We woke early, but I slept through my 4:40am alarm. Thankfully, Bonnie woke to hers and woke me about 5:15am. I was getting up early as I had breakfast duty today -- breakfast burritos! Yum! Thanking my last-night self for chopping up the veggies and prepping everything, breakfast didn't take too long.
First stop--the Atlanta Georgia temple! For members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the temple is God's house--a sacred place where we make sacred covenants to follow God and dedicate our lives to Him and His Kingdom.
Touching the Temple
It's a bit smaller than we'd anticipated, but still lovely.
I don't know what caption to write here. I like these kiddos though!
Playing a bit on the front lawn. I know no grass hill that can avoid being rolled down by a child!
A lovely, small Nativity set up on the grounds.
Bonnie and I took turns going in while the other had the kids. While I was in the temple, she took the kids to a nearby park!
There was a pretty lake there along with some playground areas in the trees.
They also had one of these awesome book-share things!
Amy knew just what to do.
They came back, picked me up, and we went to SunTrust park! Home of the Atlanta Braves! Some cool tidbits about this ballpark. It was completed just a year and a half ago and is the newest park in MLB. It cost well over $600 million to build. It has state of the art systems under the field that suck the water out so it doesn't get too wet, uses oxygen pipes to control the temperature, and of course, sprinklers to water the lawn. The grass they use is the same as in Minute Maid park, home of the Astros, and Tropicana field, home of the Tampa Bay Rays. It's extremely expensive grass, but it's about the best you can get as well. It's only used in these locations because they're the few climates it can grow in!
Tours begin at the Right Field gate. And this was not one of my finer selfie moments! Sorry Benjo!
A nosebleed panoramic of the stadium. There are a number of free-roam areas in the stadium where, no matter your ticket, you can go to to watch the game. Up high in right field is one of them.
It turns out the Braves are the longest continually running team in baseball, going back to 1871 in Boston! They're not the oldest team, but all other teams have had interruptions of some sort. The Braves team hasn't missed a season... well, except the baseball strike, but they don't count that since every team missed that time period. In their stadium, they have a museum celebrating great players of their past. One of my favorites as a child was Dale Murphy... mostly because he was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and I thought that was cool! 👌
Dale Murphy won the National League MVP two years in a row in 1982 and 1983!
And of course, one of the most famous Braves, Home Run King Hank Aaron. He hit 755 home runs in his career! That record still holds in the eyes of most Braves fans. Technically Barry Bonds beat it, but he also was found guilty of using steroids.
He was standing on the dugout practicing his home run swing!
In the Braves dugout. It's a pretty spacious one!
Our family on the warning track behind home plate.
You'll notice out behind right-center field there's a number of buildings. This is called "The Battery" and is the only commercial center strategically built simultaneously with the ball-field. There is a hotel with rooms that deliberately look out over the field. Even the swimming pool is located with a view of the field so visitors can catch a game if they wish. The Braves own both the stadium and the commercial center, which in its own right cost over another $500 million to build!
The Fox Sports broadcast area just outside the stadium. I love the big baseball in the background!
They had a great Christmas tree set up!
There was a large turf area with fountains around it where we played and played. Fountains are always a hit!
We played a lot of tag on this turf area and there was an adorable little girl named Nayla (sp?) who started playing with us! And girl, she was FAST! I had to put some real effort into tagging her at one point! Bonnie and Sierra, Nayla's mom, started chatting and have I mentioned how I love the South? People are so friendly here! She was delightful!
A selfie of us with Sierra and Nayla
See how cute this girl is?! We asked her how old she is and she insisted she's 29! She's 3--going on 29 perhaps!--and she turns 4 at the end of this month. So much spunk in this little girl. As we parted ways walking toward our car, Eliza said "I'm just all cuted out by her. She's just SO cute!"
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