Grammy & Grandpa Visit in July!!

We were so excited to have Grammy and Grandpa visit!!!  They came out on Thursday evening and left on Tuesday morning, leaving us lots of time to do some fun things, relax, and join forces on some house projects ;)  Here we are enjoying donuts on a Sunday morning :)

One of the first mornings of their visit we went for a walk to show them our new neighborhood and park.  We were surprised by the indentation at the top of this large hill next to the park.  In the winter, kids use this hill to go sledding - something to look forward to in the coming months!

It's always fun playing with Grammy!!

What a cool home they built for the dinosaurs!

Early birthday presents for Ava, our "little princess".

Grammy showing Jameson some family heirloom plates she brought for us.

During their visit, Rob and grandpa tackled the rather overwhelming project of organizing the garage. 

After doing a bunch of work at home, we deserved some food and drink out on the town :)

We hit up a couple of local breweries that we hadn't taken Grammy and Grandpa to before.

Love these faces!  Can't believe we got them captured on camera!

Check out that little tongue!  I didn't even know he could do that on command until posting this pic!

And, of course, with it being summer we had to hit up an ice cream shop in Old Town, too!!

Ava loving her princess costume.

A princess and her...hmm, dinosaur.

Peekaboo!  She and Jameson love making forts.

Dinner out at Coopersmith's in Old Town. We're guessing this is Jameson telling us how many french fries he'd like for dinner...

Blurry, but still captures the moment :)

Grandpa admiring the kids' chalk artwork.

Grammy and grandpa helped with house projects all the way up until the end of their stay.  This morning before leaving to pick up their car rental and head into the mountains for the second part of their trip, they helped hang a sun sail shade.  With how intense the sun gets here, it was a lifesaver for our second half of summer!  We loved having them here and can't wait for the next visit!

Sibling fun in the spring

Those moving boxes have gotten a lot of use!!!

Jameson starts chasing Ava around the house and she turns off to the laundry room.  Jameson keeps running around looking for her.  Rob goes to check on Ava.  He finds her sitting very still in the corner and wonders/asks "Are you hiding?"  Her response "from brother."  LOL!  This was the first time we'd really seen her play hide and seek.

Kids have been having a lot of fun with the tent in the background - both inside and outside.

A trip to the farm near Old Town with their friend, Abby.

Jameson overseeing the women drivers...hehe.

Decorating cupcakes at a friend's birthday party (at the clubhouse across the street from our old house - same clubhouse where we had Jameson's 2nd birthday).

Some sibling love.

Swings in our neighborhood next to the pool

Sibling love in the shopping cart at Lowes.

Fun at the Children's Discovery Museum in Old Town Fort Collins.

Oops...how did this end up in here...Jameson's potty dance caught on camera.  (I was shocked when I flipped back through my photos and discovered I got a perfect shot of it!)

Teamwork in the new toddler section at the museum.

Our first time up at the Budweiser brewery.  They had the Clydesdale horses in town and all rigged up for a little parade.

They have loved climbing this wall this spring.  I was in a bit of shock when I looked out the window from the kitchen and first saw them doing it, but equally impressed with Ava following her brother's lead.  She would reach the top and say, "I did it!"

A couple trips to the zoo this spring.

Goofing around in the backyard on filter fabric (weed barrier) as daddy prepped the space for a new playhouse.

Ava excited for the playhouse which daddy started putting together on the deck before moving to the far back corner of the yard.

Emma loves it, too!  Unfortunately, the kids often forget that she's in there with them and they'll leave having closed the door behind them.  I later hear a sad dog crying from the far back corner of the yard.

MI in May

A view of the Lake as Ava and I approached Michigan.  We were taking a girls' trip to celebrate Everett's baptism and Penelope's birthday which happened to be on the same weekend.  Rob and Jameson enjoyed a boys' weekend at home.  We would all be flying out to MI later in July for a family reunion, so to save money we decided that the boys and girls would separate for the weekend.  Ava and I would go as Ava still flies for free :)

As soon as we arrived, it was straight to the playroom with Penelope.

Papa was in charge :)

Penelope's birthday morning started out with a preview of the party cupcakes Natalie made for later that day.

Penelope excited to turn 2!

Tea party time.

Another round!

Chasing bubbles outside.

Playing a little ball.

Chasing each other around the front yard.

Cousins.  Ava couldn't get over how "cute" she thought Everett was :)  Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of the baptism on my phone because I was in charge of taking pictures with their camera on the big day.  I'll have to see if I can snag some from someone else!

Of course the day we leave it's gorgeous outside and makes us even sadder to leave, but we were excited to get home to the boys!!!