Busy Weekend

Grammy and Granddad came to visit last weekend and we had a fun and busy time with them. Thanks to some lovely spring weather (ignoring the whole tornado thing) we got some lovely pictures as well!

Friday

Grammy and Granddad arrive and we head to lunch at Parker and Otis in downtown durham. No pictures but there was lots of yummy food and a wonderful seat out on the deck. Hayden absolutely enjoyed her grilled cheese and bacon sandwich. Which is good, because what she really wanted was to try the special which was a bacon, peanut butter and banana sandwich, but those that were ordering told her that they were out of those. (wink, wink). Maybe we will make them at home sometime. She asked if we could go back again, so I think she had fun.

After nap we headed to Duke Gardens to enjoy the beautiful spring sunshine. The girls, the grandparents and I wandered around, admiring the blooms, dipping hands in fountains walking on walls and just generally enjoying the fresh air.

For this picture, I asked Eliza to sit in front of the flowers to take her picture. Surprisingly she hustled over and sat down. She then looked at me, said CHEESE really quick, and then ran off. As you can tell I wasn't quite prepared for that so I only caught the side of her head. Picture taking was an adventure this weekend with the girls!

After wandering the terrace area for a bit, we headed over to the pond where you can feed the ducks. Granddad did a great job helping Eliza feed the ducks while simultaneously preventing her from falling in. Hayden was better at tossing the duck feed out into the water, but wasn't a big fan of the Canada geese eagerly coming close to us. As a bonus, we got to see two turtles and lots of catfish in the pond as well!

Then we headed over to the red bridge, and managed to meet up with Jason at the same time. There was some more posing for pictures, sometimes willingly, sometimes not. While we were by the bridge, a bride came up to take some pictures. (there were lots of photographers - professional and amateur - in the gardens that day). Hayden was absolutely entranced by the bride. I'm not sure she distinguished between bride and princess but she could have stayed to watch her all day.

Right before we left, we tried a couple family photos by the beautiful azaleas. It was a bit close to dinner time, so cooperation was not high. One of them was wiggly and one was having a mommy moment. I'll let you guess who. At least the flowers were pretty!
Saturday

Saturday was the day of bad weather. We went to the Eggstravaganza at our church, that ended up being held indoors due to the weather. Maybe it was due to the fact that I missed the memo about bringing our own Easter baskets for the hunts, but neither girl was especially into their individual (age specific) egg hunts. Eliza preferred the basket of another egg hunter, and Hayden seemed a bit overwhelmed by the enthusiasm of the other egg hunters. But they both really liked the balloon animals! Hayden requested a pink sword. Eliza had a blue poodle, then tripped and fell on it (such a loud pop!), and ended up with a pink bunny. A bit chaotic but nice to do something Easter-y.

After the egg hunt, Jason and I actually ended up heading out of town for the afternoon to shop at IKEA Charlotte and left Grammy and Granddad to their own devices with the girls. Despite the bad weather, (tornadoes in Raleigh!), everything went just fine and we were successful in our shopping. The house is starting to really feel like home now that we have lots more shelving. (Eliza thought it was fun to "help" build the next day.)

Sunday

Sunday we decided to take advantage of the return of the beautiful weather and spend the morning in Chapel Hill. We headed to the Old Well to show off the beautiful azaleas there. Of course we took some more pictures. Hayden asked lots of questions about what the Old Well was and liked taking a drink. Eliza liked getting her hands wet and wasn't quite sure how to "drink" from the fountain.

Oh and there was a fountain on the way to the Old Well.

Both girls stopped to smell the flowers.

The azaleas were beautiful (lots of people there taking pictures) and provided a colorful backdrop for some more posed photos. The girls did okay, but Eliza thought it was more fun to run around.

As the perfect example of working WITH a toddler, Eliza did come over and sit on the steps by herself, and pose perfectly. Of course, it only lasted for a second, and when Hayden came over to sit with her, Eliza was ready to be up and moving again.

Run run, as fast as you can, can't catch me - I'm Eliza!!

After the Old Well, we headed to the park for some playing and a picnic. No pictures, we were too busy having fun. But while we were there, we spotted signs for "touch a truck" day which happened to be right across the street from the park. After a picnic, we headed over. It was an amazing array of vehicles! Hayden and Eliza checked out a helicopter, a city bus, a delivery van, a flatbed tractor trailer, and a limo bus, just to name a few. Jason really wanted them to sit in the Ferrari (with him!) but they weren't in the mood for the line. We didn't stay long because it was getting to nap time, but the girls had fun! (and boy did the exploration of the ambulance lead to a lot of questions from Hayden! Why does the baby ride in a special crib? Why is the baby sick? Why doesn't the mommy go with her? tough ones to answer!)driving the bus

this car is just my size!

so much room in the limo bus - can we get one of these?!

look mom, I'm on a flatbed!

We made it back for naptime and finished up the grandparent visit building IKEA shelves, getting frozen yogurt and having "adult dinner" after the kids went to bed.

can you see the remnants of the bunny face painting from the day before?

We hope we didn't tire you out Grammy and Granddad with all the fun. Thanks for coming to visit. Come back again soon!