12 Days and 1 Million Memories

For 12 days straight we had company at our house. The entire 12 days was fantastic! I am so grateful that our family is willing to face the frigid Pitty just to spend time with us! Bubbie and Zayde arrived to windy, snowy weather that didn't improve much during their entire visit.

We did manage to get out and have a little fun despite the weather. And when Bubbie and Zayde are around, everything is fun. Doodle had their undivided attention for a whole week. SJ got to know them again. I think that is going to be the hardest part about being this far away. Everytime SJ sees her grandparents she will have to get to know them again. We went through it with Doodle, and it sucked, but we also went home much more frequently. I dread the inevitable visit when SJ refuses to go to her Bubbie or Zayde. So, in the mean time, we all enjoyed her ambivalence to new people!

Doodle and Zayde spent a lot of time playing balloon toss!

Bubbie and SJ practicing sitting up and playing with one of her new toys!

After a couple of days stuck inside because of the weather, we were all ready to get out. Shawn suggested we head downtown to the Pittsburgh Holiday Market. So, we bundled everyone up and hopped in the car. We had no idea what to expect, but we were all ready to get out of the house. I never thought I would take my 5 month old out for a stroll in 30 degree weather, but there here she is!

The market had about a dozen or so wooden sheds with merchants in them. There were some really cool things for sale. Doodle and I each got a treat for our stockings:) We also wandered down to the PPG building to check out the gingerbread house display. It was pretty cool. Hundreds of clubs, scout troops, families and businesses made gingerbread houses to display. The room was huge and filled with houses!

After our trip downtown, we spent Christmas even and Christmas Day at home. Just hanging out!

 

 

Jenny and Stephen snuck into town in between the two snowfalls. They drove for 16 hours or so to get to us and had just as long of a drive home. I will never be able to express how much I appreciate their visit. It was wonderful to see them both. It was even more wonderful to see them invest their time in our children. When My Favoritest and I got married, I told him that Jenny and MK would be spending time with us. I don't know if I will ever have any nieces or nephews, and I wanted to have a relationship with them. I also wanted them to have another set of adults they could go to when they didn't want to go to their parents. On several occasions both have called me looking for help with a sticky situation. Everytime they have said thank you for our role in their lives, I have teased them and said, just do the same for my kids. They spent 4 days doing just that!

Of course, Doodle wanted to take them and Bubbie to one of her favorite Pitty spots.... the children's museum!

 

 

Before Bubbie and Zayde left for warmer climates, we all went out for a nice dinner. Doodle behaved and was pleasant company. SJ stayed quiet and slept. We all ate our selves sick and then had delicious dessert. We tried to get a picture of all of us together, but this was the best we got!

New Years Eve we spent the day at the science center. Doodle had lots of fun showing Jenny and Stephen around the museum and exploring the new exhibits on space.

Doctor Doodle making sure that Stephen is in perfect health.

The doctor area had an apron with velcro and all stuffed internal organs to stick on in the right place. We could not convince Doodle to do anything with it except to put the large intestines on her head!

Doodle and Jenny doing the weather forcast!

Doodle and Stephen playing on the piano and watching the sound waves.

Doodle checking out the astronaut potty. The flush sounds like a vaccume.

Shooting hoops with the robots.

Doodle and Stephen having a deep conversation about the trains!

 

We had lots of fun showing our family a little taste of our new city. I had even more fun watching my children spend time with their family. I hope they will always know how much they are loved by their family!

 

 

Posted with Blogsy