Visitors!

My mom was on spring break last week, so my parents made the 9 hour trip to see us for a week! They came on Good Friday and left Thursday the 4th. It was a nice, long visit that we jam-packed with lots of activities!

Little did they know that there was a MAJOR surprise waiting for them when they got here! My older sister, Lora, decided to fly in last Thursday to surprise Mom & Dad!! (And boy did she! More on that later though.)

So Thursday after dinner, we took Aunt Lora to experience "Summer Snow" for the first time. Best sno-cones ever! And our first ones of the season. Miss Hollywood got dressed for the occasion.

It was a little chillier than we expected, so we moved our sno-cone picnic into the van. There's a first time for everything!

Friday morning, Lora & I took the kids to a park for playtime and a picnic lunch. Please can these two get any cuter!?

Lots going on in this picture: 

1. Abby is "airing out" her belly. She was hot and wanted to take off her shirt but I said no. This was our compromise.

2. The "Grumpy Old Troll" (aka Aunt Lora) was in hot pursuit of Nate. She played this game forever with the kids and they had a ball! (Did I mention that I sat down on our picnic blanket and "sunned" while this was going on!? Ahhhh heaven.)

Can you tell she's D-O-N-E!? Time to go home for naps.

After naptime, Nanny & Poppy arrived and they were oh-so-surprised to see Lora! It was a great moment!!

As soon as Mom arrived, it was time to start drinking :) Lima-a-ritas it is!

Popsicles and a walk after dinner. Nanny was in heaven, if you couldn't tell.

Saturday morning, Poppy made an early morning Krispy Kreme run (shocker). There's never a shortage of sugar when Poppy is around!

Then for the main event....a local church puts on "Easter Fest" which is the city's largest egg hunt (think: 20,000+ eggs!), along with TONS of activities for the kids. Climbing wall, petting zoo, bouncy houses & slides, face painting, hot dog lunches, music, games and more. And it's all FREE!!!

Nate's buddy/our neighbor Jack had been talking up the climbing wall for weeks, so Nate was eager to try it. He's the one in the aqua shirt.

I was SUPER proud of him! He wasn't hesitant at all and just jumped right in. He only made it up about halfway before he wanted to come down, but he had a blast!

Abby was too little for the rock wall, so Nanny & Aunt Lora took her over to the petting zoo. Look how gentle she is with this little chick! 

We met up with Jack and the boys decided to give the climbing wall another try...

Jack got to the top and rang the bell! Again, Nate only did it about halfway. But they were too cute talking to each other while climbing!

Then it was finally time for the huge egg hunt! I was a little worried the kids would get trampled since there was 4,000+ people there. 

I let them get about 10-15 eggs and then rushed them off to the side. Everything went fine and they were happy with all their treats!

Onto the hot dog lunch. And a special surprise....FUDGEROUNDS for dessert! Oh how I loved these as a kid. (Who am I kidding!? I still love them; just never eat them!)

The kids were exhausted after such a fun morning at Easter Fest, and took long naps (thank goodness b/c all the adults were tired too). Then it was time to watch some NCAA tournament games and have a few appetizers. Nate got a little carried away with his.

Greg cooked an awesome salmon dinner for Mom's bday, and then the kids helped to blow out her candles. (Her birthday wasn't for a few more days, but we wanted to celebrate while Aunt Lora was still with us.) I made a toffee poke cake (recipe found here) and it was delish! And all us girls gave mom a porch swing for her birthday!! She has to go pick out the color and then hopefully it will be installed soon. She has always wanted one, to sit on the porch and swing with her grandkids...

Sunday was Easter; read about that post here. Aunt Lora had to leave that morning and we were super sad to see her go! (Especially Abby, b/c she had really enjoyed having "sleepovers" in Nate's room while Lora slept in her room!) No but seriously, the kids had a blast with Aunt Lora....doing crafts, and   (naked) tea parties, and building sub-par forts and reading books over and over and over :) Please come back soon, Aunt Lora!

Monday, Nate was still on spring break/Easter holiday, so we headed to the Birmingham Zoo for the first time! It was a beautiful day and we lucked out b/c it was not crowded at all. 

Putting their heads together to decide on our next exhibit. Abby loved to be the "map holder!" :)

Nanny insisted on feeding a Lorikeet. How beautiful are these birds!? 

Unfortunately, as soon as Nanny got a cup of nectar to feed them, one landed on her back and this absolutely terrified the kids! Both were crying and wanted to leave the exhibit. Mom-of-the-year here snapped a few more pics and then escorted them out :)

We loved the sea lions!!

I asked Abby what her favorite part of the zoo was after we got home, and she said "the cats & kittens." Like the bobcat below. (Seriously?! We drove an hour to B'ham, walked around for 5 hours and your favorite part was the cats!? We could have looked across the street from our house to see those!)

One of the new exhibits right now is the Dinosaurs. Of course they are electronic and Nate kept yelling at them: "You're not real! You don't scare me!" (Even though he was still a little scared b/c they were super loud.)

Abby was beyond tired. Is that obvious!?

This was taken right before we headed out of the dinosaur exhibit, and little did we know that two of the last dinosaurs squirt water at you!!!!!!!!!! Nanny was the one that got hit the most, and the kids thought it was hilarious. Good thing it was a hot day and it actually felt good! :)

We loved the sea lions so much that we went back later that afternoon for a training session/show. This one of the kids' favorite tricks! (Sorry for the poor picture quality)

We needed a cool treat - and hunted all over the zoo - for some ice cream before heading home. 

Super Nate got cold in the shade and had to borrow my jacket. What a goof.

Never in a million years did I think my kids would fall asleep on the way home (b/c they are AWFUL car nappers), but was just done. And done.

The rest of Nanny & Poppy's visit was filled with a birthday breakfast out, class pictures at Abby's school, digging in the dirt, walking around the neighborhood, weeding with Poppy, watching Nate at soccer practice, eating dinner at a new mexican place, playing frisbee, and having a Nanny/Poppy date at Red Lobster (while Greg & I got to have an actual date)! Good times had by all. 

Please come back again soon, Nanny & Poppy!!