we are very fortunate to have such beautiful parks in atlanta! one of our favorites is called deepdene park and is part of atlanta’s olmstead linear parks. it’s also right down the road from our house, which makes it even better. these parks were designed by frank olmsted, who also designed central park in new york city, prospect park in brooklyn, the emerald necklace of boston, the biltmore estate in asheville and the nation’s capitol grounds. not a shabby resume!

deepdene features a large field with a surrounding track, as well as 22 acres of canopied forest filled with creeks and bridges for exploring. it’s a lot of fun for both adults and children and a great escape from the surrounding business of atlanta.

– ryan & gub

deepdene park

north ponce de leon avenue ne
atlanta, ga 30307

clementine’s favorite book these days is a little book of sloth by lucy cooke. it’s the cutest book ever! it’s filled with photos of sloths hugging stuffed animals, as well as other sloths, and details on their daily lives. clem has learned a lot from the book and now wants to visit the sloths at the atlanta zoo anytime we head there. if you’re looking for a new book for your children or need a great gift, this book will definitely bring a smile to anyones face. visit slothville for more information and other adorable videos.

by the way, the atlanta zoo recently partnered with animal planet to create a live sloth cam!!! we can now watch these slow-moving animals from the comfort of our laptop.

we were able to find a little book of sloth at the little shop of stories in downtown decatur! this adorable independent children’s bookstore is in the decatur square right next to starbucks. it’s filled with great books and toys for kids of all ages. they also offer story readings, summer camps, book groups and more, so be sure to visit and help keep such independent stores alive!

– ryan

little shop of stories

133 east court square #a,
decatur, ga 30030
404-373-6300

many years ago i decided that i wanted a piano in my house. i was alway envious of friends who had pianos growing up, so i thought it would be fun to have one for my kids. i looked around on craigslist and found lots of options, including many for free. i decided that i was fine investing a little money though, especially to get one in working order. low and behold i found a perfect match! i went with a 1950s piano that was owned by the same family since its original purchase. it looked and sounded great and fit perfectly in the house.

after many years of talking about it, i finally had the piano tuned this summer! i did a little google searching and found piano tuning atlanta by charity, who was awesome to say the least! charity came out and was able to get the piano tuned within a couple of hours. she also showed me the inner workings of my piano and answered questions i had, which was an added bonus. now the piano sounds beautiful, hopefully i will start playing it more!

if you find yourself looking for a piano tuner, i highly recommend piano tuning atlanta by charity!

– ryan

piano tuning atlanta by charity – 770-876-7340

we recently took the kiddos on another camping adventure with some friends! we headed to lake winfield scott recreation area, which was about two hours north of atlanta. the group camp site was super nice and had plenty of room for our crew. the restrooms were clean and close, which was a huge plus, and we could pull right up to our camp site.

we really liked fort mountain state park, but the hike in to the group site was pretty strenuous for our first family camping trip. not to mention the bear siting and the outhouse!

we pretty much just stuck around the camp site during our outing. others went swimming at the lake, however it was so peaceful around the campfire with the kids napping, we decided to stick around.

i would say we got a lot better at packing and organizing for this camping trip. it’s hard to tell what you will definitely need for kid-friendly camping on your first outing, so we ended up bringing way too much last time.

we cooked group meals on this trip, which made it easy only having to plan for a couple meals versus the entire weekend. it was nice having an evening where you did not have to deal with cooking!

although we will most likely continue trying out other campgrounds, we would definitely head back to lake winfield scott!

– ryan & gub

lake winfield scott recreation area

lake winfield scott road
suches, georgia 30572
706-754-6221

i drove by this mural the other day and thought it looked like an old disney animation cell!

– ryan

there is a new crepe & coffee shop in inman park called julianna’s. it’s in the basement of a 110+ year old home and features a quant little setting for some caffeine and sweets. besides crepes, julianna’s also serves dancing goats coffee and sells local goodies, including handmade soaps from mama and local jams & jellies!

i wouldn’t say it was the best crepe i’ve ever had, but julianna’s has a super cute atmosphere and is a great option if you are craving some sweets!

– ryan

julianna’s coffee & crepes

775 lake avenue ne,
atlanta, ga 30307
404-436-1825

i was in condesa coffee not too long ago and took a liking to the artwork on display by sunflowerman. they were just small watercolor paintings on torn out pages from books, but i liked the style quite a bit.

after a little more research, i learned sunflowerman is actually a design agency, not just one artist. they are based out of atlanta and focus on men’s fashion illustration. (i kept picturing the j peterman catalog when reading their bio!) you can order custom paintings and view more artwork on their website.

in case you’ve never been, condesa is another local option for coffee in atlanta. they are known for handbrewing coffee with chemex coffeepots, and also for serving beer and wine. i’d say condesa isn’t as good as dancing goats, but they are still a great local place for coffee treats!

– ryan

condesa coffee

480 john wesley dobbs avenue ne #100
atlanta, ga 30312
404-524-5054

i have officially been in atlanta for ten years now. this fresh young face moved to town in july 2003 to start working on homestar runner with some friends.

– ryan

i had a nice birthday this year. gub and i went to the grant park six feet under for some seafood and cocktails. we ate on their upstairs patio overlooking historic oakland cemetery. it’s definitely one of the better patio views in the city!

after eating, we went for a stroll through oakland cemetery. somehow neither one of us had been to this beautiful atlanta landmark. as we went leave though, we discovered we were locked inside. fortunately we were able to find our way out, otherwise we would have been scaling a fence!

i also hit up the grand slam golf & baseball on my birthday. as the name implies, they have both batting cages (baseball & softball) and a double decker driving range. it was some good ole’ fashioned fun!

– ryan

six feet under grant park

437 memorial drive se
atlanta, ga 30312
404-523-6664

historic oakland cemetery

248 oakland avenue se
atlanta, ga 30312
404-249-5000

grand slam golf & baseball

3352 north druid hills road
decatur, ga 30033
404-636-0406

over the last year or so we’ve tried quite a few of batdorf & bronson’s locally-roasted coffees. we tend to stick with single-origin, central & south american beans for their crisp and fruity flavors. these coffees also brew really well in our chemex setup, so it’s fun sampling new varieties!

here are the beans we tried along with their batdorf & bronson descriptions:
costa rica: cerro del fuego – crisp & fruity; pineapple, honey, macadamia nut
mexico: organic el triunfo – creamy & bright; orange blossom, caramel, chocolate
nicaragua: isabelia – balanced & sweet; black cherry, cocoa, cinnamon
guatemala: antigua – elegant & intense; chocolate, rum raisin, caramel
columbia: estrella del sur – citrus blossom; vanilla, almonds, dried fruit
columbia: monserrate – gala apples, blood oranges
dancing goats blend – bold & toasty; almond, chocolate, and spice
skye’s mountain blend – velvety & lush; raspberry, herbs, sugar
nicaragua: finca san jose – tropical & jasmine; lush body, hints of fruit punch sweetness

our favorites were the monserrate, which was one of their voyager coffees, the finca san jose, and the el triunfo. none of these are available regularly though, so we tend to go with the cerro del fuego and estrella del sur when we buy batdorf & bronson beans.

you can find these delicious coffees at the dancing goats in decatur or the new dancing goats in ponce city market. the decatur location has a wider selection of beans however.

– ryan

dancing goats decatur (better selection)

419 west ponce de leon ave
decatur, ga 30030
404-687-1100

dancing goats ponce city market

675 north avenue
atlanta, ga 30308
404-874-0370