Tattoo for You?

If I ever wanted a tattoo, I'd have trouble deciding on what picture to ink permanently into my skin. But now I can cross that difficult decision-making process off my list of things to worry about, because Monday I visited the world's biggest tattoo design showcase: White Water.

I think my family and I were the only people in the place without tattoos. Talk about being marginalized. White Water patrons put tattoos in every margin of their bodies. Piercings, too. And with everyone walking around in bathing suits (many of them having no business doing so), I had every opportunity to view my potential tattoo options. Tramp stamps. Sleeves. Blue-inked messages inscribed in memory of some deceased relative. They were all out there for my examination. Sabra and I even saw one tattoo we thought was supposed to be inspiring, but we weren't exactly sure: "To keep up means to get up." Hmm. The owner of that jewel gets to display it on her left shoulder for the rest of her life! Imagine how many times she'll have to explain it. No need for me to bring a book. I just people watched.

And I slid. Okay, sometimes I just floated down the lazy river, but I put in my fair share of slipping and sliding through tubes, tunnels, and tracks. And I didn't even lose my sunglasses.

The person who got all the goodie out of that park was Lawson Remler, who only stopped for lunch. We remained at White Water from open to close, and Lawson spent all but one hour of it sliding first on his front and then on his back. Up and down, in and out, under and over. He dragged his father along with him the whole way. They even took multiple trips down the intimidating Tornado, which hurled patrons through a giant funnel. Lawson thought it was a gas. Stephen bruised his butt.

But White Water wasn't the only thrilling experience of our recent whirlwind trip to Atlanta:

Lawson got to see the Big Chicken.

We also ate at the hip, fun FLIP Burger Boutique, which not only serves the cutest array of small burgers, but also fabulous milkshakes. We opted for the Nutella and burnt marshmallow flavor. Yum!

Also, Stephen took his first trip to Trader Joe's. Oh, why can't we have one in Savannah? Someone once told me the reason had to do with difficult distribution to our part of the state. I don't get it. Isn't that what I-16 is for? We got our favorite Goddess dressing, and we tried to get JoJo her favorite Two Buck Chuck wine. Alas, it was Sunday. But we did find some ice cream she might like. If it wouldn't have melted on the way home, we would have gotten her a carton. Maybe next time, JoJo.

Many thanks to Sabra, Martin and Elizabeth for hosting our fun, fabulous family trip to the Big A.