The Pennsylvania Grandparents

This month we were lucky to have a visit from Andy's parents. We loved every second of their stay, and were sad to see them go. Here's a rundown of our week:

Monday July 18:
Their plane arrived around 8:30pm. Andy took the kids to the airport, and they waited patiently at the bottom of the escalator, yelling for "white grandma and white grandpa." (Calvin calls them White Grandma and White Grandpa because of their hair color. But the thing is, neither of them has white hair, also my dad's hair is the same color as theirs. My mom is Brown Grandma. My dad is Black Grandpa -- as a skinny white boy raised in the deep South, he doesn't appreciate that name much.)

Anyway, Calvin yelled and they knew right away it was their grandson yelling. They should feel happy that they aren't just generic grandparents, they are very special white grandparents. They arrived late, we had a snack, played around for a bit, and then everyone went to bed happy.

Tuesday July 19:
This afternoon we all went with David and Bek's family to the great pool a few miles from our house. It was pretty chilly, and we were only there for an hour before there was a lightening storm and they kicked us out. Calvin loves the water slide and is very proud of himself for going down alone. Autumn loves the slide when she goes down with her mom. Her dad forgets to lift her out of the water at the last second, and she goes under the water longer than she's comfortable with. It was short, but we had fun. Grandpa treated us to Cafe Rio takeout, and we had a fun meal back at home.


Wednesday July 20:
Today we just laid low at the house. Andy and his dad went to Costco to look at laptops, I was able to get lots of housework done while the kids played with their grandma, and we just all had a low key day at the house.

Thursday July 21:
I needed to drop something off at my thesis director's house, so he invited the kids out to ride his horse. He had his kids and grandkids there as well, so we sat in the shade and watched the others, chatted with his wife (also a professor at BYU), and enjoyed the frontier setting. Calvin and Autumn both rode like champs. Calvin thought it was especially hilarious when the horse walked backward or in a figure 8. He was a talented horse.


Later that night Grandma, the kids, and I went over to Brown Grandma's house for a while. The little kids played on the lawn while the older kids played basketball.

I love that Calvin looks like an odd little duck. He insists on wearing his pajamas all the time, and he insisted on wearing a bike helmet. I love his quirkiness.


Friday July 22:
Last night Andy had to leave for an overnight trip, so we met him halfway between home and the airport. We ate at Texas Roadhouse, and then went over to the aquarium. They have a new penguin exhibit, and this grainy picture below is the kids petting the stingrays. Good times.



Saturday July 23:
We went to the small town parade that consists of about 10 business floats and 30 church floats. They throw lots of candy though, and you don't have to fight a big crowd, so you can't complain too much. The same nice lady as last year let us sit on her lawn.

That evening we had a cookout at our house because the city celebration is right across the street. We were able to lay on our back deck and watch an amazing firework show. We played lawn games, glow in the dark Frisbee, and enjoyed each others company. For some reason Matthias holding my kid is the only picture I took of the entire evening.

Sunday July 24:
Andy's parents went to church with us and it was weird. Somehow church can be nice the rest of the time, but whenever they visit, the crazies come out to speak. Seriously. Like a couple of years ago a missionary giving his return speech talked about how people who drink coffee don't understand Jesus and this time the lady talked about all of the famous Mormons she could think of and concluded that Mormons understand the constitution better than anyone else. At least that's what I got out of it. It's just embarrassing. I promise we're not all nuts.

We were supposed to go up the canyon for a picnic, but Calvin didn't want to because he would be required to get out of his pajamas, so we grilled outside instead and then went to Brown Grandma's for dessert.

Monday July 25:
We said a tearful goodbye at 6am. Calvin and I stood outside in our p.j.s and waved goodbye as Andy drove them to the airport. Their time here went far too quickly. Calvin and Autumn absolutely adore them and all of the attention that is heaped upon them when their grandparents are here. We're already planning their next visit.