Family Visit

Sorry about the long absence.......we've been enjoying a six-day visit from my parents, older sister, and her two daughters and there has been no time for blogging. During their stay, we went to the beach, the Virginia Living Museum, Trader Joes and the park, had a birthday party for Annika (1), went to church, nursed my dad's toe (he slipped and smashed it into our solid oak dining furniture and probably broke it), shopped for shoes, ate at Cheddars, and had a rip-roaring time just watching the kids.

Corban (4.5) loved swimming in the waves.....

Marissa (2.5) loved shoveling the water.....

And Annika (1) loved crawling into the waves until they knocked her down....

And then she took a face plant. Poor baby.

The kids enjoyed pulling each other around in the wagon...Katie (4.5) would say, "Corban, show me how strong you are."

He'd immediately flex his biceps and grimace appropriately....to which she'd nod and say, "Good. Now pull Marissa in the wagon." And he'd obediently head off across the yard, wagon in tow. It was so funny.

Annika developed a quick attachment to Granddaddy, just like her big sister. There was a little rivalry between them for his attention occasionally.

Marissa and Katie became good buddies and snuggled up together to read.

Sabrina (2) and Marissa, on the other hand, had much more of a tumultuous relationship. They spent a good deal of time yelling at each other and engaging in pushing/shoving/hitting matches before we could catch them. Something about those 2-year-olds.....

But the biggest surprise of all was how Sabrina and Corban interacted. Two peas in a pod, those kids. They would run and play and wrestle....and obviously Sabrina would win. :)

Annika loved giving high fives to anyone who would respond to her constant requests for them....especially Nonny and Aunt Sarah.

This was the best we could do at a photo of all the kids on Sunday morning.

And we can't forget Monty....Sabrina was terrified of him at first and would shriek at the sight of him.....but that quickly gave way to her obsession with following him around, hugging him, patting (okay, smacking) him, and pulling his tail. She meant well, really....but I think he was relieved to see her go.

It was a wonderful visit (except for Dad getting hurt) and we were very sad to see them go.