Wild Adventure

Here's a cool photo taken on one of their adventures with Yia Yia. This particular day they went to the Wildlife Safari, per Ellie's request. It looks like Yia Yia was able to contain the wild pretty well!















Other park adventures...

Surprise Visit

This past week we were treated by a visit from Yia Yia. Being so far away after the accident happened was really hard for her. Well, it was hard for all of us. She wasn't able to come for a visit then but suddenly it became a possibility in July. She wanted to come be with us and take care of us, even if she had to endure our July weather**. We of course said yes, come whenever you can! So before we knew it she was here, in person, at our house. The kids were in heaven!

While she was here she had some great quality time with each of the kids individually as well as all together. We also all managed to spend a bit of time at the zoo. We then had Carie's siblings and their families up for dinner, a bon fire, and s’mores one evening. The kids also got some fresh new sand in the sand box! Since Yia Yia always brings Grandpa's truck, I thought why not use it to load up some sand and freshen up the sand box. After nearly 3/4 ton of sand was moved, it is so much nicer. Sure beats paying the delivery fee for such little sand!

Carie and I also got some fantastic quality time together as adults. We got to go out on a date night and we chose to see the new Harry Potter movie. We saw it just days after it had been released and it was still in the big theater. We also managed to get some simple errands (simple without kids in tow, a process with kids in tow) accomplished, enjoyed some retail therapy - for both kids and adults - and got to benefit from some amazing discount coupons in addition to the incredible seasonal sales. We felt relaxed and accomplished!

Then VBS started on Sunday evening. In the past Carie and I've stuck around to help. Last year we even taught during VBS. But this year we just couldn't take on those commitments. We thought about attending the adult class, but couldn't commit to that either. Then with Yia Yia here we decided that the adults would spend some time together while the kids were otherwise occupied. I think that was good for all of us. The kids are having so much fun in VBS. Tonight is the family picnic then they sing in Church on Sunday.

Carie didn't take any vacation time and I only took one day of vacation while her mom was here. With other things going on it didn't seem right to do it any other way. Thankfully it worked out quite well!

Yia Yia packed up and headed out late Tuesday morning. Before she could leave, she and the girls had to finish up one of the many books they were reading. Her next destination is KS for a short visit with her sister. Then she'll head towards home (Oregon) with the plans of returning by Friday evening. It is quite a drive, one that would easily take 3 full days each way for us. Thankfully Yia Yia loves driving so much (and she doesn't have small children to consider) that she can make it in a long 2 days each way.

**The funny thing is... we experienced some incredibly cool weather while she was here. People keep talking about it being unseasonably cool, and it is. But in my opinion, that has been our entire spring and summer. So while we were experiencing wonderfully cool temps here, Grandpa was enduring 100 degree temps back home. I loved it!

Goodbye Day

Today is the day we say our goodbyes. We've loved having them here for so long, but it is still hard to see them go.

Man this sucks!

We kept the girls home from school this morning so they could see them off. Instead of being woken up, rushed through our morning routine, and then out the door to catch the bus they got to take it easy and spend a couple more hours with Grandpa & Yia Yia before taking them to the airport to personally see them off. Hopefully they were able to enjoy their morning! They were quite concerned about missing school.

They may go to school after the airport, and then again they may not. It is their short day at school and Carie is just going to play it by ear. She'll see what time it is and how everyone is doing. Over their 12 day visit, this is the only day that they have missed any amount of school. Between their fall break and weekends, they had 7 full days to spend with them. Today makes day 8 of 12. I think that worked out quite well!

I've contacted the teachers to see what we could do to help them get caught up. I guess we'll see if we have extra homework tonight! At least it is raining and we won't want to be outside. Maybe we'll start another fire in the fireplace tonight. Last night was our first fire of the season and it was nice! Doing homework in front of the fire sounds nice and cozy.

And I fear we are starting a round of sickies. Hopefully Carie's folks are getting out of here just in time! We got a call last night from our BIL to say that Carie's sister was sick with some virus. She is completely down and out. We've spent a good deal of time with them over the past 12 days! Stuff is going around though! Both B&B have had something that kept each of them out of school and come to find out yesterday their Dad has had the crud for 3 weeks. Alexis' (other daycare family) little sister was home with the flu this week and her mom sounds horrible. A couple of nights ago Ellie's sinus stuff kicked into gear, last night Abby started coughing, and I'm most certainly coming down with something. Joy Joy.

Exhausted

I've been quiet for a reason. It feels like we've been going NON-stop.

We have visitors! I had planned on writing about the plans for their visit or the countdown that we all were doing. But the days leading up to their arrival were at least as busy as the days that they have been here. There hasn't been any time for anything but the basics!

And... Let's just say that their travel plans changed frequently along the way. In part due to the excitement, across the board, for their arrival.

Grandpa & Yia Yia are here! Today makes day number 10 and we've got a couple more days to enjoy before their departure. I suspect it will be incredibly hard to say goodbye.

Yia Yia mentioned something about us being happy for them to leave and for our life to get back to normal. I replied that we won't be happy to see them go and normal is all relative. We might not be quite as tired. But there is no guarantee with that! This is just a crazy time of year with a lot going on. I think they'll be more than ready to return to their quiet life!

It has been a really great visit, for everyone I think. The kids have thoroughly enjoyed having them around and spending great time with them. In the first few days of their visit Spencer would wake up and announce with excitement that Grandpa & Yia Yia were still here. Like... hey, they didn't go anywhere overnight!

The timing of their visit was great... for us and for them. Abby & Ellie had a few days off from school where they got to spend their days doing exciting things. We had some great family time together and then they got to go explore with Grandpa and Yia Yia. It also turned out to be a great time for Grandpa & Yia Yia to be able to connect with their friends through events that just happened to be taking place during their visit.

Some of the things we've done over their visit...
- Regular school and pre-school routines.
- Hosted "Family Day" over the past 2 Saturday's
- Watched some fantastic football
- Book reading!
- Card playing... Grandpa & Yia Yia have taught the girls how to play some new - more grown up - card games!
- The adults have also gotten in a lot of games of Hearts. So far I'm still smokin' them! :)
- Grandpa & Yia Yia had lunch with Abby & Ellie at school. They also hung around for recess and got to witness the craziness. Grandpa made a comment about it being "safer at the prison" (where he works) and another older boy overheard his comment. The look on his face was priceless. Too bad we have no idea who the boy was.
- Visited the Children's Zoo on the last day of their season
- Visited Morrill Hall
- Went to the pumpkin patch at our favorite family orchard. We are intentionally skipping the big pumpkin patch this year!
- Grandpa & Yia Yia took the girls on an adventure and went to the drive thru zoo, out to lunch, and who knows what else
- Parent Teacher Conferences for Carie and I... wowza!
- Carie and I helped clean out the PTA storage facility as we prepare for Spooktacular
- Carie and I cleaned out our own storage facility - wow!
- Date night
- Visited the big Zoo
- Hosted some friends of the family
- Family pictures... 8 adults, 4 kids
- Thanksgiving Dinner (as far as Ellie is concerned)
- Birthday celebrations
- Science Experiment involving erupting pop bottles
- Soccer game... Parents vs. Kids
- Soccer party... talk about crazy!
- Numerous craft projects involving new, awesome, and never ending supplies thanks to Yia Yia!
- Bread making... yum!
- Tomato canning

- And various other things that I’m sure I’ve omitted... oh yeah, like PTA conference dinner, craigslist selling, cookie making, baking & decorating. Oh man did we find the best ever sugar cookie recipe!