Mimi and Grandpa's Visit

The kids and I were so happy to have Mimi and Grandpa come and visit with us the week before Thanksgiving and help to break up the time while Phil's away. I didn't have much on my "to do" list, so we got to spend our time together mostly just relaxing ...

There was plenty of coloring and reading going on. Grandpa did a great drawing of his and Mimi's house and there were many hand turkeys made. We also pulled out the Christmas books and had them help us get started reading through them...along with the classics.

We thought it was very appropriate for Grandpa to read Harry the Dirty Dog. ;)

 Claire is super into her (pretend) make-up and likes to "put it on" while I do mine. She really had a great time getting ready with Mimi during the week. They took full advantage of Phil's unused vanity. 

On Saturday, we had a beautiful sunny day with the temperature in the 70s, so we decided to get out of town and head to New Bern for a change in scenery. The kids loved stopping at the Kidsville Playground.

We all had fun trying out the  equipment!

 Avery was a champ at the various kinds of monkey bars...

 After the park, we headed downtown to eat at the Cow Cafe. We hadn't been there before but had heard great things from friends of ours who had. The kids loved the train that went around the inside of the restaurant and the play area in the back. 

The owner was super sweet and very friendly and welcoming towards the kids. The food was also fantastic! We'll be back for sure! 

After lunch and a trip to Snapdragon, our favorite New Bern toy store right downtown, I dropped the kids off at Playdate (woohoo!). Mom and I then had a great time shopping around in the little boutiques. New Bern was already all dressed up and decorated for Christmas, and everything was beautiful. It is such a wonderful small town. I can't wait to head back with Phil when he gets home! 

 Right before leaving, Grandpa put up our new spinner swing in the front yard. I decided that this would be an awesome deployment gift from Phil after seeing how much they love the one our neighbor recently put up. I was super excited to be able to hang it in one of our many trees and give the kids another reason to head outside and play (when it's not too cold)! 

 As always, their visit was too short, but we were excited to head up to Norfolk with them to see Shelley and Dan for Thanksgiving!