Sundays in My City

These pictures are from last Sunday spent at the Georgia Aquarium...

Once again, thanks to the Unknown Mami for hosting Sundays in the City.

Six Word Saturday & He Said/She Said

Six Word Saturday

Pain can lead to incredible gains!

This week featured: a trip to Atlanta where it rained 75% of the time; a $700 car repair; which was followed by an overnight 18 hour drive to Canada.   


Since last Saturday we have visited Zoos, Aquariums and Museums.  I posted pictures from the Zoo on Wednesday and pictures from the Aquarium will be up tomorrow however, the highlite from the Atlanta trip was this priceless moment with my not so brave boys...






Don't think I am not saving this clip to show to their first girlfriends. 


On Wednesday/Thursday we drove overnight where I got to pull an all-nighter driving so that we could travel while the kids were sleeping.  The kids arrived and within minutes were playing with their Papa...






All in all, while the travel part was painful, the vacation part has been an absolute joy so far...It is nice to have this much family time.


For those visiting from Six Word Saturday - some background on He Said/She Said - 
One of the regular features I do every week here on Touristic is one called He Said/ She Said where my wife Heather and I write about the same topic on our respective blogs (hers is called www.ActingBalanced.com).  It has been fun for us to virtually argue.  

He Said/ She Said

Heather and I along with our three kids survived an 18 hour drive to Canada this week.  One of our topics of conversation during the trip was about me doing some writing on her blog.  I have guest posted there previously but this was more of a lets do something regularly conversation.  Here is why this is a good idea from my perspective.


Heather is an amazing mom, wife and blogger - I started blogging originally on Touristic in order to support her interest and have come to enjoy doing it. Heather does a great job on www.ActingBalanced.com. I love reading her blog and getting her perspective on many things that we do not always talk about (For some strange reason, we do not sit around the dining room table discussing product reviews).  Heather's blog has grown tremendously over the past two years and I am very proud of the work that she does with it.

As her blog and our family has grown however, it has become increasingly difficult for Heather to keep up with her blog.  This is where I come in.  Further, as Heather has grown www.ActingBalanced.com, I have become intrigued with her world.  I think I would enjoy the challenge of writing for Heather's blog, especially if I can lighten some of her load in the process.  Over the past year I have loved writing on Touristic.  The challenge with Touristic is that I really do want to keep it as a personal blog. Writing for Heather's blog will allow me to expand my repetoir  while preserving the original intent and spirit of Touristic.  I also think that I can bring more balance to www.ActingBalanced.com so Heather doesn't have to act so much.

So in summary:

1. I will write two or three posts a week on www.ActingBalanced.com;
2. Touristic will stay the same though I may not write everyday on it (I will probably skip Tuesdays); and
3. Heather will finally have someone to keep her balanced - well sort of....

To read Heather's perspective on this, click here.

Friday Fragments and Four Fill in Fun Friday

Once again thanks to Mrs. 4444's and Beachie for hosting the hops,

First, Follow Friday Four Fill-In Fun

1. There never seems to be a lack of greed in the world.

2. I love to have time to read to book cover to cover

3. I could make a mountain outta a mole hill - but I won't

4. The last time I slept until 7:00 AM, I did a happy dance.
Now onto Friday Fragments:

• Heather and I were talking about me writing more on her blog - www.actingbalanced.com. I would write some reviews, participate in some of the hops for her as well as writing general content.  What do you all think of the idea?
• On a related note: This would mean I would do a little less with Touristic.  Does this matter to anyone?

• After a marathon 18 hour drive - we have finally arrived in Toronto.  It was grueling but the overnight drive is worth it.  It has been a long time since I have seen the sun set, stayed up all night and saw the sun rise again.  I am actually feeling a little young for being able to do so.
• On a related note:  A special thanks to 5 Hour Energy and Red Bull.  We could not have made it without you.

• The kids were shy for about two milliseconds.  Then they were off playing with their Papa.

• On a related note: Erik is not used to busy city streets.  It is already a workout convincing him that he just can not run into the street.

• The weather is beautiful in Toronto.  Feels nice not to have 90%+ humidity even if it is just for a day or two.
• On a related note:  I am thinking of taking the kids camping next week but upon arrival we saw the gas prices.  Really over $5.00 a gallon for gas?  It is going to take over $100 to fill our tank.  Considering we paid $3.03 a gallon leaving Charleston, the sticker shock is killer. 

• Last weekend we took a mini-vacation to Atlanta.  On Wednesday, I posted pictures from the Atlanta Zoo.  I will be posting pictures from the Georgia Aquarium on Sunday.  The third place we visited in Atlanta was the Coke Museum.  Just so it doesn't feel left out, here are a couple pictures from it...

• On a related note: I got to add a new Coke T Shirt to my collection.  I added a shirt from Egypt.  It is ice cold cool - a nice pun if you ask me.

I Can Think on Thursday

I have a new blog hop I am trying that seems to be down my alley a little...  Thanks to Brenda for coming up and hosting this hop.  This Week's prompt is: Your Life

If you could start over, what would you be doing right now, 

I am lucky enough to know that if I could start over I would not change a thing.  I have a job I love in a location that is fabulous both for lifestyle and for work purposes.  This is what my daily view walking to work looks like:

I have a great wife and three amazing kids.  

All of the trials and tribulations that have happened in my life, I know have happened in order to make me a better person.  I am a lucky individual and I know it.

Newsworthy Thursday

I don't know if this is truly newsworthy but these are my not so brave sons at the Atlanta Zoo this past weekend.  It was fun to see...

Wordless Wednesday

These are from our trip to Atlanta this past weekend.  The best part of the experience was seeing the tiger at play.  It was phenomenal to see...

Come back Sunday to see some great Georgia Aquarium pictures...

YouTube Tuesday

We are finally leaving for our road trip to Canada tomorrow.  Here are a couple of clips to get us ready...