My mom, aka "Grandma Joanie," flew out last Thursday evening to spend the week with us here in North Carolina. As her opportunities to be the amazing-travelling-granny are quickly dwindling (now that Devin and Sarah have officially moved to Boise), we figured she's only got one or two times before we all kiss the East Coast good bye!
We kicked the weekend off right by attending my Body Pump class Friday afternoon, and then undoing all that hard work by eating pizza at the brand new Brixx. My mom tried the Spicy Thai pizza, while I got the BLT. Yum!
I talked Jon into letting me fly solo on our dinner date, so while he watched the kiddos at home, I got to relax with my mom and catch up on almost 6 months worth of news!
There also happened to be a pay off for Jon's sacrifice: My mom graciously agreed to give us the next day off so we could head to Myrtle Beach while she babysat the grandkids. It was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. A much needed "day-off," spent shopping at the outlet malls unhurried and unhassled, a tasty, QUIET picnic lunch basking on the warm sandy beach, and oodles of time to reconnect with my one-and-only was literally just what the doctor ordered!
We even had time to squeeze in a round of mini-golf before we headed over to Carrabba's for a relaxing dinner out. And may I just add, I WON. Jonathan will make excuse after excuse (i.e. "I wasn't trying that hard," "I wanted to let you win"), but I won fair and square. We finished up dinner and then enjoyed the pretty drive home through South Carolina. It was pretty much one of the best days ever.
Meanwhile back at home, Grandma spent the day entertaining the kids with Happy Meals at the sand park, Sonic slushies on the way home, taking Lucy to her tennis lesson, and watching movies at home. The best part? Apparently Leah (our resident screamy-head) was as good as gold. Phew!
Sunday we attended church with Grandma, which is always fun, especially considering there are a few total redneck wackos who attend church with us-- like the guy who drove to church in an antique firetruck and then laid on the horn for a good 30 seconds once church was out and blew everyone's eardrums to smithereens! All part of the North Carolina experience...
After a delicious fish dinner and Belgian waffles for dessert (thanks to Grandma's handiwork), we went on a nice sunset walk and enjoyed the 80 degree weather. So beautiful! Spring was in full swing and the kids scooted the whole mile loop around the neighborhood.
Monday night Zachary had his first baseball game. It was coach-pitch this time, so I was a little nervous since he's only played t-ball up until this point, but he did great. He got some good swings in and had a blast running around the outfield trying to catch the ball.
He is on the "Rangers" and since their practices were both canceled because of thunder storms the week before, it's been baptism by fire starting right into the games. He loved having a whole cheering section devoted to him with all five of us there to watch!
Tuesday we decided it isn't every day that grandmas come to visit, so we played hooky from school and headed out on day trip to the beach. We'd never taken my mom to MB, so that was definitely at the top of the list, and the weather was FANTASTIC.
We started with a quick stop at the outlet malls, then picked up a quick lunch at Five Guys for burgers and fries. We finally made it to the beach by about 1:30 p.m. and the kids were ready to soak up the wind and waves! Leah LOVED it!
Zach and Lucy are already big water bugs, and this time Leah joined them. I couldn't keep any of them out of the water!
We spent the whole afternoon playing in the water, building sand castles, and basically just soaking up the sun. It was soooo nice to have a day away from school!
Wednesday we were right back to the routine, so as soon as we picked Zach up from preschool we headed to Panera for lunch. This is Zach demolishing his vanilla cupcake. Yum!
Leah helped herself to some frosting too! Don't you just love that little grin?
We then loaded up the kids and headed out on a treasure hunt for antiques-- or "old stuff" as Zach dubbed it. The South is a mecca for "vintage" furniture and accessories so we took advantage of all the thrift stores and antique shops nearby and found some pretty cool treasures.
My mom found this cute chandelier, and I bought this old door (project still to be determined), and Jon officially thinks I'm CRAZY for paying for something like an old beat up door, but I loved it, so maybe I am!
I also found this adorable little bench for the kids for some sweet photo opps! I think I'll paint it and put it in the girls' room.
Thursday morning we took a quick walk around Southern Pines Reservoir, and then I got some early Mother's Day pampering when I got to get my haircut while my mom watched Leah. I chopped a few inches off and brightened it up a bit, and now I'm ready for summer. It was perfect timing with Zach getting out of preschool, me finishing my cut, and lunch at Chick fil A.
I was so inspired by my new 'do, that I decided to finally get Zach's locks chopped, so we headed over to Great Clips (BIG mistake), so I could pay $12 for some lady to give my sweet innocent little lamb a hack job. I told her to leave about 2 inches on top, but she buzzed him with the clippers and the rest is history. He was pretty much MAD at me and cracked us up when he said he looked like a "dog." The lesson learned? Next time I'm just doing it myself! At least he's nice and cool for summer and he still looks handsome to me!
Thursday evening Lucy had her end-of-year music program at school. It was a "Barnyard Musical" and Lucy's class were the cows. She looked so cute in her cow costume!
They had an adorable concert and those kiddos new every single word and action for each song! The best part is the whole thing only lasted about 30 minutes and thankfully Leah was totally entertained. She clapped enthusiastically after every number. We loved it!
The whole fam after the concert.
It was so special for Lucy to have Grandma there for a school event! I decided that after three years of being back on the East Coast we are officially starved for family. The first day my mom was here, my kids just followed her around like little lost ducklings and soaked up all of her hugs and kisses. Leah ate up the extra attention, Zach asked for a cuddle every afternoon, and Lucy had one more set of listening ears to tell every detail of Harry Potter to. We loved getting some good quality grandma time in and are so thankful she took the time to come and visit!
