Reading Marathons, Milkshakes, Stroller-Cleaning, and More: The In-Between Things Mean the Most

We did lots of big, exciting things while my parents were in town last week--visiting the Alamo & the Riverwalk, Shelby's birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese, her birthday dinner at Peter Piper Pizza, & going to the farm. And I've got TONS of cute pictures to share from each of those places! But just as it always is, it was the little everyday things between the big things we did together that meant the most. Shelby woke up early every single morning (she was literally too excited to sleep!) to snuggle & read stories with Grammy & Grampy. They had a daily morning reading marathon for 7 days straight--Shelby was in heaven! Grampy & Shelby had a blast swimming at the pool together almost every single day they were here. We got to do "life" with my parents for a week--they got to drop-off & pick-up at Shelby's school, visit Derek's new office, eat leftovers with us, give baths (Grammy's favorite!), and fall asleep on the couch watching Naked & Afraid. I am immensely grateful for our military life and the experiences & opportunities the Air Force has provided us, but I hate that it takes us away from our family. But Derek & I incredibly thankful that my parents are willing & able to put their lives on hold as often as they do to be with us.

I don't know who is luckier--my girls having my parents as their Grammy & Grampy or me having them as my mom & dad. You'll always know my mom is here if things are spick & span...she cleaned BOTH of our jogging strollers (amongst countless other things)! I didn't even know people cleaned strollers, but mine are sparkling clean now! And while my mom was busy cleaning, my dad mowed our lawn (which ended up being a HUGE blessing b/c Derek usually does yardwork on the weekend, but he had to go into the hospital on Saturday night & Sunday morning. So it was so nice for him to not have to worry about yardwork on top of that!), fixed all of our finicky doorknobs, got our printer working (we haven't been able to get it working since the move!), and the list goes on. Of course I've got WAY more pictures of the big, exciting things we did...but here are a few snapshots of the everyday moments that meant the world to us!

Grampy sharing his chocolate milkshake with Hadley...that is love!

Working on our dryer :)

Shelby was obsessed with playing with her birthday balloons, and Grampy always indulged her!

Playing Barbies with Grammy :)
Our neighbors's ten year old daughter outgrew her Barbies, so they kindly passed them on to Shelby. I couldn't get over how nice it was of them to share such a nice collection with us! Shelby has been loving them! I also couldn't get over the fact that our neighbors' daughter was merely ten and already over Barbies?! My sister & I LIVED for Barbies!

Post-bath reading with Grampy :)

Thanks again for such a wonderful visit, Grammy & Grampy! We're counting down until our trip to GA for Thanksgiving!! :)

Next up, a recap of Shelby's birthday party!! :)