papa/nana 4th of july weekend

Papa and Nana have had an extremely busy summer. Helping kids move. Helping out with newborns. Opening their home to people needing a place to stay in Boston. Over the 4th of July weekend they came to town to visit with us and (hopefully) relax a bit.

Because they flew in from different cities we had about 2.5 hours to kill between pick-ups. Papa arrived first so we ate some pizza at Minsky's and then walked around the temple until it was time to pick up Nana.

 Will took some artsy shots of the adults talking

Papa and Nana had been apart for a few weeks so they were excited to see each other.

The first day they were here was the 4th. We invited a few friends from our ward over and they helped us pick a few last-minute groceries and clean up our back porch in preparation for the festivities.

On the way home from watching the fireworks Will proclaimed it was the best day of his life. By the time we got home it was almost 11pm. Everyone was beat. We had a few things we wanted to do Saturday, but decided we would play it by ear and see what everyone was up to doing the next day.

 
We walked over to the park in the morning and just as we were loading in the van to head to the splash park Anthony got a call that only one guy had shown up to help a new family move into the ward. Change of plans--Doug and Anthony went to help at the move and Tina and I took the kids to play.

The kids had a fun time running around in the water and Tina and I enjoyed chatting for a bit. Will got in and ran through the water, much to my surprise. On previous visits he stuck to the periphery of the park. We decided his swimming lessons must have made him feel more comfortable with getting water in his face.

After grabbing some BBQ for lunch we stayed around the house. Nana played with the kids and Doug made us a veggie/meat spaghetti dinner.

After dinner we finally had enough energy to go to the Plaza and explore. Shakespeare in the Park was going on that weekend so it took us awhile to find a place to park and we ended up walking more than we anticipated.

Standing in front of an iconic Shuttlecock on the lawn of the Nelsen-Atkins Museum.

The kids had a great time playing a race-freeze game with Nana and Papa. Pretty much they would all start running and as soon as Nana or Papa got anywhere close to Will he would make them freeze.

Fountains!

It was a pretty humid night and we heard some pretty menacing thunder. We decided ice cream would be the perfect way to end the night. Unfortunately, about 15 people thought the exact same thing and got in line at Coldstone immediately before we did.

Good things come to those who wait.

The next day was Sunday. Church. Naps. Dinner. Then time to take Papa to the airport.

Papa taught Will how to tie knots. Will has been trying to tie piggy tails all over everything ever since. Unfortunately he has yet to completely master the skill.

Nana made cookies with the kids when we got back from the airport. The kids tried their hardest to steal as much dough as possible.

The cookies were delicious. After we put the kids to bed we watched the Mormon movie The Saratov Approach and then went to bed.

Monday morning we headed to the Deanna Rose Farmstead. There are animal feed vending machines located all around the farm with pellets you can feed to the various animals. That is probably my kids favorite part of the farm experience.

Will's favorite animals to feed are the goats. His main objective on this trip was to show Nana how he can feed them right out of his hand.

 We couldn't leave the fish out of our feeding frenzy.

 Just looking at the mountain lion. Nothing for guests to feed there.

 Feeding baby goats in a pen.

 Riding a "horse."

For special Nana treated us to ice cream. Lauren was a big fan.

That night we ate a light dinner and showed Nana one of our favorite pools. After we put the kids to bed we tried to find something interesting to watch on Amazon Prime and ended up watching a strange show about the secrets of the Tower of London. It wasn't worth our time and we ended up talking and heading to bed.

Tuesday we took Nana to the library. It was their annual outdoor summer activity--digging, bubbles, chalk, worms, etc.

For her last night in town Nana generously treated us to a fun dinner at the T-Rex Cafe. After dinner we did a little shopping (can't go to the outlets without at least looking).

The kids weren't quite sure what to think of the monstous T-Rex.

The next morning the kids and I drove Nana to the airport so she could get back to helping Meredith with her twins. Will was in a bad mood all morning and wouldn't talk to us because he was sad Nana was leaving. A bit annoying, but nice to see that he loves his grandma.

Thanks for coming to visit us!