Tuesday afternoon we got back to the hotel from Harry Potter world and spent some time just hanging out with my parents watching them pack and get ready for an early departure tomorrow.
We had dinner in the food court for the last time, spent some time in the gift shop, and then went to bed early around 8:30.
We met my parents early the next morning to have breakfast in the food court to use our last quick service credits.
My parents had their flight to catch and were using Magic Express again ( I don't think I talked about that before... if you stay onsite the Magic Express buses come to the airport to pick you up and even get your luggage for you from the baggage claim so all you have to do is check in at the magic express area. They deliver it to your room for you a few hours after your arrival. Then on your way home they take your luggage from you and check it in for you as well so you don't have to worry about it. This is all free.)
I like to pack the car when we have so much stuff so Doug stayed with the girls while I packed up and took load after load out to the car. It took forever.
As soon as I was finished Abi and I left Doug and Maddy to go use the rest of our snack credits. We had about 12 left on our card that we didn't want to waste so we went into the food court and stocked up on milk for Maddy, rice kispie Mickey Mouse heads, and a snack for the road.
Abi had brought along her big glowing balloon because we didn't want to bring it home. She was pretty sad when we told her we weren't going to be taking it and , in retrospect, we probably could have made it work but this was a big balloon.
She had decided to give it to another little girl. She found one and gave it to her but the mom made her give it back. So, when we were in the food court she found two women with two little girls and asked them if she could give their girls the balloon. They had just arrived and were thrilled. It was really nice to watch Abi do something like that and see how it made the other children feel. We had a really nice conversation afterward about how doing things for others makes you feel good too.
Then we filled up our soda mugs and traded her last pin with a lady at the front desk for a Minnie 'nerd' pin.
It was time to go.
We were happy to be going home but it really was so sad to drive under that big sign on the way out.
Each girl got their snack: Maddy had a rice krispie treat....
Abi had some Chip and Dale pretzels...
We rarely stopped on the ride. We were trying to make up time spent at the hotel by getting to Atlanta as fast as we could so we could spend some more time with my cousin Lora.
The girls were great and played nicely, napped, and snacked.
Abi recieved a Georgia line prize
We stopped at a Steak and Shake for lunch because one of Doug's friends had told him that it was the greatest place in the world. We kept seeing them so we thought we would try it out....
We were not impressed. It was pretty funny.
The day took a turn for the crazy as we approached Atlanta. We were pretty close to Lora's house and we kept seeing signs warning of ice. Then we began to see wrecks and cars off the road everywhere. We had slowed way down and then hit the traffic which was basically bumper to bumper... everyone going slow to avoid dying and avoiding the accidents that were all over the place. It took us over 3 hours to go the last 20 miles to her house.
We were texting back and forth so she could keep track of where we were and make sure we were still safe.
I have never seen so many accidents and cars off the road in my life.
Finally we got to a point when the traffic let up and we arrived at our exit. There weren't many cars on the smaller road to her house but there were cars pulled off everywhere. In one spot I counted 11 cars. It was really scary and crazy.
We finally go to their house around ten. The girls were asleep but woke up going into the house so we let them play for a little while and we talked to Lora and Jeff. Finally we got the girls to bed.
Doug woke me up at 6am saying that it was much warmer outside and he felt safe leaving so I got up to get everyone ready. We left by about 6:45am.
We accidentally left Maddy's Hello Kitty doll there but Lora was wonderful and mailed it to us a week later. Thanks Lora!
We got McDonalds for breakfast and ate in the car. This would be our pattern for the day. We only left the car for the occasional bathroom stop. We wanted to get past this crazy weather and get home!
As we drove through Tennessee we saw the waterfalls were gone. This is how they looked this time...
We also saw a semi truck that had completely taken out the side of the road barrier keeping you from going over the cliff. It looked like he had driven up on it and rode it for a few hundred yards. It was a crazy accident.
Maddy has a little milk beard...
We ate lunch in the car as well and kept the girls occupied on this long drive with music, their toys, and playing games on Doug's phone...
Abi got her last prize in Indiana- mermaid stickers. She was asleep for Illinois and Wisconsin so I saved those for another time!
It was cold along the way but the weather stayed good for the rest of the trip and then started snowing harder when we got home.
It was so great to be home and the girls had fun playing for a little while before bed.
Next up: some fun extras and final thoughts
