Family Visit

Mike's side of the family was in town for a week and oh my goodness we tried to see them as much as we could. We drove down to G.G.'s so we could visit and it turns out our kids were spoiled with buckets of chalk, art supplies, jump ropes, etc. These goodies have entertained my kids for so many hours. Besides yummy dinner my niece, Alex, had a birthday party a few days early of her actual birthday since this was the first time in a long time she had family around. 

Here's Alex and Hailey chatting. They were shy around each other at first but after a few helpful topics to talk about they broke the ice and chatted for an hour. They haven't seen each other in 4 years but that seemed to melt away right here. 

The next day Papa came to visit us at our home. Lily and Ducati read to him their favorite books. And he sat patiently listening and helping them sound out a few words.

Hailey made us all some Valentines pink heart shaped cinnamon rolls. This was her first time making a shaped cinnamon roll.

Mike got off of work early so when he got home we all headed out to lunch.

The next day Mike's sister and brother in law, Chrissy and John, came to visit us too with their kids. We went to see Kung Fu Panda 3.

Our girls wanted to play on this display while I got snacks.
The movie was so cute! We all loved it. There were times we either teared up or laughed so hard our sides hurt. We all just had tons of fun that we didn't want our time to end so we went bowling next.
I found a deal on Groupons for all of us to go for 50% off. Gotta love saving money!

Our first game we just played to play. Score was kept but it was just all fun.

 Roni enjoying the spotlight when she knocked down 8 pins.

 Ducati's Strike Secret. Turn and twist so the ball hits the pins you want.

 All our kids had so much fun! They laughed, chatted, joked, and high-5'd each other so much that you'd never know they haven't seen each other in 4 years.

Ducati enjoying a moment to her self. She loved playing with this hand blower!

 Cousin chats!

So for the second game we up'd the annie. We played Parents VS Kids. So parents on one lane while the kids had the lane next to us.

 Our kids really up'd their game. They won us parents by over 40 points! They really improved their skills. They got so many strikes and spares that at one moment we didn't even think we'd break 100.

After bowling we headed to dinner at Rumbi's. This is where Alex showed Lily how to use chopsticks. Now Lily eats with chopsticks as many times as she can. 

The next day Papa went to church with us. This was really nice. But of course my kids were wiggle worms in sacrament that they must have bugged him cuz they bugged me. Then afterwards Papa treated us to lunch. 

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But then everyone had to head back to CT Monday night so Mike took Hailey and Mason with him to say goodbye. I stood home with Lily and Cati since their colds that we ignored were now worse and I could no longer ignore their coughs. Plus I was so sore and in pain from bowling that I couldn't stand up. But Mason and Hailey were so happy that they got a chance to say Good bye. They were with their dad this holiday weekend and feared they were going to miss out visiting family. 

Oh man... we miss our family. Papa mentioned we should vacation in CT sometime soon. And this is something we'd really want to do as soon as I get back to work. But until then we'll reminisce on these past few days.