Atlanta!

The second stop of our six weeks in the States was the Macby Drive Hyatt, also known as Angel's parents' house. This is the ultimate relaxation destination. Our two weeks there were spent sleeping in, enjoying the pool, getting back into a workout schedule (Nick), collecting more baby items, narrowing our list of baby names, and running errands to collect all of the valuable items that you can't find in the Middle East.

Here is the pregnant swimsuit model who has accompanied me throughout our travels. Her bump continues to grow, as well as wiggle and kick - which is one of the most exciting things for a dad to be to see.

You may also notice the hind legs of an expert water sportsman in the background. Notice the experienced stance as I attempt to tame the Bean, an inflatable ab workout device turned pool toy which is nearly impossible to ride while floating in the water.

We had a lot of fun hanging out with Angel's family. Here Angel's brother Paul shares a dip in the pool with his dog Riley. Both are a lot of fun to hang out with, but one is better with the family cats than the other.

A family outing to the Braves game where we were surprised by the arrival of Angel's sister Elle who lives in Colorado Springs. As some surprises go, everyone found out through different means that she was coming before she ever showed up.

Angel enjoyed a baby shower thrown by her sister Anne Marie, mother Moira, and good friend Sara.

We visited Angel's childhood friend Renee and met little Owen for the first time.

Finally, after a busy stay in Chicago we eventually got to celebrate our anniversary in Atlanta just two weeks after the actual date. We celebrated by going out to a restaurant called the Woodfire Grill. We heard about it through the TV show Top Chef because one of our favorite contestants from last season is the head chef. We enjoyed a four course gourmet meal unlike one we've had before. Here the menu changes every day because the kitchen only uses the freshest ingredients. We enjoyed a cold cucumber gazpacho soup with a cantaloupe froth, salmon tartare, pork belly with miniature clams, and melon sashimi with ginger and wasabi. We'd never tried any of these before that night and probably wouldn't have ordered them at any other restaurant, but they all ended up tasting delicious.

When our waiter found out that we were fans of Top Chef he came back with this signed picture from Kevin, the chef we really liked and co-owner of the restaurant. At the end of the meal our waiter surprised us with some truffles as a gift for our anniversary.

While I'm not really one to cherish autographs, getting the signed picture was a fun memory to add to our fifth anniversary. Also, for those who are wondering, yes, my shirt does say "I swam with the sharks," and yes, I really did. Pretty impressive don't you think? Too bad this manly activity is counteracted by a t-shirt that makes me look like a 12 year old.