Wonderful Weekend

My Grandpa Rick and Becky took a trip to come see us last weekend. It was great to spend some time with them, have some fun, and give them a better idea of where we live. The biggest [never-ending!] challenge of moving to Texas for me has been being away from my family. However, I will acknowledge that it's wonderful spending quality time with family anytime someone comes to visit. I probably haven't spent a solid 24 hours with my grandpa since I was just a little kid and my parents dropped me off at their house for a night of sanity. Our visits to Idaho always seem overwhelming and rushed. Yet, there is no battle for time when I have them all to myself. So what I'm saying is...I despise the distance between us, but I suppose the trade off for quality time is a sufficient remedy. 

Anyway, per the usual for grandparent reputation, we were spoiled all weekend. We visited The Downtown Aquarium. I fed a stingray. It was a totally weird sensation. Neither Lyla or Max were interested in that experience, but they did enjoy the rest of the exhibits. We took them to Top Golf, which has become a necessary tourist stop for all Texas visitors. I always describe it to people as a driving range on steroids. We took them to Chuy's for the ultimate Tex-Mex experience. And we were even able to sneak over to Old Town Spring during nap time. We found a little quilt shop and I thought Becky was going to pee her pants upon excitement. Luckily, I came prepared with diapers. 

The kids were in the midst of battling colds, but they managed to keep fairly cheerful attitudes for the duration of their visit. Lyla gave a full Frozen performance, which is always a sure way to bring a smile to everyone's face  --- especially for anyone over the age of 60. Ha! I know my grandpa worries about me often and I think it gave him some comfort to see that we are living well and raising our family in a safe area. 

We took a trip down memory lane by looking at photos from 10+ years ago. That made me feel old. I discovered Becky has a plethora of photos from my wedding, which made me really really happy since I wasn't exactly satisfied with the outcome from the photographer I hired. I'm hard to please though, so that's my own issue. 

Also, they fixed my central vacuum. I sucked up baby doll clothes  a few weeks ago and determined it was broken beyond repair. At this point, it doesn't take a lot of effort for me or Kirk to embrace the broken belongings in our life, but apparently we were wrong about the vacuum. Yay! My grandpa is the type of guy who can't stand to see anything broken, much like my dad, who managed to find a couple repair projects as well during his visit last year. I think it probably gives them both some sort of fatherly-role fulfillment that they haven't felt since Kaili turned into a real boy. I mean adult. 

Overall, we enjoyed their company and their trip was over all too soon. I'm so grateful they came to see us. I'm a lucky lucky girl. Hopefully they will return for a second round of fun in Texas!

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