It's Always Fun When Grandma Comes

Grandma Morales came to visit us!  We haven't seen her since Christmastime, so it was a real treat to have her visit us for a few days.  I think I must really love Iowa now- there are so many places we wanted to show her while she was here!  Unfortunately, several of the days while she was here we had weather like this-

and so we got to stay inside all day long.  

But thankfully Grandma and the kids were perfectly content to be at home and enjoy each other's company.  And I always love having an adult to talk to during the day (and slip out of the house unnoticed for a few hours!).  There was lots of crafting, Legos, performing music, yoga, storytelling and snuggling.  

One afternoon we took everyone to see the newest Disney movie Inside Out.  That was a real and rare treat for our family- the last movie we all saw in the theater was Frozen two years ago.  Everyone loved the popcorn and the candy and the big screen- probably Jason most of all, since he spends up to 12 hours a day in the sweltering hot fields right now.  After the movie we had some Zombie burgers and headed out to the car only to find it was pouring buckets of rain down, yet again.  Leah and I had no choice but to run out through the huge puddles and downpour to get the car for Grandma and the littles.  It was a very memorable run, and it came at exactly the right time because I had just scolded Leah for ignoring my repeated requests to stop doing whatever it was that was putting Noah in harm's way.  Nothing a little torrential downpour can't mend, and we arrived at the car holding hands, soaked and laughing. 

On Sunday afternoon we took Grandma to Ledges State Park.  It started out comically- with so many bugs chasing after us that we ran up a trail, snapped a picture or two in front of the Des Moines river and ran back to the car.  

After we located some bugspray we tried another trail and then wandered down a stream where we discovered this huge fallen log and swing.  Skipping rocks, climbing the log (even Grandma!) and throwing fistfuls of mud were the absolute highlights of the trip.

Leah found an "L" stick to go right along with Adam's "A" tree.  She thoughtfully left it behind, "so someone else with an "L" name can find it and be happy."  

This log terrified everyone but the monkey, who spent a good ten minutes up there peering over the edge and making poses like this- 

Eventually we all made it up there!

I love when Grandma Morales comes to visit for very selfish reasons- she helps me out.  On her last day here she took the kids to the pool while I stayed home with a napping Noah.  One night she took over so Jason and I could have a date- take out in a park was quiet and just what we needed- this is a very hard time of year for his work.  I was able to go to the dentist without scrambling for a babysitter, and she made the tastiest chocolate orange cake I've ever tried.  The three of us adults stayed up way too late every night catching up on family stories and hearing all about her trip to Europe.  We all loved the visit!  We're so glad Grandma came to spend some time with us this summer!