For the three day weekend my dad came up with Ethan and Rachel. The kids were SO excited. We also got more firewood! Whoohoo firewood! (We are regulars at using the fireplace especially since I am not big on the cold or turning up the heater.) They arrived Saturday afternoon right as John and I were getting all the Christmas stuff put back in the attic along with some other stuff to be stored. All the boys wanted to do was play basketball and they drug Ethan and Rachel into as many games as they could. We did get the firewood unloaded, trampoline put up (Papaw and Grandma bought the kids a new one for Christmas and John and I got straps to hold it down), and played more basketball in one day than I think even professionals play.
The kids had fun and loved every minute of it. I wasn’t thinking and didn’t get pictures of the basketball games or jumping on the trampoline. Sunday morning the kids pleaded with my dad to stay another day. My dad was heading back overseas for work on Tuesday and needed to get a few things done at home first. John even tried to convince them that he probably also wanted to spend some time with Grandma before he had to leave. Their response “We never get to see you and you’ve already gotten to spend time with Grandma.” They hung out all day Sunday, went to Mass with us that evening, and went out to dinner before heading home. I think that was a very nice compromise on Papaw’s part. I did shoot a few picks at the restaurant while we were waiting. The flash was terrible on the IPhone. Eli is not in the picture because he was pouting about not being able to sit right next to Papaw where Caleb was. Caleb was there first, but Eli thought it was not fair. I didn’t get another shot when they moved around and Eli was sitting next to Dad.
When we said our good-byes after dinner and we got our kids into the car, you would have thought the kids thought they would never see them again. Ian was crying saying I want them to stay. Everyone was upset, pouting about something. Well, not Makaela. Rachel gave her a new purse that the Aunties had found when they were out shopping, so Makaela was happy playing with her new purse. When we got home I took pictures of her so we could send a thank you to the Aunts. The first was her “thank you” look. The second I said “look cute” and that is what I got. Such a ham!!! The purse has a pink Chihuahua on it, so Makaela put her “Bob” in it to take pictures.
Next time I guess Papaw and Ethan are going to have to going away gifts for the boys, so we don’t have a melt down when they leave.