Grammy and Papa's Visit!

What a wonderful couple of weeks we had with Grammy and Papa in town!  We feel so blessed that they'd take time away to come and be with us for two whole weeks twice a year-- it's always a party and full of awesome memories and good times.  My favorite part of my visit with my parents is always at the very beginning when I sit down with them and talk about all of the fun plans I have in store!  I typically have a few sites or events I'd like to take them to-- soccer games, tournaments, a hike on the beach (Torey Pines)  or near our home (Tooth Rock), a new ice cream shop (HANDELS!), street fair, farmer's market.   I also typically have projects in mind that I think would be fun to accomplish.  This time around, I was hoping my dad would help the boys to plant a garden!  And I was hoping he'd help them get the gear they needed in order to go fishing and actually TAKE them fishing at Lake Poway!  I think my Dad thought I was asking a lot with my idea to plant a garden, but he was an awesome sport and carried the plan out.  The boys and all of us are enjoying the fruits-- literally-- of the garden my dad helped us to plant.  We loved working outside, pulling up weeds and cleaning up the side yard.  It was so much fun.  The boys enjoyed fishing, although I have no pics to prove it, and unfortunately, no fish were caught either!

As for my mom and I-- we hung a clip board wall and mounted a cool vinyl in my kitchen nook.  We baked all sorts of goodies (brownie ice cream, strawberry shortcake, chocolate ice cream, hawaiian haystacks, fried rice), learned how to cook with an insta-pot, planned a fun Cinco De Mayo party, s'mores bar, and then just shopped around and had lunch out every day!  My parents took each child on a little date- which they all adored.  Dane to pick out gardening supplies and Pick up Stix, Grant to pick out fishing supplies and then Panda Express, Anna to pick out her birthday present (LOL's) and then chick fil-a and Evelyn to get her nails done and CPK.  Afterwards, they all took their turn going back to my parents' condo to play card games.  I love this tradition we started last December.  Because my parents don't get as many opportunities to bond with my kids so it's important to take every opportunity when they are in town!

One of the best parts of their trip was our overnight stay in Hollywood to do Universal Studios one last time before our tickets expired!  We had such a blast and loved every minute.  Blake even surprised us and bought a ticket and met us there!!! He had the day off, but I didn't think he'd want to bother driving all the way up.  It was so fun to have him there:)  On my parents last day we enjoyed visiting the PQ street fair where Blake has a booth every year.  It was so sad to see them go because we had such an amazing two weeks!!!!!!  So grateful for my wonderful parents and the joy they bring into my life.