10th Anniversary Surprise!

In October, my parents visited us in Katy to see Connor and Kaitlynn at one of their fall football/cheer games. They usually visit once per season, so it was nothing out of the ordinary for them to make the trip. Each time they visit, we make sure to visit our favorite restaurant, Lupe Tortilla, for the awesome beef fajitas. But on this occasion, we ended up celebrating another surprise. Jeff pulled out some paperwork and said, "Surprise! We're going to Atlanta tomorrow to visit your brother and to see the Texans play!"

As it turns out, Jeff had been collaborating with my parents for several months to coordinate a surprise anniversary trip! He managed to book the flights, purchase the game tickets, and plan for a visit with my brother and his wife Charlotte -- all without me having a clue about the entire thing! I think I was so caught off guard that my reaction to the surprise trip wasn't exactly what Jeff was hoping for. Let's be honest, planning a trip for a PLANNER can't be easy. When he revealed his plans, all I could do was think through the thousand things I needed to take care of. But to Jeff's credit, he had already taken care of most everything. I had to wrap up some things for work and get myself packed, and then we were off on our trip to Atlanta!

At the airport heading to Atlanta. So excited to get away!

Jeff was so thoughtful to include Ben and Charlotte in on our trip. He knew I would love visiting and spending time with them, and he planned for them to attend the Texans game with us. Our beloved Houston Texans were visiting the Atlanta Falcons, and Jeff managed to get amazing front row seats for us. So awesome! We couldn't wait for the big game.

Arriving downtown for the big game.

Quick pic at CNN on the walk to the stadium.

Here's the view of the Atlanta stadium right next to where they were building the new Mercedes Benz stadium.

Jeff and I before the game outside the stadium.

Photo of Charlotte and me.

Here was the view in front of the new Atlanta stadium. Interesting foreshadowing note as our Katy Texans team is transitioning to the Falcons instead...

Ben and Jeff

My brother and I.

Finally, we made it to our seats.

 

Notice our mixed drinks. A little sneakiness never hurt anyone! ;-)

Charlotte and Ben in their seats.

We were SO excited to be at the game and in these awesome seats!

In true Texans fashion, our team was all hype. There was so much buildup for a good game against the Falcons, but the Texans played TERRIBLE. It was so bad that we were soon being heckled by the crowd, no thanks to Jeff who was quite intense on the front row. In order to blow off some steam, Jeff soon noticed the Falcons mascot and began doing some heckling himself. He started calling the mascot a chicken and making "bock bock bock!" noises at him. It didn't take long for the mascot to notice Jeff in his Texans gear.

Jeff heckling the Falcons mascot.

Well before we knew it, the Falcons mascot had heard enough of Jeff and decided to give it right back to him. That bird scaled the wall and climbed right up into the stands to have a go at Jeff! It was so funny!!

Scaling the wall!

You want a piece of this??

Giving Jeff a piece of his mind, I mean, beak!!

The crowd got quite a laugh out of the whole scene between Jeff and the chicken, I mean, Falcon! Unfortunately, our Texans continued to stink it up on the field. By halftime we were losing 42-0. It was horrible! Jeff proceeded to spiral into a funk and may or may not have said some mean things toward my beloved J.J. Watt. He ended up having to take some walks around the stadium to cool off. What can I say, we take our football seriously!

As the Falcons score continued to climb, the mascot came back to look for Jeff.

He was REALLY rubbing it in (riding the Texans bull!)

That may have gone down as one of the Texans' worst losses of all time. Not exactly how Jeff had hoped it would go. The night didn't end so well but in the morning it was a new day and we were ready to have some fun with Ben in Atlanta.

We enjoyed a nice breakfast and then rode the Atlanta metro train to see some of the city. We ended up downtown, walked around a bit, and then visited the World of Coke museum for a fun tour and yummy samples of my favorite beverage!

Riding the train.

In one of the train stations, this was the longest escalator I'd ever seen!

World of Coke with my brother.

In the lobby before the tour.

The vault where the recipe of Coke is stored. Shhh, it's a secret!

We really enjoyed the 4-dimensional show during the tour.

Our trip to Atlanta was such a neat surprise and a great way to celebrate our 10th anniversary (one month early). So thankful to Jeff, Ben, and Charlotte for such a fun time!