
where we met a nice new friend.

Momma, I don't think he speaks my language.

All in all, we had a fun - albiet too short- vacation.

And even though we stayed at the Lodge & Spa... sadly, Momma didn't make it to the spa for any treatments (a prenatal massage is on my list of things-to-do before baby boy gets here!).  But we were just too busy having fun to slow down for stuff like that.

I'm thinking next time, we'll have to rent the Ramblin Wreck to drive around in... just for old times sake.  

Adios, kiddos!