Dad and Anne's Visit

Well, Dad and Anne have come and gone. We had a wonderful visit. Jon and I both had Monday and Tuesday off. Sadly, the kids did not, but we grown ups made the most of it! Saturday was a long day for all involved. Dad and Anne left early to drive up and we ran some errands and went to Liams 3 hour football game. Yes, you heard me...3 hours. The coach's decided (with very little deep forethought) that they wanted the ref to stop the clock between plays so they'd have more time to teach the boys. The first half was an hour and 45 minutes. The 3rd quarter was another 45 minutes...at which point some bright soul on the field realized it had been almost 2 and a half hours. So they decided to let the clock run after that. Thank the Lord!! I was frantic due to the fact that I spoke with Dad while we were still at the field and despite his reassurances that he did not care if the house was spotless, they had already entered Ohio and it's just not in my nature to let it go when I know we have company coming. Especially bi-annual company! So we rushed home and ,God bless him, Jon folded laundry ( 4 loads) while I scrubbed the kids bathroom and remade beds. They called when they reached Mt. Vernon and we arranged to meet them at Highland Pizza. I thought they would enjoy a little local color and you can't beat Highland Pizza for that. After supper we sojourned back to the house (the SPOTLESS house) and the kids entertained them for hours with Nintendo DS games.

Anne was only politely interested.

Dad, however, really got into it and may be asking for a new games system for Christmas. LOL

Then, Sunday, we played hookie from the game Maggie was supposed to be cheering for and went to Apple Hill Orchard in Lexington (Mansfield). It was a gorgeous day and we all enjoyed picking our own apples. We currently have quite a few more apples than we're sure what to do with. The kids have been eating them like crazy and I figure they'll clean their bowels out in short order.
We bought several different types of apples, in addition to Apple Cider, Apple Donuts, etc. It was fattening and delightful and much better than the football game we were supposed to be at!

After the orchard we went to Wal-Mart and Dad bought steaks for dinner and boatloads of candy to munch on at the house. Then we headed back and chilled for the rest of the day.

Monday, the kids returned to school and after we all promised Maggie that we would NOT have any fun without her we put them on the bus and tromped off to the zoo. Dad had not been there in over 25 years and Anne had never been so it was really enjoyable. We have a really awesome zoo here in Columbus! We walked the entire zoo end to end and saw more than we even wanted to!!!! Feel free to ask me about that because I won't elaborate here!! Monday night Dad and Anne went over to Bobby's house to visit and we quietly tucked the kids in bed, then I ran Katie's Melaleuca over to her while Jon watched TV. When they came back Jon and I did some HEAVY campaigning for them to stay another day. And we won!!!! So...

Tuesday, we again put the kids on the bus (can you hear me laughing inside about that?) and headed up to Mohican. While there we explored the covered bridge, hiked up to Lyon's Falls and checked out Clear Fork Gorge.

Don't get me wrong about the kids, I enjoy them but I have to admit...I enjoyed doing these excursions without them too!! I can't remember the last time I went to the zoo and actually looked at the animals! And Mohican was really great. I'm always worried there that the kids will slip and fall or get hurt and it's hard to really soak in all the beauty around you when you're doing the "mama fret". Plus, the kids got to visit with Dad and Anne in August, so Jon and I enjoyed having that time with them both.

They went home Wednesday and Jon and I returned to work. Everything is back to normal now aside from the fact that I was sick today. I woke up around 2 am last night and felt awful. I slept most of the day today. I felt awful about it because they were swamped at work and I wasn't able to make it in. Maggie stayed home with a stomach ache too. I know there's something going around, hopefully none of the boys will get it!!

We have games all day Saturday, I'll try to get some pics and post them. I love you all!!!!